At least in my opinion it was an investment.

We have an orchard, with about 12 trees in it and room for about 12-16 more, plus a small vineyard. Each year we try to add more to it. Yesterday we went to Lowe's and bought 1 plum, 1 peach, 3 grapes and 2 blueberrys. We will try to plant them between rain showers today.

I say its an investment, as it will raise the property value of our farm to have the orchard and vineyard, and we also will be getting the fruit to eat, can and perhaps sell.

So far we have several apple, 3 peach, 2 plum.

We lost and need to replace cherry and pear.

We also have 2 types of grapes and blueberries, and are planning on putting in strawberry beds in the next week or so as well.

to a nearby college for summer science camp next month. It is for 7th and 8th grade girls, and they only take 40, so she was very excited that she was picked. She had to write some science essays to get in.

I was told by one of the science camp workers that she is one of the youngest, if not the youngest to have ever been accepted to the camp in its history. She met all the qualifications, tested and wrote for it just like the older girls however. They were also impressed that she is homeschooled.

I am finding it a little easier to type now that the stitches in my hand are out, but it still hurts. I've not seen the hospital bill yet, but should only be $75. The dr told me to color and that really hurts--the stitches were across the knuckles and it doesnt want to stretch to hold the crayon.

And I have been playing with it ever since. Its a Bosh front loader. It was on sale at Lowes (for $798-normally $925), then they took off an additional 10%,(bring it down to $718) plus I had a $25 off anything over $250 coupon that came in the mail, and DH donated his $45 birthday gift card to the cause. We installed it last night and I ran the first load (as recommended with no clothing) before bed. This morning I started doing real laundry in it.

It is VERY quiet, although when it spins out, it makes the cold air vent above my desk ping very softly. I went downstairs and discovered the ventwork runs from my desk to right below the washer, so that would explain it.

The most water this particular washer will use per load is 16 gallons--that is if I set it on heavy, extra dirty. If I have it set on a lighter setting, it would use between 6 and 15 gallons.

It also has a water heater built into it if it senses the water is too cold, but I have that feature turned off for now.

It is energy efficent for water, electric and gas. If you use electric for hot water heating, it will cost $17 a year to run. If you use gas hot water, the cost is estimated at $13 per year. That is based on 8 loads of laundry a week. I estimate my costs will be lower, as I normally wash in cold water. And, since this washer is bigger than my old one, I can do 4 loads of laundry a week. (2.5 cu ft vs 4.5 cu ft)

It spins clothes out so well that jeans and towels are just damp. So, they will line dry quicker, and if I use the dryer, the jeans are done in 10 minutes. It used to take jeans 40 minutes to dry in the dryer.

To do the same laundery in the old washer came out to 30,888 gallons of water a year. The new washer will use 3,328 gallons of water a year.

So, the water and electric bills should both reflect a savings.