Coffee and .... for Thursday, September 7th

Good morning to you....

Errrr, that was the start of one of those horrible old songs again! Please forgive me. Hope you all do have a great morning.

Here's where we've been: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/648050/

good morning, no one up yet?

Morning Maria- I was just reading yesterdays posts. How ya feeling? We have fog here again and several schools are delayed. DS's school is delayed for 2 hrs and this is only the 2nd day of school! I bet he is laughing....he loves delays.

I am going to huff/puff this morning, to the bank, and then home to get this place cleaned up. I have piles that need to find homes!!

I still haven't inspected all the hail damage...maybe later when the fog/dew is gone.

CRS is here again....thinking of you all!!~~~

Morning Sarv.beautiful here 55' a real autumn morning, Samson is running araund like a mad mad waking up the neighborhood lol
Wonder what I won't do today :-)

Good morning folks,

I should have thought of chucking the remaining tomates in the freezer. Except I'm not sure they will fit. but I generally do it all the time with the produce from my garden. I guess if I get them frozen, I may be able to borrow a corner of a freezer at the food cupboard as long as I label the stuff well. I think when I get back from the church, I'll blanch and skin some of them and cook them down as straight unseasoned tomatoes for casseroles, etc. I think Romas are supposed to have enough acid to can in a boiling water bath don't they? I could always add a bit of vinegar for safety. It's been a few years since I've canned any tomatoes but I have more shelf space than freezer space. I'll let Darius weigh in here.

Sarv - good for you going to exercise. I'll have to get mine walking these days as my pool is closed for maintenance until the end of the month. I put my membership on hold for a month as the next closest pool has been closed all summer for a major rebuild and is not yet open. Some of the girls went to the closest pool that is open but the aquafit classes were HUGE and they weren't thrilled with the instructors.

Hi Maria - hope you have a good day. Try not to overdo things with the wonderful fall temps. Sounds similar to what we have - I think it was 10 C this morning but is going up to about 24 which is lovely weather. My garden could use some work but it ain't gonna get it today. Hope the good weather holds through the weekend.

Well, better get on with the day. Hope you all have a good one.

BBL,
Ann

I've been on other forums for about a 1/2 hour. But i thought I'd check in here to tell you how my sister is doing. Glee had cancer brain surgery yesterday. Her son, Trey, told she awoke cognizant. That's a major step. I was so worried about damage to her.
I cannot afford to fly from NC to Dallas to see her. A new friend, who is head of the Democratic Party here came by the library to see me. I am a precinct chair and that is how i got to know him and his. They are 2 very sweet, kind people, a great addition to our county. Well, he offered me his frequent flyer miles so I can go to Dallas!
I was flabbergasted! It was like a dream come true! I will wait until I find out if she is going to a rehab center or whatever the next step is. I am so thrilled.

You may can tomatoes and most fruits in a water bath.

Morning, no fog here and it's going ot hit 101 yet again...Oh goody!!
The difference between AC and Swamp is with the Swamp cooler you can leave your windows open and it works great in the dry heat, never in the humidity. I prefer the swamp since I MUST have windows open year round well at least the ones my DH does'nt find open and close....

Mary, hope those fires keep going away from you and don't get any worse.

Dcat, the snow coat is an elastomeric roof coating that is a bright white and with 2 coats it gives with the expanding and contracting of the roof and then it won't leak, or so the can says...LOL. No, it does work now that I finally have it done.It also reflects the heat. I was up there barefoot and the roof was cool while I put on the second coat.

