Love ya, Campanula. You really are getting to be a people person inspite of yourself and because of yourself. I hope you never leave. :)) Ingrid, I must say this. Today I am the happiest gardener on the face of the earth. Yesterday was my Open Garden and I broke my butt all week and then broke it again cleaning house and baking and was standing out on the porch ten whole minutes before 10:30, screeching to a stop like roadrunner with aching legs and feet and little sleep. Obsessive compulsive? You betcha. Last night I needed another vacation, but today on the computer did the trick . A little R&R and nice emails from folks who visited and made me into the proverbial 'fat and happy camper'. I have a perfect garden today. No debris from works in progress, no weeds that I have to walk past with a groan, my bench is freshly painted red, my shade is cool, and I even went out in the cool of this morning and deadheaded the back and sides. And did I say my house is clean? Oh, glory, I'm happy with life!!! BUT... Niles Cochet's new bed under the limbed up oak trees is in almost total shade (but he is growing). Beautiful Anna Olivier is a brown mess. Mrs B R Cant is in shade all day now so those trees need to be trimmed. My two new Le Vesuves DO NOT look like Le Vesuve (what are they?). Rosette Delizy continues to be a thrip magnet. E Veyrat Hermanos is THE ugliest balling thing in creation. (The interloper Sombreuil is tempting me to buy him for EVH's spot.) I'm sure all my beautiful companion plants will perish when the heat hits (yesterday?), and then what will I put in their place? A precious guest at my open garden brought me a beautiful floribunda (Cotillion) that I must find a place for in the ground. I won't go on with my agita list because I am happy today. Regarding arbors and such, perhaps you simply were not at a stage to think vertically yet. Due to my limited space and the shape of my spaces (long and skinny on the sides) I had to go vertical very quickly. I only have 3 arbors (need another one quickly, I fear), but I have fences and "wall" trellises that I have filled with my dream climbers - teas, tea-noisettes, noisettes and even an H Wichurana. I just picked the ones I liked best based on several criteria on Vintage's site. There are others that I have a yen for, but realistically it ain't happenin'. It's good that we have this forum to bounce our emotions off of. It frees us up to safely HAVE them. You're simply pushing the boundaries of your creativity, testing your what-ifs, stretching your limits to who knows what beautiful frontier. Creativity isn't painless, and it can be at times somewhat embarrassing. But, my goodness, at least you still have both ears, so not to worry. Stretch away! Sherry P.S. Even my sweet dog is clean. :)) It makes me think you CAN have it all! A job, a garden, a marriage and home. I have achieved nirvana. Dare we speak tomorrow?

I am afraid I have to drop out to and won't make it this weekend to the swap. I had potted most of my stuff weeks ago and only had a few last minute things to dig, but there you go. :-( My sister is in the hospital, probably nearing the end of her battle with cancer and one of Chip's cousins recently passed away and they are having the memorial service tomorrow. :-( To top it all off, the new job has kept me out of town for most of this month, so that's why I've been so quiet. I think we may be heading south to Boaz, Alabama, either tomorrow (Friday) night or early, early Saturday. Would it be possible for me to drop these plants off with any of you to take to the swap for us? I'm not sure if anyone had any of my plants in mind, and I hadn't had time to arrange any swapping (boohoo! I need a Mexican Sage), but I'd like these lovely plants to go to a good (read: someone else's home but mine now). Can anyone help? I should be able to label things so at least folks will know what they are. From memory, I have: * 'Coronation Gold' Yarrow * Chinese Foxglove (heh, think several of us got this one at the plant swap; likes to move around, but it sure is pretty...) * Amsonia hubrechti(sp?) Great native plant! * Birdseed Sunflowers * Homestead Purple Verbena * Lamb's Ears * Sundrops (if I get them dug...) * Blue Spruce Sedum * Angelina Sedum (probably will have) * Airplane plant * Walker's Low Catmint (if I get some time to dig it up...) * Ladybells (if anyone wants some; let me know) In addition to a Mexican Bush Sage, I was also looking for white cleome (seeds or plants), white cosmos (seeds or plants), Foxtail Lily or Yellow Perennial Foxglove. Sorry I won't make it. :-( I'm very disappointed to....I could have used a de-stress day... But hopefully this fall will be better. --April

Gee, I wonder how many pounds of batter, gallons of milk, pounds of butter and gallons of syrup we'd need for 400-600 pancakes? Ya know I was just thinking that I really don't have enough to do in the next five weeks and especially the day of the swap and was wondering what in the World I'm going to do with all that excess time on my hands. Maybe YOU would like to organize that for me! I REALLY do appreciate your interest in it and for bringing it up!!! Maybe you and I can discuss that at length in person on the 17th. Doug sayes that you are the QUEEEN of pancakes and would love to handle it for me. I heard that your moniker in Knox County is Mrs. Bec Butterworth and Aunt Jemima Holder. In the meantime... the park has a very nice restaurant that starts serving Breakfast at 7:00 am! There is also The Country Diner and Becky's Family Restaurant right up the road in Chapel Hill. Remember to tell them that you are with the MTPS and that in October Bec will be making pancakes for the MTPS and everyone in Maury & Marshall Counties at HHSP!

Visually I much prefer the bar handle. I haven't ever hung my dish towel off of it because (like dseng) my 100lb German Shepherd would assume it's for her amusement while we're out of the house. It does stick out slightly so if I'm leaning into the cabinetry right there I am touching it, but I've never banged into it. If you have an immediate right angle of cabinetry adjacent to it (I do right now), you will have to check clearances of any drawers.