My "Summertime Blossoms -Petite Pendant" was featured in an Etsy Treasury! This item was a smaller version of my traditional pendants made out of glass and chiyogami (handmade Japanese paper), for those who like a more subtle but stunning piece. Feel free to browse the rest of my chiyogami pendant line in my Etsy shop as I have a variety of shapes and designs! www.majentadesigns.etsy.com

RateBeer Rating, Style and Glass: not enough ratings (I'm #7) traditional ale, mug, pint, stein, yard
ABV, Volume & Calories: 5.1 % in 16 fl oz. estimated at 175 C
Purchased at: on tap at Triumph in Princeton for $5 with good friend Sean Piotrowski after his last day at Rider.

Aroma: fruity, banana, alluring. 9 out of 10.

Visuals: cloudy, dense, yellow, white persistent head, nice lacing. 5 out of 5.

Taste: sweet, banana, citrus, orange. 9 out of 10.

Palate: salty, granular, strong finish. 4 out of 5.

Overall: It was essentially a hefeweizen, but a very nice, slightly stylized rendition. Second only to their IPA, IMO. A very well crafted ale. 18 out of 20.

This side chair is one of our most popular sellers, especially for people who want an eye-catching look for their offices.  The two-tone color design, space-age arms and webbed back add a certain flair, as compared to the dull, workmanlike designs seen in waiting rooms across the country.

It's also available without the arms and in a variety of cheerful colors, including my favorite -- orange!

June shoved the carrot pieces into the juicer, pressing them down a bit more violently than intended. The gadget responded by sending a small spray of orange up into the air. June watched as the drops showered down on her countertops. Great. Something else to stress about.

“Mom, can I have some juice too?” Alex asked as he raced into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “I want some juice and a sandwich and maybe a couple of cookies.” June didn’t care. “Eat whatever you want. I’ll make you some juice when I’m done with mine. Did your dad show up at practice today?” Alex nodded his head up and down, as June sighed in relief. At least the jackass did something right. “He was there for the warm-ups, than he took off. Said he had a meeting and that he’d be home real late. He told me to tell you not to wait up.” Alex paused for a breath and continued. “Mom, why does he always have so many meetings? He didn’t used to be gone all the time. Did he get a promotion or something?”

June focused on her juicing, thinking to herself. Great. Now I’ve got to explain to my son how his dad has a girlfriend and would rather spend time with her than his kids. Screw that. I’ll do what he does. Lie. Turning to face Alex, she said, “That’s right honey, daddy got a promotion. Less money, more work. Because your dad is so good at what he does.”

“Less money, more work? That doesn’t sound so good,” Alex responded.

“Learn from his mistakes Alex. Your family is the most important thing in the world.”

Alex nodded and returned to his sandwich fixings. June reached into the fridge and pulled out some more carrots and apple for Alex’s juice. She just wanted to crawl up in bed and cry. What does that bitch see in her husband? He’s an addict, just barely off the pain pills. He hasn’t worked in years. June wondered if the whore knew that all their assets were in her name and hers alone. They had done that for safety back when he was trading stocks. Since he took up with the bimbo, she had been slowly draining the accounts and moving them into new and different places. Let him find them. Ha. She wasn’t about to be the laughing stock of the neighborhood.

Lana kissed him one last time before he walked out the door. It was already 1:30 a.m., and she couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just spend the night. He reached for her naked body and she shimmied back, “No way. If you’re leaving, no touching.” Jerry smiled at her, “I’ll be back for more tomorrow. I love you.” She softened at that, “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you too.” And she did. With all her heart. He was the best man she had ever met, and she couldn’t believe her luck. The only drawback was that evil wife of his, June. Every night, like clockwork, despite her best efforts and outfits, he left at 1:30 to go home. Saying he didn’t want the kids to wake up and not find him there. Kids my ass, she thought. Those kids are seventeen and twenty. They’ve got to realize their mother makes him insane. Why else would he be popping all those vicodin? When Jerry’s with her, he rarely takes anything. A couple of glasses of wine, but who doesn’t drink?

Walking back to the bedroom, Lana paused to pick up a wineglass and drink the last few sips. Foolish to let it go to waste. Placing the glass in the sink, she walked to the bathroom and smiled. She looked good. Those implants had done wonders for her life. Best five grand ever. She padded into the bedroom and fell asleep, dreaming of Jerry.

