I have two small rosemary plants, but these are ginormous and are supposed to be relatively cold hardy. The more established a plant is, the more chance it has of surviving in zone 7b.

Usually a good way for my to destress and get calmer is to do something like an exercise video with tricky steps, or Dance Dance Revolution, or something like that where I'm using my whole body and I need to concentrate on how I'm moving so I don't have brain space left for stress. Everything that I can think of that usually works for that is something that will just kill my ankle. I need to find new ways to destress, and I don't know where to start. The only way I can think of that I've ever been able to calm down while sitting still is either going to a beach or climbing a tree and sitting there for a while, and neither is really practical right now.

Whee another earthquake!

Started the day with 8 things on my list

add 5

have done 7

Not to bad

Put on a musical hil, and convert the dance to one that can be done on the sofa.

that's all I've got

Gardening hivemind question: Our backyard is a little sandy and dismal (and grey and foggy), but I'd love to do something to mend the soil and get things actually growing. Food plants would be awesome, but really anything green and moderately cheerful would be great. I know that the yard used to be overrun with blackberry bushes (torn out by landlady many years ago, but I don't think she'd bother to come out and do it again), so obviously those will grow happily. Any other suggestions for something hardy and grey-weather-resistant?

And sub-questions - will rosemary grow from cuttings? And what would we need to mix in to make the soil actually soily instead of sandy?

Put on a musical hil, and convert the dance to one that can be done on the sofa.

I'm trying this with Hairspray. Maybe just the arm movements, and moving my legs without putting any weight on them, will be enough.

I need to get more musical DVDs. I think that I've just got Pal Joey left, and then I'll have watched all the ones I own, in the past week.

3.7, one of several in the same spot off the coast of Santa Monica. I hope it's Godzilla.

JZ, excellent questions. One thing that does seem super hardy along with the aforementioned rosemary: geraniums. Some geraniums end up looking too "woody" but there are better strains now, that are more leafy. They're impossible to kill!

I had a a terrible time finding anything that worked in San Bruno because of the wind and fog. It's seriously a LOT of the reason for my move to the Oakland.

Oh, look! A tantrum in my living room complete with stompy feet, lying prone, and screachy-screaming.

Hitting mommy with comb = No Dessert. Sorry kiddo. Scream all you want.

Yes, you can grow rosemary from cuttings and it should do well there, considering that the one Deb has is the size of a Buick. Your best bet is raised beds, which you can make simply by piling on extra soil or by edging the beds with anything you can get cheap like scrap wood and broken concrete. One friend used beer bottles with the tops stuck in the ground. Your main concern in amending the soil is organic matter. Here a soil amendment that's made from ground up pine bark works well and is reasonably priced, but you may be able to get free compost from the city or there may be some other agricultural product available there. Compost or other organic matter will help the sand hold water.