One of the things I've found in the last two weeks is that, as a way of dealing with my emotions following the tragedy, I've been doing a whole lot of clean up and organizing. Last weekend we tackled the house--a kind of deep fall cleaning--as well as meal planning which had fallen woefully to the wayside ever since we'd moved (a year and a half ago!). This weekend it was the garden. Now generally, I am a seasonal gardener. I love getting out there in the spring and doing all the hard work; in the summer I do the maintenance kind of stuff; in fall the clean-up and in winter I want a break (I guess it comes from growing up in the Midwest; I still haven't gotten into the year round swing that one can garden by in Oregon). So this weekend I got started on the fall cleanup and getting things ready for the next round of new beds and changes that will come either later this fall or early in spring. So, I tore out a three areas full of old and ugly iris (about 8 wheelbarrows full), and got those areas ready for replanting. I pulled out the sweet pea leavings and prepared that area for a naturalized herbal lawn (it's part of an herb walk in the back). I cleaned out a couple of other beds and prepared the area for having the adjoining sod removed to widen the planting beds. I weeded the 135 foot border we have with a vacant lot next door. I also pulled a goodly amount of the annual flowers and such from the raised beds, which had seen better days. In the process, I unearthed a variety of spring bulbs--narcissus, crocus, grape hyacinth, and allium--which will get replanted next weekend. Now if it would only rain, to help soften the soil so we can get started on the new beds. Kari Kari Whittenberger-Keith kariwk@oregon.uoregon.edu Managing Editor, Old House Chronicle http://www.oldhousechronicle.com