Driving the ten blocks home, Jerry popped two vicodin, knowing by the time he got home, it would kick in and he’d be able to fall asleep. That Lana was something special. When he was with her, he felt like he was the big man. Not like the whipped puppy June had created. If only he could find a way to move the money back into his name, or at least into a joint account. He hated being dependent on June for every dime, but that’s exactly how it seems. He had a couple of small accounts hidden deep, but not enough to escape her grips. Plus there were the kids to worry about. Alex has enough issues, what with the figure skating and all. How the hell did he create a boy figure skater. That kid’s going to need a fortune in therapy. Sighing, he wondered whether Lana had anyone else in her life. He was so worried that she would toss him, he made sure to spend as much time with her as possible, so she wouldn’t have a chance to hook up with anyone else.

Sex with Lana was special. She needed it as much as he did. Not like June. June would be totally content having sex once a week, and she would never let him do the things he did to Lana. He’d tried, but June made it clear once Alex was born that from then on, sex was just an obligation, not any kind of pleasure for her. Bitch. She was his wife. She should at least try and enjoy it once in a while. Jerry tried to remember the last time they had sex. It had to have been eight months or so ago, right before he had met Lana. It was amazing how much different the two women were. Lana was all curves and voluptuousness. All about pleasure and lust. June was about austerity and severity. There was no joy in that woman.

Jerry yawned, surprised at how tired he was. After eight months, he was used to this routine. But somehow, tonight, it was harder to focus on the road. He fidgeted in the seat, only seven more blocks. I can do this. By the time he pulled into the driveway, he was shot. Instead of getting out of the car, he passed out in the driver’s seat. Alex woke him up the next morning. “Dad. Dad. Wake up. Why are you in your car?” Jerry made some feeble excuse and stumbled into the house. June gave him the death stare as he walked upstairs to shower and shave. How much more can one man take?

By: Lauren J. Walter July 18, 2008

This is my email to myself over the course of the day:

Orange rocks?

 Questions:

• Colour or black and white?
• Outlined or patterned or flat shade?
• Biceps, forearms, knees, shins or ankles?
• Both sides or just one?
• How big?
• All at once? One rock at a time? One side at a time?

Answers:

You don't really want rocks tattooed on your arms. Calm down.

Name: Mist on River

Author: Silvester (Godalming, Surrey, England)

Comment: I believe, it is not particularly hard to guess where we are. :P Eh, Watson?

Extraction Site

I would have to admit at this point in time, I am a little nervous - nervous in a good way but nervous nonetheless.

Tomorrow is the day I leave for Lands End. Pete and Mary are due to catch the ferry over from Guernsey this afternoon. For them, the reality and enormity of this adventure is even more immediate.

Strangely enough, the most poignant thing I am concerned with is not fitness or the route but weight. I have packed my bags and they were heavy. So, I ditched a load of stuff, repacked and guess what, they are still heavy! One of the most common things I have read from other cyclist’s blogs and books is that they wish they had taken less stuff. However, we are likely to see all types of weather along the way and the last thing you want to be is cold, wet or uncomfortable.

Having to wash kit pretty much every day to keep the latent weight down reminded me of my time in South America, whilst on an Operation Raleigh expedition. Though the day was far less complicated in terms of activities vying for one’s attention, it was the necessities that were first and foremost: Collecting wood, building a fire, cooking, sleeping and chores. Long evenings were spent entrenched about the campfire, regaling the collective with stories and jokes. Mercifully, there were no ‘Kum Ba Yah’ moments.

We hope to maintain this blog on a regular basis, provided Orange can get their act together and deliver my new mobile phone to me today. It has been fantastic not having a phone for a month but I think the poor bugger who was passed on my old mobile number will probably be thankful if I manage to get reconnected so people stop pestering him.

Stay in touch and keep reading!

Pour rappel, l'iPhone (première génération) avait un processus de vente assez pariculier. Il n'était disponible que dans les boutiques Orange (opérateur exclusif de l'iPhone). Orange devait reverser une partie du CA généré par les communications des iPhones à Apple. Le prix de l'iPhone est de plus de 300€.

A la sortie de la v2, ou plus communémment appelée 3G, Apple a revu sa copie. Mais il laisse encore quelques contraintes.

