One of the most frustrating things in the entire world is to have tons of great ideas, inspiration and creativity but not enough cash. Tomorrow is pay day but the cheque is going to be miniscule, pathetically small. Our hours have been cut back by more than half at the store. So, though there are so many things I want to do, I can only pick and choose the cheapest and balance my cash against keeping gas in the car.

The other sad thing is that I will be moving again. That means that here we are at the start of garden season and I can't really plant anything. Nothing that I expect to see again or even see in bloom in some cases. I look at the seed catalogues and have to hold back the whines, the sighs and... no, I don't cry. I'm a grown up woman after all.

But, it's hard to look forward to garden season knowing I can't fully take part. I remember having an apartment garden and feeling the same way. Although I dragged all the houseplants outside on the balcony and stuck up 4 window boxes, it really wasn't enough. There was so much more I wanted to do. Perennials for instance. My favourite flowers are all perennials. In the apartment the best perennials I could manage were houseplants that really didn't get much in the way of flowers.

However, one year my cactus bloomed! That was a huge surprise. I thought it was a parasite and almost picked the little flower bud off. I'm not sure what stopped me, but I'm glad something did. After a few years with more blooms each year I moved again and the cactus died. It just didn't like the new place I guess. Ever since I have watched to find the same kind of cactus again. But, though I see one now and then it's rare that they look all that healthy, worth the 10$ they usually stick on their tags. I don't want to buy some half dead/ diseased looking cactus. Not even worth asking for a discount on them cause I know how sensitive they are. Once they start to slid off the deep end they don't seem to bounce back.

Anyway, I think tomorrow, my one big expenditure will be a new cactus. If I find one. I miss having that cactus around. I originally bought it when I was 16 and I was in my 20's when it first bloomed. I can't believe I was that patient.

Good evening, at least that's what it is right now. I'm here tonight to talk about web fever. You may wonder how that is possibly home and garden related and think 'she's really stretching it this time' or 'she's finally lost it' but no, charming reader. I'm very likely to be taking on yet another website. HerGardenWeb http://www.hergardenweb.com/ My own rambunctious, carelessly spelled version of HGTV.

What can you do with a woman who just can't stop taking on websites? I'd try to stop myself but the more I try the more I keep talking myself into doing it.

Anyway, this is your fair warning, keep your dandelions, your fabric scraps and your wood chips close on hand, you might need them. Sooner or later I'll find something for you to do with all those things.

Plus, if any of you have garden sites this would be a good time to email me about link exchanges or other great promotion ideas.

Back to your seedlings and good night,

Me and AOL (the other web monopoly).

If I had a million dollars...

What would you do? Really, skip all that nice stuff about sharing it, giving a chunk to charity and relatives. Think about picking up a cheque for a million dollars, all yours. You don't even have to tell anyone about it.

I'd buy a house. That would be first. My brother is a real estate typhoon. (No, that's not a typo). He could drive me around, looking at houses. I don't even know what area I would live in. I might even go for the big move out to BC, Canada's west coast. I really like it out there. I could be right in the mountains, or right on the Pacific Ocean watching killer whales.

Next, I'd start buying furnishing for my house. I already know just what bedding I want from the store. I've been keeping an eye on these luxurious jersey sheets since they first came into the store, just after Christmas. How nice it would be to have new sheets.

After the house was all done I'd start making some garden plans. Not too much as I don't want to spend all my time digging right away. Who knows what great stuff you might dig up and miss out on? The first year of a new house you could just watch your garden and see what comes up. Of course, you can add tons of annuals in any bare patches. I'd keep a garden journal.

When the weather cools off and Autumn is nipping in the air I'd start to travel. There are so many places I want to see. It would easily take me all Autumn and Winter to see even half of what I want to see.

I'd be back just in time to order the first seed catalogues for my garden. Likely, I'd hire someone for Spring cleaning. If you have enough money in the bank would you want to clean windows?! Not me.

Wish me luck. The draw is up to $25 million this Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to buy a ticket.

Not much to see in our gardens now. Things are turning from green to brown and muddy. Or are they?

What is so bad about brown anyway? Take a look at some of the great shapes, textures, colours and movements going on right under your nose. In our garden I was watching snowballs being tossed around in the wind. I forget what the plant was called when it was in bloom, now they are huge brassy coloured snowballs on sticks. Kind of pretty in their way. That got me started looking at the rest of our so called dormant garden.

If you really look you can see that it's not dormant, not yet at least. There are tons of birds around still. We won't even talk about those other garden raiders: squirrels, raccoons, skunks, rabbits, the odd deer and pets. I like watching the birds in the garden. How do those little things survive all winter long? On days when we are complaining of cold there are those fragile looking birds out there, 24 hours, 7 days a week right outside in the cold. It's a bit humbling to think that those tiny birds are tougher, more rugged than we are.

Of course we know kids like to be outside, in the muck and snow (if you are lucky enough to have snow). Kids enjoy nature. Even the most game addicted kid I know likes to get out there once his parents push him out the door. The mud may seem just mucky to us but if you look at it, there is life in that mud. It's holding the essentials of everything your garden needs. Also, if there is still mud it's not all that cold yet. You still have time to wrap up and tidy up your garden for the winter.

Not a lot to do over the winter in a garden. Before it starts you can cut back the things that have finished off. I am perfectly happy to leave most of them as they are. It gives you something to look at besides a garden full of stumps. Also, its natural that way. Later, the snow will come and push them down to become their own natural fertilizer.

Some plants will not over winter and those need to be brought in and packaged up for the winter. If you can, leave them in pots and let them go dormant in your basement, laundry room, or whatever available space you have. A coat closet is okay if they won't be in your way there. All they really need is to exist without being disturbed much. Don't water them too much, some don't need any water at all. It's hard to know which are which until you have experimented a few seasons. This is one of the times it's great to have a garden journal. You can keep track of all your plant experiments and remember which plant did what.

Another thing I'm watching in our garden this season are the evergreens. All summer they sort of seem bland and boring. They don't DO anything. It's only now that we can appreciate them. Now, they are in their element. Around them the garden is shades of brown, gold and white, the perfect foil for their splash of green.

So, enjoy your winter garden. It's not the end, just a new beginning.

"Nothing's beautiful from every point of view." Horace.

"The main purpose of a garden is to give the owner the best and highest kind of earthy pleasure." Gertrude Jekyll.

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

"Hurt not the Earth, Neither the Sea, nor the Trees."

"You don't have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share." Augusta Carter.

"If you pray for rain be prepared to deal with some mud."

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." Henry David Thoreau.

"Happiness must grow in one's own garden."

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer." Anne Morrow Lindbergh.