You are such a thinker and planer Arif. I love hearing the way you think things out.
I am one that tends to live one day at a time when it comes to my gardens plans.

Lynn those raised Semp beds, etc. Are you telling me all is spur of the moment . Planning and dreaming about the garden is the only solace in a crazy world .
Regards,
Arif.

Arif. You are soooo right.
I make plans all winter to keep from going stirr crazy.I dont necessarily complete tham.

Who completes anything. I have a half complete composter waiting for my kind attention. I don't want to play with cold metal. Finished pruning my grapes somehow. Hanging pots, seeds a lot of things half complete. Leaving aside the garden, a lot of things pending on the house maintenance side. Another two weeks left of this winter lethargy then with spring things should start moving around, I hope. May, June peak heat and again flat but not as flat as in winter. I used to love and wait for winter once .
Regards,
Arif.

I agree ,winter was fun when I could skate on ice and sled in snow.
Now its just the boreing perio between fall and spring.

But it is also a time of dreaming, search, resting & renewal.

I am learning the resize feature in Picasa. Just conquered it today.

Snow is gone for a couple of days .I tipped my garden cart over so the next highwind day wont move it to the neighbors.

Oh Jo Ann, I can't wait to see what you come up with using Picasa. I started using it last year to make banners/collage and such. It is a great program to help in putting together ideas for new containers.

This winter I sorted all my photos (the ones you can hold in your hands), made copies and sent or email to relatives that would be surprised by them; worked on my will (where do the albums go when the pics have been sorted and put into albums?), got DH to get out his hammer and level and hung pictures in the house,
sanded and painted a new/used planter in the garage and because of being too anxious, I even went ahead and planted it so that I won't have to do it in the spring, realized I could listen to my French for Dummies while I do the handwashing of the dishes every nite (dishwasher has never been used), internet shopping for this years' birthday presents, and on and on...
This is the season to get all that house, clean-out-the-cobweb type of work out of the way (it helps when the DH feels the same way) so that when we all get out of the house in the spring, we don't feel guilty about the stuff that wasn't done in the house...Right?

Lynn I have always used Picasa to collage the combos.
Its a great photo editing program.

Yikes, even Bev is talking about wills. Yes Lynn winter is for hibernation and dreaming but my hibernation has finished for this season. Went looking for terracotta tiles to make my fern, cool area plants beds. They wanted to give me tuffa or concrete but I opted for terracotta. Might as well use the principle of evaporation to give a little boost cooling. Lot of outstanding issues to be cleared by end April. Then the glorious heat will start and secondary hibernation till start of Monsoons.
Regards,
Arif.

Arif: tufa just disolves here.I do like the looks for texture and color.Our winters really break up the containers.I dont have dry storage room.

Your plans sound wonderful.Keep sending pictures.

Try concrete tell them to put some wire reinforcement in side. We also have the same problem but ours is a bit different. We mix in straw I think the long fibers in it give strength and lessen the weight.
My daughters went and brought home a golden male Cocker spaniel baby and my female Sussex has excepted it. I wonder what the future surprise will be. Front part Cocker and rear part Sussex or front part Sussex and rear part Cocker .
Regards,
Arif.

You could call them Susckers LOL.
I made tufas with peatmoss and cement mix.We can buy it by the bag.That was 10 years ago and I was much stronger.We used styrofoam forms.The trick is to get the proportions just right for a good bind.

A puppy. How old is it Arif? Does it still have puppy breath, I do love the scent of puppy breath. Cosexx Spaniel?

Photos Arif, of the new tiles and puppy.

Jo Ann, you don't have any of the tufa you made, it all fell apart?

I forgot to cover it one winter and it disolved so much it was useless.

Maybe polymer binders of some sort would help.As I said 10 years ago so the method has probably been updated and improved

Four months old and very frisky. A good teaching tool though . My eldest took it into her room and it promptly pooped and peed. She did not know involved in her college work when the youngest goes in and starts chanting some litany to bug her elder sister. Screams, shouts and out goes the puppy then I get involved . If you are going to keep something alive then that something has to poop and pee. First dog was my headache because the children were to young. Now let them baby sit, clean up after it and train it. I am going to really enjoy myself this time.
I will post a picture soon if it stands still long enough. My thirty year old(dog years) female poor thing is so tired after putting up with that bundle of energy that we had to separate them. Now she is snoring loud enough to wake up the dead. Both are golden.
Regards,
Arif.