Revenons sur mon cas. Je suis abonné Orange depuis une dizaine d'années. J'ai actuellement 2130 points de fidélité pour le renouvellement de mobile. Sur Internet, pour changer mon mobile, j'en ai même 2530. Pour bénéficier de l'offre de renouvellement pour un iPhone à un prix acceptable (199€ tout de même pour la version 8Go), il faut disposer de 2400 points. Confiant, je pensais que j'allais bénéficier des 2530 points disponibles pour le renouvellement. Du tout, je n'ai officiellement que 2130 points d'accordés pour le cas de l'iPhone. Orange m'annonce qu'aucun geste commercial ne peut être accorder car Apple a exigé qu'aucun point ne devait accordé commercialement pour le renouvellement par un iPhone. Seuls les acheteurs de la première version peuvent bénéficier d'un tel geste.

Alors, je suis condamné à attendre que mon quota de points passe les 2400 ou alors résilier mon abonnement à la fin de mon engagement (en novembre). Je vais peut-être plutôt changer d'opérateur...

Que pensez-vous de la politique commerciale d'Apple et Orange? Et vous, vous l'avez l'iPhone 3G?

- Link#1

Leave a comment please!

something about brightness in the middle of darkness
shows me that even in the darkness
of my mental situation,
even in the instability of my choice of occupation,
even in the fact that i want sunshine and life is still raining,
there is light.

i've anticipated
peace
for a long time
and perhaps if i could look up
and see an orange moon on a tired night,
maybe peace is not too far away
because i just got a glimpse of what it looks like today.
i just hope it won't shift like this eclipse,
that it won't be a singular occurrence
in the pages of my life
or something i can only achieve
in the poems that i write
because i need it in my mind, in my words, and in my thoughts.
i need peace to envelop me like nectar on tree bark,
sticking to my heart
and rubbing off on whoever i touch.

Imagine for a moment with me . . . take a deep deep sniff. Imagine that it smells like your siblings wet smelly sock at the bottom of a soccer bag. And there you have the smell of Munster cheese. But oh the taste. Kind to your palate, so smooth it seems to melt in your mouth. And the smell is gone! Thank heavens.

NOTES (as listed on beautyencounter.com): lotus flower, muguet, gardenia, sparkling jasmine accord, pink peony, rose de mai, tuberose, jasmine petals, orange flower, musk, ambrette, sandalwood, mousse de chine, vetiver

At work, a new girl that we had just hired always smelled wonderful to me. I finally asked her one day what she was wearing, and it was Ralph Lauren Blue. It was always in the back of my mind to go out and get it for myself, but I had put it off for years, until about a month ago. Some things just aren't the same as you remember them...

CLASSIFICATION: floral

AGE GROUP: college, mature

SIMILAR SCENT(s): n/a

FORM: eau de toilette

Perhaps my memory is foggy and I didn't like it back then as much as I remembered. Perhaps it was just a better suited fragrance for her than it is for me. Perhaps my tastes have just changed significantly (most likely). Or, perhaps all three. Either way, while I don't dislike Ralph Lauren Blue, it doesn't really hold my attention like it did back then. I certainly enjoy floral fragrances, although they are not my favorite. This one isn't a particularly feminine floral, but more so a watery, clean (not fresh - to me, there's a difference) floral.

While it does have staying power (the scent will be with you for the majority of your day), and is very consistent (for me, there weren't many changes in the scent from first application to the end of the day), it is also a little colorless (no pun intended). No real zing, no real zip. That's not necessarily a bad thing - there are definitely some moods and occasions that are not suited for a fragrance with "zip."

The simplicity (again - not necessarily a bad thing) of Ralph Lauren Blue also explains the relatively short review I have for it. I don't really have any complaints, and I don't really have any specific praises; I don't dislike it, but it's not something in my heavy rotation. I will, however, still wear it from time to time.

REPORT CARD

(We highly recommend reading our guide to understanding our grading system if you haven't already)

First sniff (bottle): B-

First sniff (skin): B-

Worn scent: C

Staying power: A-

Scent as compared to note(s): A

Bottle: B-

Overall: C+

Sometimes, a simple fragrance is what you crave.. or maybe more than just sometimes. Simple, perhaps classic, Ralph Lauren Blue is best suited for casual occasions/every day wear.

My mother wears Blue by Ralph Lauren, and I got into the habit of spraying some on when I was in the mood for something different. Blue reminds me of taking a long walk on the beach, wearing a polo shirt, capris, and flip flops. Rebecca described the scent as being "colorless", but I wouldn't say that; at worst, I would call Blue "non-offensive, with an oceanic twist".

There really isn't much to this fragrance.  It's pleasant enough, but I have no plans on purchasing it anytime soon.  Blue is a fresh scent (to me), as well as a "clean" scent. It is not your typical floral, and I never really associated it with being a floral fragrance.

