Natal, I estimate I'm a hundred miles or so southeast of Caroline. I plant without regard to sun position most of the time. Even the north side of the house is sunny in summer. I have some aucuba cuttings tucked under some shrubs I haven't found a suitable shady spot. Most of my trees are limbed up high except for one live oak that grows horizontally. I'm always lopping off limbs. Under there is where I grow my Gingers -- something we haven't mentioned for shade. Gingers perform better for me than their companions the Hostas. Angelcub, we found that stone with the depression already hollowed out. If you google for 'stoneworking' you'll find some sites that are very instructive on how to chisel stone --I haven't tried it, yet. If your stones are sandstone or limestone, a power washer will shape them. I've tried that in a small way with a sharp blast with a garden hose nozzle but it's tedious. Nell

Rob333, it is tasty and very easy. I make this sort of Thai variation often, but pretty much play it by ear each time, depending on what I have in hand. In the spring and summer, the herbs are usually available. Experiment with what you relish. Usually I include the following ingredients. -- foundation of pizza or flat bread. I make the f b from scratch. For pizza dough, I sometimes make slow rise/cold rise dough or use a grocery store pizza dough. -- I have an aluminum pizza pan. I like to put a thin layer of oil, then a thin layer of fine cornmeal down. -- I usually cook at the mid-bottom area of the oven with the convection fan ON. Temp varies. Maybe ~ 440 to 500 deg F. Ingredients usually include ex large shrimp, fresh minced garlic, maybe some shrimpy garlicky oil, grated prole Parmesan, a bit of white buffalo like mozzarella (not much) and maybe a bit of some other cheese. -- Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce -- not too much I keep an eye on it while in the oven, but perhaps 6-8 minutes ( depends on the thickness of the foundation dough and how much "stuff" I put on it. You'll get a feel for it. I tend to not like any soggy dough, but I don't like a dried out crust either.i like a toasted bottom to the crust/cooked dough foundation. I usually add some dried red pepper flakes to give it a bit of kick. Not too much. To taste. When cooked, done, I remove from the hot oven, add the fresh green herbs (Thsi basil, cilantro, fresh spearmint (wash the spearmint to remove any grit or sand). Sometimes I tent it with aluminum foil or partially cover it w a large pan lid. Let it breath so that it doesn't get sogged from steam. Sometimes, I return it to the warm oven (heat off). We eat it hot or cold for brunch (narrow sliced sections). It is good at room temp as well. I'm thinking that I will try baby arugula on the next one. Use you imagination and whatever flavors you enjoy. Please send feedback and photos! You can also squeeze a bit of fresh lime juice onto it (avoid the center). Jalapeño would be fun. Enjoy

Thin crust pizza made from the dough I make with beer in my bread machine. Topped with sauce with added garlic, fresh sliced mushrooms, shredded pepperoni, sliced green olives, pineapple, fresh grated mozzarella, diced green or red peppers, sometimes with onion sometimes not baked on a sheet pan so the pieces are square. Now I leave the mushrooms off because they are high in purines and if I don't have pepperoni I use diced ham or no meat at all.

Friday night often means homemade pizza night with the sprites, unless Robert and I have other plans, and that's what we had tonight. We'll fix anything they want but pizza usually wins. Older sprite makes the dough by herself now! She ran over as soon as she got home, put her apron on and got to work. So cute. She assembles everything she needs and lines the ingredients up according to when they are needed. Little sprite picks peppers, tomatoes, and basil and helps decide what else we want on the pizza. Anyway, we had a couple of grilled pizzas, a simple crunchy salad, and lemon sugar cookies for dessert.