Maria, LOL I like that, wonder what I won't do today, too funny. Samson must be really enjoying the cooler weather. He is a beauty.
~~~ to all I missed bbl....Lauri

Good Morning all, it is sunny and cool here. Supposed to be in the mid 80's. Have had my coffee and read the paper, and am heading to the bedroom to get dressed. I will be making some more spaghetti sauce this morning, and trying to do a little cleaning. My carpet is covered in long cat hair, and it is getting banished today.

Maria, liked your what I am not going to do today. May I borrow it's use?

Sarv, only the 2nd day of school, and already a delay. May be a very long year.

Lauriewilson, thanks for the explanation of the Swamp cooler, and the roof coating.

Will be back later to check in, don't you all get too chatty, make it easy for me to catch up today!!

Scooter, we didn't even get a little sprinkle. When I left Germantown the thunder was deafening and lightening all around, by the time I hit Milwaukee, the sky was clear. DH was way east at the Harbor Freight store and got rained on, but by the time he crossed over 94, it was dry there. That's OK , maybe I'll get out into the back garden today and do some work. After I hang the sheets out. Won't be long before I have to do them in the dryer instead.

IO1, no golf today. I can't manage two days in a row, too hard on my knees, and sometimes my feet. I would if I could!! Especially in fall when it's cooler and there are fewer people on the course.

Darius, I think you had said earlier that your sister's expectations for the selling price were a little high, maybe it will do better with a lower price. I think changing realtors to match the possible market will be a good approach too. Most contracts run for three months. Many people now are bypassing a realtor entirely and using the internet or paying to have it listed with the MLS service. Then of course you end up having to do all the paperwork, title search, etc. yourself which is a PITA. If you get in touch with Pati, tell her we are thinking of her and hope she comes back soon.

Bonnie, yes I got pretty warm golfing but any foul odor emanating from me would have been undetectable because the starter put a guy with our threesome who may not have heard of soap, let alone deodorant. At one point I whispered to one of the gals I was with not to stand downwind of him. She raised her eyebrows but a few minutes later, she looked at me and rolled her eyes so she must have gotten a good whiff. When we started out, he was pleasant natured, but as the round progressed he got more and more obnoxious. On the last hole, which led up a steep hill, one of the gals said she couldn't see the flag and he snorted and said, "It figures, three blondes!!" Since we were standing well below where he was, we couldn't even see the players ahead of us let alone the flat part at the top. And we hadn't played that course before and he is evidently there often. We said afterwards it was no wonder he was playing alone.

Ha! That UPS guy won't have a chance, I ran him off a long time ago because all he ever showed up with was car parts!

WS, I'd love to see that house once it's restored. It's got "good bones" and will be a showplace. Amazing that the floors were still in good shape.

The rest of you get a ~~~~~~ because I'm off to hang sheets, and make myself useful. Didn't do much of anything yesterday and it looks like it.

Sheila

woodspirit1 - so glad you have a chance to go see your sister. That's wonderful.

Re canning tomates - it USED to be safe to do so with a boiling water bath, but many new varieties are so low in acid that it is no longer considered a safe thing to do unless you are sure of your variety or add extra acid. I THINK that Romas are OK, but I'd likely still had some lemon juice or vinegar to increase the acidity.

Ann

Ann, I always pressure can tomatoes now, and I add bottled lemon juice. One tablespoon per jar.

Betty, So glad Glee came through okay! How nice someone gave you his miles to fly. Used to be you couldn't do that. I had a lot of them when I worked for Focal Point, guess they eventually expire.

Mary, hope the fires stay well away.

Our swamp cooler in Wichita many, many years ago was a window unit plumbed so water ran down a screen and outside air was pulled by a fan through the water, cooling the air and adding humidity to the house.

I'm going to try Pati again.
BBL

Morning ...
Ann, I agree with the tomato canning. I'm a little leary of it myself but would definitely add a little extra acid also. :-) Thank goodness I have space to freeze mine. I mostly only can green beans but didn't even do that this year. :-(

Meezers, we're taking up a donation to have one of the puppies air lifted to you, so don't worry. The DH was able to help with this worthy cause and arrange for a copter to air drop your bundle of joy for Defoe. :-)

As for Defoe's sauce ... I can definitely attest to the marvelous recipe. YUM! Sorry for screaming. Oh and the pickled beats and jelly. Defoe, I forgot to tell you my bro sure enjoyed that! He did leave me a tiny little bit.

WS, oh that's just wonderful you are going to get to see your DS. That was so sweet of that friend of yours to do that for you. Angels surely abound. :-)

Mary, so sorry I missed your post yesterday. Sounds like y'all have fires all around. Glad they seem to be headed away ... and hope they stay that way. I don't think I ever congratulated you on your ride last week either but please consider it said. :-)

Darius, just previewed before I posted this time, and saw your post. Please let us know if you find out anything about Pati.

Well, there goes the clock chiming 10 already so am saying a big hi to you Maria, sarv, lauriwilson, Casy, McCool and anyone else I've missed
~Elaine~

No answer at Pati's. I will try her daughter this evening, or her DIL.

Morning everyone!. Took a sick day from work. Got some kind of bug. Every time i eat something i have to run for the potty. Feeling kinda whiped out, but not too terrible. Have been trying to do some small stuff around the house.

I would love to try that roasted tomato sauce. Our tomatoes didn't amount to squat this year. Got a few for sandwiches and lots of cherry tomatoes. The cherry tomatoes are almost like weeds they just keep going and going.

Maria - glad your relaxing. It does take a long time to get your energy back after pneumonia.

WS - That was such a thoughtful offer. So glad you will get to go see your DS.