First sniff (bottle): B

First sniff (skin): B

Worn scent: B

Staying power: A

Scent as compared to note(s): A

Bottle: B

Overall: B

So I left to go get dinner with my tail between my legs at Pick Up Stix where the Orange Peel Chicken was super spicy and where I listened to the In Rainbows album on my phone......

Forget about your house of cards
And I'll deal mine
Forget about your house of cards
And I'll deal mine

Fall off the table,
Get swept under
Denial, denial

The infrastructure will collapse
Voltage spikes
Throw your keys in the bowl

Kiss your husband goodnight

New buttons at Mau Feitio store in Coimbra, Portugal and soon at Águas Furtadas in Oporto. If you would like to order send me an email or a comment...
mau feitio

aguas furtadas

Dawanda shop

I promised some magazine info and it is coming. Next up - the U.S. of A. Actually, I'll level with you. I only spent a week in the States so I don't have a very broad knowledge of North American magazine publications. But my short time there did cement my obsession with all things Martha Stewart. If you're not a fan, you've been warned.

While I have been away I have been experimenting in the kitchen, dining out and not sleeping.

I think my husband believed all his Christmases had come at once when he awoke this morning to the smell of my experimental baking. I am a huge fan of the show Pushing Daisies and have been dying to try and make Chuck's Pear Pie with Gruyere* cheese baked into the crust. I left out the anti-depressants though! So far so good. It looks and smells great but it is dessert for a dinner we are going to tonight so I will have to update on the taste aspect along with a photo.

Yesterday's efforts came in the shape of a Lime & Poppy-seed Cake. I've had Lemon & Poppy-seed and I ADORE Orange & Poppy-seed (see my Birthday cake in an earlier post) but I had never heard of using Lime. It turned out quite well and I am pleased. I didn't have the correct cake tin size so I used my new Bend'n'Bake Loaf Pan so technically I made a Lime & Poppy-seed Loaf. I highly recommend checking out Wiltshire's Bend'n'Bake range - it's awesome.

Stepping away from the baking for a while, I did a bit of dinnertime dabbling as well.

• Halved and hollowed-out aubergine/eggplant stuffed with mince, lentils, tomatoes, extra aubergine, coriander and spiced up with lots of cumin and a little curry powder. Baked in the oven and served with natural yoghurt, lemon juice and mint.
• Grilled Portobello mushroom and Halloumi cheese burgers with salad and hot chilli & jalepeno relish.
• Pasta! Oh how I have enjoyed making and eating pasta again. This was my first experience with gnocci. Spinach and cheese filled gnocci with shredded chicken, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, cream and chunky rocket, cashew and parmesan pesto dip.
• Lamb casserole with lots of chunky veggies and my best attempt at mashed potatoes so far :)
• Roasted parsnips with EVOO and rosemary - yum! I heart parsnips. A great and often overlooked addition to any meat and veg meal.

It was my birthday recently so we went out to dinner that night. I am not a party animal or night time loving person by any stretch of the imagination so we didn't stray far from home and were home at a respectable time. My restaurant of choice was the Bistro at the Bomaderry Bowling Club. Cheap and cheery with delish food to boot. I actually became a (social) member while I was there $7.00 for 1 year. If you're in the area do check it out. Great service, yummy food and a really nice atmosphere.

As my Aunt was unable to join us for dinner, she took me out to lunch a few days later. I'm still learning the area so she chose the place. The Seahaven Cafe. I kid you not when I say that it looks like a shack from the outside and I dare say most people simply drive right past it. But it's a great little place when you walk in the door, with decking out the side for an al fresco experience overlooking the beach at Gerroa. The food is simply delectable. After much deliberation I settled on the (quite spicy and rather large) vegetable samosas with aubergine pickles and minted yoghurt. I could only manage to eat one of the samosas, partly because I was seated right next to the dessert cabinet and knew I needed to save room. I have no idea what it was made from but I had a slice of the Passionfruit Japonaise Cake and I don't regret one single terribly fattening mouthful. The service staff were as friendly and helpful as I have ever seen and with the discovery of a breakfast menu I will definitely be back.

Seahaven Cafe
19 Riverleigh Ave
Gerroa
Ph: (02) 4234 3796

During all of this I have not been sleeping. I haven't had a full night of sleep since last Friday and it is starting to make me a little crazy. In the wee small hours of the morning I like to read to make the time go by a little quicker. Check out my 'Read Me' section to see what I've been thumbing through. Yesterday's trip the the local library was a good one and I am currently enjoying the very last book written by Stephen E. Ambrose before his death in October 2002. It is entitled "To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian". For some unknown reason I have always had a keen interest in American history so this book really appealed to me.

