In a message dated 4/14/2006 2:00:19 A.M. Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Next week, I return home to NJ. Spring is well underway there with flowers, and birds, and green grass. My house is as I left it - safe, secure, and filled with our family photos, well loved furniture, and a garden to dig in. I will never take it for granted again after these last few months in Louisiana. Julip; There is one thing about Montclair ; it was so well planned (or parts anyway ) that by the 1920's the lots were such that they couldn't really be subdivided . George Innes was a eccentric , wonderful landscape painter who moved his studio to Montclair (Belleview Ave ) in the 1880's and 90"s while keeping his commercial address in New York thus setting off a trend that allowed the well to do like wise . The railroad enabled the businessman to get to the Hoboken ferry and be in lower manhattan in no time . Innes like every gardener and home owner to follow insured the town and its boulevards were lined with hardwood trees ,slate sidewalks , front and back yards to garden ,grow vegetables ,and in the case of my yankee grandfather raise bees and grow bearded Iris , and build a secluded backyard paradise of gold fish ponds and marble sculpture. Mountainside ,I trust still has world famous Iris gardens and the Van Vleck estate is a must this time of year ......not to mention Julips front yard ...have one on the porch for Py xoxoxo -- To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to: <http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>