~~~~~to everyone else for now. Might be back later.

Back from the huff/puff. Man, did I get a work out today. Owner put in a TV and got a tape for your abs, arms, buns etc with easy, med. and hard routines. A bunch of us did it today after the initial work out....phew..even tho we did the easy one, I was dripping!! I'm really enjoying getting back into the exercise routine...

I have no major plans today - gonna walk around and see what's doing in the gardens and check my neighbors- they just left for a ten day trip out west.

suz- take it easy - seems like a bug is going around. Enjoy your day off.

Re. itichies- I stopped taking all my usual things- vitamin, gluco/chron, fish oil, and I haven't had the itches (at least not as bad) So I'm thinking one of them might be causing the problem. I am somewhat sensitve to shell fish, so I'm thinking either the gluc/chron or the fish oil may be the culprit. I will add them back one at a time to see what happens.

Wood - how thoughtful to give you the frequent flier miles - there are good people in this world!! Hope you sis is OK. She'll be glad to see you tho!!

I should try some of those roasted tomatoes, but I know I won't...too lazy here. I just open a can of Ragu.....everything tastes the same to me....not sure if that is a curse or a blessing.

Well,time to open the frig and see what jumps out at me for lunch!!

Sarv, if something jumps out of your fridge, you better make sure that it is edible, but first will have to kill it!!

Darius, please post if you talk to anyone about Pati.

Woodspirit, that is such a kind thing for someone to give you his miles to fly. I know the sis will be glad to see you.

M5, don't you just hate it when "stinky" people share with us? There is no excuse for it, even if it is a medical condition, there are all kinds of things that would prevent it. So, now are you gonna be standing in your yard, with a missle launcher to shoot down any helicopters? HE HE HE!

Susieq, sorry that you are not feeling well, hope that the bug passes quickly.

Well got the tomatos in the oven, and man this house is smelling real good. At 2:00 I have to take Mr. B to the vet. He has something wrong with an ear, and he whimpers if you even brush it. So have to get my "baby" feeling better. Suppose he got my ear infection?

Then I need to fix something to take to a pot luck tonight. Don't have a clue right now what that will be.

Haven't done anything with the cat hair yet, but the vac is sitting out, will get to it sometime today.

Well gotta go grab something to eat. DH had a Dr appointment this morning, and isn't back yet. Sure hope he finds out something about his back.

BBL

Good morning.

suzieq, just drink water for a day or so and skip the food while you flush the bug out of your system. I hope you feel better soon.

Maria, I loved the comment about what you won't do today.

WS, it is so nice that your friend gave you his ff miles so you can go see your sister.

Sarv, nyacin (one of the B vitamins) bothers some people, but you are wise to cut them all out and add them back one at a time. I'm glad you got back to the huff and puff routine, but you might wake up tomorrow with a bunch of sore muscles. They adjust in a few days.

Fire updates, there are several new ones that weren't on the list. To our south there are 3, the largest was 1000 acres (that one jumped the freeway and could be why we lost power for a while yesterday) and that is the one I saw day before yesterday, then the one to our west which was listed at 100 acres, that is the one my hubby could see on his way home from work yesterday. Over to the east behind the Wallowa mountains there is a complex of several that will be one big one soon, I don't remember the acreage on that one. That is just the local area, there are plenty more 100 to 200 miles away. The sun is out and it's no smokier here than yesterday.

My sister is coming to bring me a few of her excess tomatoes and pick my beans, so I need to tidy up the house. Also need to get out there with Fritz for his walk before it gets any hotter. See you later.

Take close cary, Mary!

Yippee, my neighbor is mowing my yard again for me, and brought me some fresh corn. (Not that I can eat it on the cob... I'll have to cut it off.) Man, you cannot buy neighbors like him!

Bonnie, is your turkey roaster aluminum, or one of those speckled ones? Mine is a very old aluminum one and I hesitate to use it for tomatoes.

Bonnie, I'm ready!!