'Til next time.

*I found out the hard way that this cheese is not an easy one to find. Well, not in a medium-sized town in Australia anyway. I managed to find a slice of it in the very tiny specialty cheese section of Woolworths and had to pay through the nose for it too. It better be good!

Next tree I make will be a bonsai tree or a apple blossom tree. Not sure which I would like better.

Well It is now after one am here in Norway and my hubands PS3 just told him to go to bed for his own health. LOL. So I suppose I am going to head this advise, I mean if a PS3 tells you to go to bed, that's gotta mean something. :D Goodnight all!

-Heidi

Manly drinking etiquette is important in today's society. With the right etiquette applied you can become a cold, hardened sociopath who doesn't care about anything, or anyone, you'll literally be harder than frozen dog shit. Without it, you are nothing more than an effeminate little nancy boy spending his, bitch-boy, pocket money on alcohol he can't hope to appreciate, floundering and drowning in a sea of your own feminine hormones.

First off, If it isn't beer, whiskey, vodka, or a bourbon, you shouldn't be drinking it.

Here's a basic run down of the "dos, the don'ts", the "do drink"s and the "don't drink"s, of dominant male culture.

Beer, the wine of the common man.

Drinking beer is often done in a time saving, haphazard, fashion by men.

"The faster I drink it, the faster my night will stop sucking." - Seems to be the generally applied rule these days. But, a fine beer, is like a fine meal, granted it's a liquidized meal, but it's a meal all the same. You should savour each moment of drinking your golden nectar. Drink it slow. Another important tip would be to not spill your beer over a waitresses breasts, it may seem hilarious at the time, and while being slapped in the face is definitely a sign of manhood, wasting beer most definitely isn't.

Whiskey, brewed from Clint Eastwood's sweat.

Ah whiskey, my alcoholic beverage of choice. It should be noted, that whiskey, is a different breed of animal. If you're used to drinking beer, you may need to practice drinking whiskey at home. So, break up with your girlfriend, buy a bottle of Jameson's, go home, and sit in the dark and practice your whiskey face.

In an ideal world, no man would suffer from whiskey face, i.e., that distortion of ones entire face, that looks like an epileptic, tied to a chair, in front of a strobe light.

However, this world is not ideal, and if it is entirely impossible for you to drink whiskey without pulling faces, at least try to ensure that when you involuntary spasm into your whiskey face, you look like Clint Eastwood having a shit. The preferred whiskey face is always "grimace." (More on grimacing later.)

Whiskey, like most alcoholic beverages, tends to make me quite violent and angry, which is probably helps to explain why I, self-destructively, drink it by the bottle.

However, it should be noted, that after consuming an entire bottle of Whiskey, your ability to throw a punch, let alone fight will have been reduced to zero. I like many others learnt this the hilarious way.

Vodka, it's mantastic!

Vodka tastes like having an angry Russian man shove sand-paper, and carpet that a cat has urinated all over, down your throat. As such, it's really fucking manly. Again drinking Vodka takes practice. Vodka should never be taken in shot form, a shot of Vodka is moronic, and for women.

Vodka doesn't have a high enough alcohol percentage to be taken as a shot, I'd just like to make this clear, because I see way too many people asking for shots of Vodka and Whiskey these days, if you're going to order a shot, it is to be absinthe 75% or higher.

Bourbon, the gentleman's drink.

Bourbon one of the few drinks that can make you look like either of two extremes, a 75 year old down and out heroin junkie, or a sophisticated socialite on a high flying night out. Ensure you look like the right one.

Bourbon is a drink that should not be thrown down your throat in a matter of milliseconds to the chant of "CHUG CHUG CHUG." So don't do it. It makes you look like a moron.

Alcopops, the scourge of male alcoholism.

Alcopops make you look like a slutty teenage girl. Don't drink them, ever. Let's say a man comes up to you and your woman in a bar, he notes you're drinking an alcopop, he starts hitting on your woman, feeling her up and what not. You demand he stop, as all manly men do.

What does he do? He continues.

Why? Because he has no respect for you, he sees you as an uglier version of your girlfriend with no tits and no luke-warm hole in your crotch.

In short alcopops are about as manly as sitting down to pee.

