I live in Tennessee. I was recently diagnosed with Lyme Disease. (In some parts of the country, they call it Lymes Disease, but technically, it's Lyme Disease.)

With approximately 20,000 new cases reported each year, Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States... Lyme disease became nationally notifiable in 1991." Source

It was after a month of "weird" symptoms, several trips to the doctor, and several rounds of tests, that they finally realized that Lyme Disease was the reason for all of my recent ailments. Lyme Disease was actually the last thing they tested for.

But... I'm one of the lucky ones. Typically people go through upwards of 20 doctors and years of wrong diagnoses and treatments before they are accurately diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

A new thing I'm trying this year to tame my allergies is: HONEY!

But not just any honey... it has to be local honey made right where you live.

Here's how it works...

 Plants are pollinated by both insects and by the wind.

Honeybees will collect pollen from each of these species and it will be present in small amounts in honey that was gathered by bees that were working areas where these species are growing. When people living in these same areas eat honey that was produced in that environment, the honey will often act as an immune booster. The good effects of this local honey are best when the honey is taken a little bit (a couple of teaspoons-full) a day for several months prior to the pollen season. Source

Should you have your garage sale in the spring, summer, winter, or fall? Which months are best for yard sales? Which days are the best? What's the best time to have a garage sale?

The answers to these questions largely depend on where you live.

Here's the scoop...

I've been spending the past couple of days repotting some trees & plants. (...At times, Tenor thinks he's helping when he's not. But that's a whole 'nother story.)

You see, we've been trying to find a few nice trees to cultivate until we move into our new log home -- where there are currently no trees around the homesite itself, even though there is a forest of trees between the backyard and the lake

I share the highlights of my experiences below.

But first...

Sign up to receive 2 free tree seedlings! (Limited to the first 10,000 requests between now and May 31, 2007.)

UPDATE 8/6/07: It took 3 full months, but I finally received word that I was one of 35,000 people across the U.S. and Canada who will receive 2 live seedling trees as part of the Doubletree Pledge to Plant Challenge. They wrote:

As a result of your efforts and those of others who participated in this unique re-greening campaign, more than 150,000 trees will be planted by people just like you as well as through reforestation efforts by the National Arbor Day Foundation."

Despite the fact that it's Spring, and we might have had some really nice, warm, sunny days once in lately... I have a piece of advice for you:

DON'T PLANT YET!

Take it from me... Been there, done that.

One of the distinct differences I notice between living in Tennessee and living in Florida is this:

Come Arbor Day each year, you feel MUCH more inclined to actually "plant a tree" when you live in Florida, than you do when you live in Tennessee. I mean, here in Tennessee we're still dealing with below-freezing temperatures (and even SNOW in some parts)!

Which might explain why there's a different Arbor Day designated for each state... Did you know that?!

Check out this list to see when Arbor Day is celebrated in your state.

In Tennessee, today's the day (first Friday in March each year). Whereas in Florida, your day was January 21st (third Friday in January each year). NATIONAL Arbor Day is April 28th for 2006 (the last Friday in April each year).

But even if you DON'T plant a tree on this day... you might want to do your ecological duty and thinkabout planting a tree in the very near future.

Summer fun fact: Pontoon boats are "Jeeps of the water".

They're not built for speed, or looks... they're just built for FUN!

Listen to Bud Light's Real Men of Genius "Mr. Homemade Pontoon Boat Maker".

Just as you can rent a Jeep for day, or even a weekend... you can also rent a pontoon boat for a little off-road fun afloat!

The best part: Take a couple friends with you, and it's a fairly inexpensive way to have a good time on the water.

Land-Locked?... Take A Drive!
If you live in a place that's land-locked (like us), then you're probably THRILLED whenever you have an occasion to spend some time on the water in the summertime.

The answer: take a road trip! (Here's what we do.)

Our Review of the World's Longest Yard Sale...
The World's Longest Yard Sale took place this past weekend (August 4-7, 2005) along U.S. Highway 127 from Gadsden, Alabama... through the state of Tennessee... and up to Covington, Kentucky, just shy of Ohio. They get upwards of 100,000 yard sale shoppers each year.

Of course, we had to blog this!

And of course, you can expect to find the real "inside scoop" here when it comes to...

...what it's REALLY like.
...whether it's worth making the drive.
...whether it's all that's it's cracked up to be.
...the high points (and low points).
...what you should know if you go.
...if we'd go again.

Well, we did our good deed for the day and gave our trusty old weight bench to someone who will hopefully use it more than we did.

We got some nice feedback from the new owners over on the Freecycle site:

"Thanks soooo much to the couple that gave us the weight bench. It is wonderful and in GREAT condition. We want to express our deepest appreciation. God Bless!"
-Laura and John

Freecycle is the site we used to find a new owner for our weight bench.

A few weeks ago, we went camping with our friends, Mark and Erin, plus their little one (named Sophie) and their OTHER little-one-on-the-way (named... whatever Sophie decides to call him THIS week).

This was Sophie's first camping trip. And for a 4-year-old, this was a big deal! (Aside from being "broken up with" by her boyfriend at school last week, that is.)

In fact, we were worried we might not find a campsite that was available close to home... At which point, we were informed that our camping expedition would, in fact, still take place -- it would just be moved to Sophie's backyard instead!

This camping trip was happening, rain or shine... campsite or no campsite.

Freecycle is a grassroots project where people are giving (and receiving) stuff for FREE in their own towns.

It's like a mini-eBay, only it's categorized by regions, so you "join" the group that's in the same city or county as you. (That way, it's easy to GIVE or GET items to one another.)

If any of the neighbors spotted me late last night poking around our yard and playing in the flower garden... they must've thought I was crazy!

It looked as if I got a late-night urge to do some gardening.

Truth is, last night's "frost warning" sent me scurrying to protect our recent $200+ investment of flowers!

Whenever we're contemplating moving to a new area, we take a picture using that area's natural surroundings to creatively spell out the name of the town we're considering.