Hey Bobert, if you run out, send the folks who still want hyacinth beans to me -- got a double handful of dried pods on the dresser, and another double handful of Scarlet Runner Bean pods, those lovely maroon-spotted lavender beans I gave you and Janie at the Getaway; if anyone wants some, PM me.

I've got 2/3 of an acre and a 4-bedroom house in the suburbs outside Washington DC, that I bought out from under a former housemate this past July. Now I get to do all the things I wanted to do to this place before but he wouldn't spring for, both inside and out. This summer was the back yard's turn. I've learned enough about drystone construction to build 75 feet of curved 2- to 3-foot-tall walls and a staircase this summer to terrace the sides of my long narrow valley of a yard. I used broken concrete in some places, found stone in others, and finished this year's planned work about three weeks ago -- four large beds worth. I think I know every chunk of that rock by name. Once I filled the new raised beds with a mix of tasty stuff for soil, I planted about 20 shrubs and trees, with perennials from asters to yucca beneath (don't think I have anything that starts with Z) and a generous salting of spring bulbs. I still have six good-sized trees to plant (including two three-foot white pines I just got B&B on sale) and about 50 bulbs to get into the ground this weekend, and some general cleanup to do. And a friend who's moving has promised me a 7 Sons shrub and a young Kentucky Coffee Tree if I'll come dig them up Saturday. Not sure where they're going yet. But then I'm done outside for the year (hah!) and can start arranging for Spring plant swaps and laying detailed plans for next year's construction. I want to build three more abutting beds with lower walls out back next year, and widen my front driveway by three feet where I've taken out a huge pine tree, using pavers to match the patio, edged with a new bed that will get enough sun to support irises and sages and a pie-cherry tree.   I also want to build an arbor out of copper pipe this winter to go over the entry to my front patio. I need to learn to sweat copper first, but that's what long winter Saturdays are for, no?

It's supposed to get cold the next couple nights, then get warm again, and I hope the weather cooperates this weekend. I remember planting bulbs in shorts and a t-shirt on New Years' Day a couple years back -- and also shoveling three feet of snow on the same rough date last year...

LynnT