Mixing Spirits

It makes you a little fucking girl. What's the fucking point in ordering a drink as manly as Vodka, only to show a complete lack of respect for "the destroyer of men" by mixing it with fucking orange juice.

Don't mix shit, only women mix their drinks, and you're not a woman.

10 manly things to do on a night out.

1. Fight.
2. Drink.
3. Smoke a cigar.
4. Get laid.
5. Have sex with a friend of your ex.
6. Use a fat friend as a wing-man.
7. Be really misogynistic.
8. Make fun of the weakest man in the group.
9. Get a blow-job in a toilet cubical.
10. Destroy public property. (I highly recommend phone boxes.)

• 2 filetes de salmón fresco (1,5 cm de grosor)
• 1 queso de cabra (4-5 cm de grosor)
• El zumo de 2 naranjas
• Papel de aluminio

PREPARACIÓN:

Se coge un recipiente para horno y se vierte el zumo de naranja. Se colocan trozos de queso de cabra y los cubrimos con los filetes de salmón. Se pone el resto del queso de cabra encima de los dos filetes de salmón. Calentar el horno durante 15 minutos a 200 grados. A continuación, se cubre el reicipiente con papel de plata y se mete al horno a 150 grados durante unos 30-40 minutos. Este plato sabe mucho mejor al día siguiente de la preparación. Buenísimo!

Last year we tried to grow pumpkins and failed miserably. Admittedly, the attempt was half hearted. The planting bed was hard-packed clay in an area that was formerly used for storing pipe. I dug deep holes and filled them with planting mix and compost, but the resulting vines were spindly and produced a small, thin crop.

Our first try at Big Max (Giant), Lumina (White), and Jack-Be-Little (Miniature) produced only a few little pumpkins. I blamed the poor production on the lack of bees, but after the changes we made this year, I can say that the bees were not totally to blame.

On the left is the BEFORE pic of our strawberry box in front of the newly planted pumpkin patch. On the right you can see our flourishing pumpkins (AFTER), now invading the strawberries.

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Success! Two white "Lumina" pumpkins on the vine.

After making the changes below, I am happy to say that we have a strong crop of pumpkins this year and daily visits by the local bees. We’ve never been more excited to see bees in the garden.

If you want to grow pumpkins in your backyard, try these 6 steps:

1. Full sun. We planted our pumpkins in the same spot this year because it gets full sun all day long. It has a southern exposure and is the warmest and sunniest spot in our yard.
2. Raised bed. This year I built a 4ft x10 ft box and filled it with 6 inches of “garden mix” from the local landscape yard. In large beds, always add a few stepping stones or boards to walk on so that you won’t compact the soil. Pumpkins like to root their vines into the soil as they grow, which provides more nutrients to the plant and, more importantly, the pumpkins! A raised bed creates the perfect environment.
   
3. Drip irrigation. Pumpkins like water…lots of it…and at regular intervals. I recently read about a woman who lost her prized Big Max pumpkin when it received a large amount of water all at one time and swelled to the point of cracking. Our drip system is on a timer so the pumpkins get a daily dose of H2O.
4. Mulch. We added a 2 inch layer of shredded cedar mulch to the raised bed once the plants were about 4 inches tall. This serves two purposes: (1) Moisture is retained in the soil and is less likely to dry out on hot days and (2) the pumpkins have a dry surface on which to grow. If pumpkins come in contact with damp soil for an extended period they can discolor and, in the worse cases, soften and rot.
5. Flowers and Bees. Pumpkins need bees. Bees like flowers. Attract bees to your pumpkin patch and your flowers are more likely to be pollinated. We planted a row of sunflowers along the back of the box, along with zinnias, marigolds, and rosemary, but the pumpkins grew faster than expected. There are pumpkins on the vine but no sunflowers yet (we’ll plant them earlier next year). Other bee-friendly flowers that we have in the yard include azalea, rhododendron, rose, thyme, red apple, agapanthus, lobelia, lavender, columbine, cosmos, daisy, pansy, primrose, lamb’s ears, sage, poppy, basil, boysenberry, orange. Check out this list of bee-friendly flowers for ideas.
   
6. VF-11. We apply VF-11 plant food weekly. This stuff is incredible, and seems like magic. Buy some and use it on all your plants.
   

Check out these amazing photos that Calvin took of the bees in our pumpkin patch.

And here a few more pumpkin pics...

Trevor just finished an iPhoto class. Here's his take on the pumpkin patch...

Thank you, Sarah, for the seeds!

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Another sky photo.