This message was edited Sep 7, 2006 11:48 AM

OMG if that is not the cutest thing m5!!(Other than Sammi and Olivia of course!!)

I've been lurking a bit = freezing string beans today and my FEET are tired!! Standing at the counter I guess. Yes, I could have sat down....didn't think of it until now LOL

Sounds like everyone's busy

Defoecat thanks for the roast tomato recipe. I never got over to the recipes forum. We've done up all the sauce for the freezer, but there are still plenty of tomatoes coming. I ordered a pressure canner. I'd rather feel safe at this point with the canned tomatoes.

sarv-I was thinking of you yesterday when I had two bowls of ice cream for dinner. That's it, since I need to cut down a bit!! Can you tell i was feeling a little blue? Ice cream is my comfort food, too.

Mary-I hope the fires stay away. I would not want to worry about that!

suzieq-Nice to see you again, hope you get over the bug fast....yuck on that!

Maria-Hope you've enjoyed whatever you didn't do today!! Good for you.

Uh oh, laundry calling, see, I am trying to be useful....for a little while.

~~~~~~~see y'all later`````

M5, that is about the size you will need!! Ain't that cute!! I certainly am gonna name the first one after you.

Well the spaghetti sauce is done. 6 1/2 pints. Sure is good. I am eating the 1/2 pint with a spoon!! With this you don't even need the pasta.

Darius, my roaster is a big granite one that one of DH's aunts gave me years ago. Probably an antique, but I use it often. I don't think that the high heat that is used in this, would cause any interaction with aluminum. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, I wouldn't use it. If I didn't have anything else, I probably would.

Well, made a casserole of summer squash, onion, and green pepper to take to the pot luck, plus made some candied sweet potatoes and taking some sliced tomatoes. It's all ready to go. All I need to do is get in the shower and get dressed.

I will be back later, and report on the meal, it's always good.

BTW, DH has to go back to the Dr again next week. They are looking at some x-rays and MRI's to see what the problem with his back is. Sure hope they can figure it out, as he is really uncomfortable.

BBL

Me again. It's about 85, won't get much hotter. Sorta half sunny half smokey and thick enough to smell it.

The deer have been into my garden, eating carrot tops and grapes, sampling green tomatoes and leaving piles of deer berries. At least they do bring something! But I am not happy with the theft, so I moved Scout, our outside dog and his house to the place on the lower side where I think they jump in. There are also tracks on the upper side, so I might move him to that side for the night and leave his house where it is. The lower part will then smell like dog and the real dog will be at the upper side. It's worth a try. A few years ago I saw a garden with a dog run all the way around the outside edge except for the gate. Good idea! It would take too much work to do that with where mine is, but I could use a second dog. No, thank you, I don't need a designer puppy no matter how cute they are.

My sister came and we picked and visited, she went home with zucchini, yellow summer squash, beets, cucumbers, corn on the cob and the green beans she came for. This is the first year she has not grown a garden in about 25 years. She and her son made a 3 week long trip to Alaska this summer and she knew the garden would die while she was gone, so she just didn't plant it. Someone brought her some tomato plants which she planted next to the south end of the house and somebody watered those. She brought me some ripe ones just for eating, no canning here this year, I have lots left over from other years.

Somebody's here, gotta go.

dmc- you're a gal after my heart. Ice cream is a comfort food for me too. I did open the frig for lunch and nothing caught my eye, so opened the freezer and guess what I saw?? Butter pecan- so that's what I had. Tonight I made salmon patties, sweet potatoes, and fresh tomatoes. Oh those patties really hit the spot.

Now dishes are done and things are picked up and I am free to do what I want!! yahoo

Tomorrow I am going up to see MIL- haven't been there for two weeks. I am taking some tomatoes and peppers from the garden. Last time I took tomatoes she told me the skins were tough. I told her to peel them!!

Mary, that was good thinking about putting a dog run around the garden....smart people!! We haven't been bothered with deer much this year. I've seen some in the back yard eating apples, but they've stayed out of the garden. We have a huge field of field corn next to our garden, so hopefully they are munching on that!!

defoe - roasted veggies sound good!! Have fun at the potluck. I want you to keep track of home many potlucks you go to in a month!! Seems like you are always going to them. Hope DH finds the problem with his back...no fun with a sore back..

Time to cruise some of the forums

Feeling much better this evening. Did a little laundry today, played with some beads, and sketched out a plan for a flowerbed for next spring. I am ordering some stuff to put in it this fall.

M5 - That little car is too cute.

Mary - hope the fires stay far away and that the smoke doesn't get too bad for you. I would be coughing up a storm.

Dmc - 2 bowls of ice cream sounds like a good dinner to me, lol.

My critters know mom hasn't felt well today. All 3 cats and the dog are sitting here at my feet and nobody is growling at anybody else. The other day my male cat backed up against a garbage bag here in the house and peed on it. He's never done that before. He was born a barn cat and if he keeps that up, he will be a barn cat again!

DH is out in his shop working on a tractor that he is restoring for a friend. Be glad when that project is done. We need to do some painting in the house this fall.

Gotta go fold the last load of laundry. See ya later!

A swamp cooler is an evaporative cooler. The most common form of residential evaporative cooling uses a vertical pad of cellulose fiber, a system for delivering water to the top of the pad, and a fan to draw air through the porous pad. As the water runs down the medium and is absorbed, dry air moves over the wet pad, water evaporates, and the air gives up its heat. The air moving from the wet pad into the home is cooler than the outdoor air. This was the ideal way to cool homes in the desert heat for many years. But now as our humidity levels in the air increase it causes the indoor humidity to get to levels beyond tolerated levels. Most homes here in the desert have converted to central air units. Placing the swamp cooler on the roof was the ideal spot because it allowed the cooled air to dispurse from a centrally located place to cool the house equally. The central air units on the roofs are usually the ones that have replaced a swamp cooler and the owners didn't want to repair the whole in the roof. Now building codes say that new construction place all units on the ground for safety and efficiency reasons.

Wood, what a generous man to give up his miles for you. How wonderful that you will have the chance to see your sister. My thoughts and prayers for her to have a speedy recovery.

The weather here was overcasted most of the day. No rain but alot of humidity. I hope we get at least a little bit of rain from it tonight.

Suzie, now is not the time to get sick. I hope that you are feeling better soon and definately before you need to get on the plane.

Sarv, hope you find the itch culprit.

Well off to the store to get the boys there school supplies that they need. Hopefully I will make it back later.

