Well, yes, I was being trickish, Martha. They didn't burn anyone at the stake, but instead, the witches (14 women and 5 men)were hanged. One man who refused to submit to a trial was "pressed" to death by large rocks in an attempt to get him to agree to a trial. Some of the accused died in jail. Wikipedia has a pretty long entry on the witch trials, and I thought it was really interesting. The trials were truly courtroom legal proceedings, with arguments about what kind of evidence could be admitted, and so forth. for Annette, Jani, Dawiff, Cynthia, BBH. Did I miss anyone? TM

Hi Sharon, Just wanted to add another welcome to New England. My mom lived in Peabody until last year, and I used to live in Peabody, but that was another lifetime ago. It's a nice town. Now I live a little further south and west of you. You will get snow. My mom always used to get snow whenever we did, just a little less, because of your proximity to the coast. I grew up here, but I did buy the Northeast Gardening book by Sunset. I guess it's an ok book, I don't know why I bought it. A compulsion to buy books, I guess. :-) There is nothing like actual experience, and I have gardened and lived here all my life, so I can't really say if the info in there will be useful to someone from Calif. But just wanted to let you know that there is a Sunset gardening book for the Northeast, and it's a big thick book. Besides all the other stuff people have mentioned, I would recommend that you get a good book about New England wildflowers, if that interests you. (I have one, but unfortunately I can't put my hands on it right this second, so I can't tell you the title, but I'll keep looking for it) There are a lot of wildflowers and spring ephemerals that show up briefly in the spring along with the early bulbs that help make spring a joy after all the cold and snow. You don't want to pull one thinking it's a weed. Some ARE weeds, but others like bloodroot and jack-in-the-pulpit, are great to have. If I were you I would wait to order bulbs and see what you may already have in the spring. All the foliage from daffs and tulips and crocuses has died back, so like others have said, you may not know what else you have. Oh BTW, the fall foliage is a real treat. Just wait a few weeks. You don't have to go anywhere special to see it. Just drive or walk anywhere and you will see some gorgeous fall colors. Keep coming here to GW too, it will keep you sane in the winter. Alison

Ok, girls. I'll work on the first one to make it more as you wish. :) We'll see how it comes out in the long run. Heh. Dirt... THANK YOU for commenting on the box! I totally missed the groupings! They got buried under all the posts during my sleepy reading yesterday!!! Yes, my info sheet is correct from OBF. If you got the latest email where we updated our wants/likes then you'll have a better idea of where I'm at in my gardening life. If not, the old one is pretty accurate. Debbya... your box should probably go out this week. I've collected some goodies for you!

Chisue, our beauty will spend Thanksgiving weekend in NYC with her family to enjoy the Macy's parade, and they're planning a winter ski trip to Utah. Otherwise, she's working two restaurant jobs, and looking for one in her field (graphic design). Thanks for asking! Maire, I don't know exactly what they're planning to do in Salem. One of her girlfriends' birthday is today, and they drove up yesterday with the girl's family. They're all staying a few days. It sounds like fun. Thanks for the ID. I never watch horror movies, and I get all the evil guys mixed up. :-)