~~~~~'s to all

have good night everyone.. and a nice friday.. thinking of you all..

Twyla ~~~~~

Well, got in from the pot luck a little after 8:00, got on my jammies, and read for awhile. Always have a book going for those times I don't want to watch TV, or for the sleepless nights.

The pot luck was good. The hostess prepared a delicious roast beef, potatoes and carrots with fresh homemade yeast rolls. The additions from all who came included green beans, corn, peas, corn pudding, tomatoes, squash casserole, sweet potatoes, corn pudding,a large salad with a variety of dressings, and for dessert a very good pound cake. This is a monthly event for the Missionary Society of my DM's church.

Sarv, I don't go to that many pot lucks. This one on the first Thursday of the month, and another the last Sunday of the month at another church. We here in this rural community just love to get together to mingle and eat. I used to sort of make fun of DM, when she would call and tell me all they had at this pot luck, now I have turned into HER!!

Carat thanks for the explanation of the swamp coolers. I don't think that it would work well in this high humidity area though. It just looks weird to see all those units sitting on top of houses out there. You better make sure that you have Genuine AC in your new place. I am sure that the weather is similar, and it can get blasted hot here and there.

Mary, sorry to hear that you have visiting deer who are making a smorgasboard of your garden. Here, it is mostly raccoons that raid the corn. During the time when the corn is ripening, DH takes the dogs to the garden at night and ties them out. We have to do that in order to have a corn harvest at all. The dog run around the garden seems like a good idea. Would have to be a very hungry critter to chance crossing that space. Could I just make a small statement, you surely do need a designer dog for your garden. I could make you a good deal, shipping free, plus, you know it came from a loving home!! hehehe!!

Susieq, glad that you are feeling better. It looks like that the illnesses could wait until cooler weather to make their attack. At least you had a day off work, and got some work at home accomplished. I think all critters know when the owners are not feeling up to par. Mr B. is very considerate, if I am on the couch, he is nearby, giving me his comfort the only way he knows how, just by being there.

Didn't take Mr. B to the vet this afternoon. He has an open sore in his ear, and DH came back from the Dr office with some antibiotic salve the Dr. gave him. Ain't that a kick, go to the Dr and get meds for the pets. DH did get some powerful pain medicine for his back.

Maria, what didn't you do today? LOL. I sure hope that you are on the mend, and will feel stronger with each passing day.

I went out late this afternoon, and cut some flowers to take to adorn the food table at church. I had some salmon colored glads and salmon colored dahlias, added some white hosta blooms, and wala, a nice bouquet. Don't have a pic to show, as I gave it to a lady to take home with her.

Well, I have an early dentist appointment in the morning, so will have to get this bod in the bed soon. Darius, how is your tooth? Hope you get an appointment soon. I am getting my permanent caps tomorrow, although the temps look pretty good.

Well hope you all have a good night, and sleep like the dead.

Night all.

Hi folks,

Just a quick note before bed. Got through the tomatoes, but not completely done. I have frozen 6 pints of spaghetti sauce and have more in the pot out in the porch to stay cool. Will pop the frozen sauce out of the square containers and bag them tomorrow so I can re-use the containers.

Have a similar quantity of cooked, diced tomatoes in a huge bowl in the fridge. Tomorrow, I will bring them to a boil, fill jars, add lemon juice and can them. I have only a water bath canner and I'm not gonna get a pressure canner at this stage. I've got a lot more shelf space than freezer space. And as I worked my way through the box of tomatoes, I started setting aside the best looking ones, trimming the tops off and just freezing them. they are now in two large freezer bags for future use.

Spent about an hour at the church this morning putting away music from last year and getting out music for this season. We first play in church on Sept. 24 and then at a wedding on Oct. 7. then we've been asked to play a week earlier than we had planned in October - the 15th instead of the 22nd because the vocal choir will be away for a special function.

Student this afternoon is playing an audition on Saturday and hadn't yet decided what he's going to play. I thought we had sorted that all out last June, but I guess not. Good thing he came for a lesson. Hope he does OK. He's going to need to find some quality practice time.

Guests were here when I got home from bells and a neighbour who just sold her house popped by around 5 to invite us to a small open house. We all went over for awehile and then came back to deal with tomatoes, guest beds, etc. Not sure just how long they are staying but it sound as though they may be planning to leave on Monday to drive back to Newfoundland. DH goes to the netherlands on Saturday; so I guess they will be my house guests.

Well, it's late. Hope you all have a good night. I'm still not quite adjusted to the time change and find that I wake up around 4. Eventually go back to sleep and then am REALLY asleep when it's time to get up.
Japan is 13 hours ahead of Eastern time; so it's a right around the clock switch.

Ann

Good evening everyone,

Sheila, loved your response to Bonnie's air delivery threat! Luckily there was nobody else in the store to hear me cackling about it.

suzieq, sorry you were under the weather today, but by the sound of your last post, it looks as though you should be over the bug tomorrow (at least I certainly hope so!)

sarv, thanks for starting my brain working again ---- my DH gets awful mystery itchies far too often. We've gone through questioning (and changing) laundry detergent, skin lotion, etc., etc. , but I never thought about having him stop taking the glucosamine to see if that made a difference. Hope you can isolate whatever has been causing your discomfort.

Afraid that I can't really relate to ice cream as a "comfort food". Once or twice a year is just fine by me. DH and DM are fiends for it though! DM has been pretty good and usually avoids it by substituting frozen yogurt, except for the tastes she steals when DH just has to go and buy chocolate chip ice cream. I think that my comfort "food" is a Margarita.

I01, I mentioned in yesterday's lost post that I was glad you had finally gotten some decent rainfall. Do you still have much of anything growing? I keep thinking about your Moonflower. I loved those flowers, but probably won't try planting them again because my zone is just too cold for them. It was so disappointing to see 2/3 of the buds freeze before they could open.

Maria, I too liked your "what I'm not going to do today" quip. Seriously, we are all glad that you are trying to concentrate on resting and recuperating. By the way, I'm sorry that the Earthbox experiment didn't turn out that well, but I'm not sure that the fault lay in the Earthboxes. Everyone I've spoken with in this area has had a really rotten gardening season. One of my friends just told me the other day that all her cherry tomatoes have been literally exploding just before they ripen enough to pick. My Brandywine tomatoes are mostly still green and somewhat deformed due to the strange weather we've had this year. Just about all the tomato plants seem to be suffering from some sort of blight and I'm having a major problem with squash bugs attacking already weakened plants. Oh well, guess we're bound to have an off year every so often. I just hope that our ill effects on the environment don't result in "off years" from now on!

Woodspirit, I'm so glad to hear that you were given the means to go see your sister. If positive thoughts can help, I'm sure she'll recover. The old house that you've been helping to rescue looked really nice in the photo. I tend to be attracted to "antique" buildings, but could never afford to rehab one.

Bonnie, why am I not surprised that you don't seem to slow down even when you're really not feeling well? Please don't run yourself ragged! We would all miss you way too much if you got too sick to "visit" with us all on a regular basis. I'm hoping to get the chance to try your formula for roasted tomato sauce (only with a tad more garlic, I think). I really hate throwing out all those Roma tomatoes that I worked so hard to grow. I may decide not to go to the trade show after all this Sunday and try to get a bit accomplished here instead.

Mary, I don't know how you stay so calm with all those forest fires raging around you. I think that they would chase me away from that area despite how beautiful it is when they're not burning. How's AP doing these days? Is she still Bug Hunter Supreme?

V-ann, I hope that you're able to get in enough walking so that you don't suffer any ill effects of missing your regular Aquafit exercise for the month. Hope that your guests don't cause you further stress. Has your DH stepped into the breach to play host to the people that he invited? I sure hope that it ends up being a positive experience all around despite the awkward timing.

darius, glad that you have such great neighbors. I do hope that your sister gets enough for her house so that you both don't face daunting financial problems. Unfortunately for her, it seems to be turning into a buyer's real estate market these days. Have you been able to get your tooth taken care of yet?

I'd never even heard the term "swamp cooler" until I joined DG. That's probably because I'd never really had any contact with people who live south of the Mason-Dixon line. (Come to that, I don't really have any contact with anyone beyond the local area except for wholesalers.)

Casey, despite the challenges of your job, it seems that you at least have a very congenial supervisor. I do hope that you're able to find something comparable in your new neighborhood.

We had an interesting evening here. We didn't manage to get out of the store until about half an hour beyond the normal closing time. We had a couple of last minute customers who just did not seem to want to leave! One of them parted with quite a considerable amount of money, but it was getting to the point where we would have had to escort them out so that we could get home. We were given a gallon jug of a salon brand shampoo by a "sort of" relative (DSIL's uncle) because the container had a puncture in it. Now, this guy is a really nice guy and means well, but he's deaf as a post and not so easy to communicate with. I know that the shampoo and conditioner he keeps trying to give us is expensive stuff, but I just don't like it! I prefer my Pantene. I don't want to hurt his feelings though, so accepted his gift. We brought it home tonight and when DH started unloading the car, we discovered that the stuff had leaked all over the place. DH had a fit and stomped off upstairs leaving me to clean up the mess. I feel bad for anyone who ever has to sit in the back seat of our car! Did the best I could, but what a mess!

~~~~~to Lauri, dmcd, and anyone that I've missed (plus our friendly neighborhood lurkers, of course!) I think that I'd better post this before it goes "poof" and get the new thread posted so that I can go relax a bit.

Okay friends, here's the link to tomorrow's Coffee thread (and good luck to whoever gets the worm --- worms for breakfast just don't appeal to me somehow.)

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/648767/

Before I wish all of you a god night with sweet dreams I tell you what I did not do today is baking my bread and making an apple pie since I bought apples for it, did not do any weeding nor dead heading , the garden id a total mess but I did the laundry finally, though I have tons of clothes i would never run out of them lol but I felt tired after wards, imagine getting tired from using washer and drier it is a dreary job but I never get physically tired from it

McCool , my tomatoes also split before they ripened, especially the roma and grapeor the just dropped green. Had one single goliath from th EB. :-( Oh well ,decided not to have a vegetable garde next year, enough farm stands around her to buy what I need.

Hello Ann, Bonnie please take care of yourself, you do not want to end up like I was!!! where is Elaine? Sheila, what have you been up too?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~to everyone else

I will try to post some pictures of the work on the historic house as we work on it. On the 16th, it will be boarded up and plastic over upper windows to secure it. Then no work until it is sold.

Glee is having a bad time with hallucinations. If I were there right now, I'd be at the hospital all day. But I am holding off until I know where she will go next, probably a rehab center and hopefully, home after that. I think I want to get her settled in at home or in a retirement apartment, so I may hold off. My brother may go down sooner.