hi Jim I dont know if there is a moonshine hahnii sans. the moonshine one i have when it grows up will be the regular one. right now it is still a small plant and that is why it is sitting near the silver hahnii one. Cena's one in question has the same coloring as my silver hahnii sans and so that is why i said that it IS the silver hahnii. i do have a picture or two of them but i have to locate the pic(s). i will see if i can get it posted within the next few days. Sincerely Meesh

Birth control pills may help mask menopause symptoms By TOM VALEO Published March 28, 2006 All women can expect to enter menopause sooner or later, but women taking birth control pills may not notice, at least for a while. In the meantime, they can expect several benefits from the pill beside avoiding an unwanted pregnancy: They will avoid some of the most conspicuous signs of menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats and irritability. "A woman on the birth control pill is getting hormones at a level above what her ovaries would produce,'' said Dr. Catherine Lynch, director of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa. "When a woman goes into menopause, the ovaries basically shut down and no longer produce estrogen or progesterone in any significant amounts, so a woman taking the birth control pill in the standard fashion of three weeks on active pills, followed by one week of inactive pills, often won't have any symptoms of menopause until that pill-free week. She may not even realize she's in menopause because she's getting adequate estrogen and still cycling.'' During the week when she is not taking active birth control pills, the woman may even have a "withdrawal bleed" caused by the sudden drop in estrogen. A withdrawal bleed is easily mistaken for a normal period. And if the woman is taking continuous-use birth control pills, she will take inactive pills only one week out of every 12 instead of every four, so she will have a withdrawal bleed no more than once every four months. "So a woman who's, say, 51 and taking Seasonale one of the continuous-use birth control pills isn't going to have hot flashes or night sweats for 12 weeks, because she's having estrogen provided for her by the pills,'' Dr. Lynch said. "She may experience symptoms during the week she takes inactive pills, but just as symptoms start to climb, she starts taking active pills again, and she won't appreciate that these are symptoms of menopause.'' But that's not all. Taking birth control pills also seems to reduce bone loss. In fact, if the woman is also doing weight-bearing exercises and getting plenty of calcium, low-dose birth control pills may even help build bone density. Women on the pill also experience less iron deficiency anemia, and some studies suggest that the pill protects against benign breast disease, endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. The Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, the largest to investigate this last issue, found a 40 percent decrease on average of ovarian cancer in women who had taken oral contraceptives. The risk decreased as the amount of time on the pill increased, so women who had taken the pill for seven years or longer experienced a reduction in the risk of ovarian cancer of 60 to 80 percent. Some Women on the pill also experience less iron deficiency anemia, and some studies suggest that the pill protects against benign breast disease, endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. studies suggest that oral contraceptives might even protect against colorectal cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Taking the pill has always meant an increase in the risk of blood clots, which can cause a stroke. But a woman who does not smoke, does not have high blood pressure, and takes a low-dose oral contraceptive can almost eliminate that additional risk. So why not just stay on the pill and enjoy all the benefits of hormone-replacement therapy, known as HRT? Because even low-dose birth-control pills deliver five to seven times as much estrogen as HRT. HRT simply gives the body back what the ovaries were producing before they were shut down by menopause. The birth control pill delivers a dose of hormones large enough to shut down the ovaries, and it's pointless for a woman to keep taking hormones after menopause has begun and she has stopped ovulating. She would be better off with hormone-replacement therapy, which would provide her with the same benefits but a lower dose of hormone. "The trick is figuring out when she is in menopause,'' Dr. Lynch said. "There are a couple of ways to test this, but they're not 100 percent reliable. She can go off the pill and see if she's still cycling, but if she's sexually active, there's an outside chance she could get pregnant. "While it's rare for pregnancy to occur at the age of 50 or 51, it can happen if you're still ovulating.'' Tom Valeo is a freelance writer specializing in medical and health issues. Contact him c/o Seniority, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail features at sptimes dot com. [Last modified March 28, 2006, 08:52:07] Here is a link that might be useful: from a Florida online newspaper

nwdrip- Thanks for chiming in! I am thankful for any advice and I appreciate you commenting on my thread. I think painting the back of the cabs dark brown would be really cool with some colorful dishes. Suero- I never would have picked a rug like that, but you are right, it works. My only thing is that I am, in general, trying to avoid red. I had red accents all over my last apartment, and I want to go for a different feel. However, I get to see what a teal looks like, and how patterns interact with my curtains, so thank you!!! I have continued to look at other rugs. Hubby has been almost no help. He is very picky on what he wants, but he won't help me look. I have browsed through approximately 4000 rugs by now, and every suggestion I have had, he has shot down. :( Here are some of my favorites right now. Please tell me what you guys think: A B C D E F G Hubby wants a border around the edge, doesn't want flowers, only wants a hint of color, doesn't want stripes, doesn't want beige. Please note that most of *my* faves at least have one of those things. This one that I posted earlier appears to still be hubby's favorite: But he's not sold on it.

Image by: wintersown That's okay, don't worry too much about that. Experience is a great teacher and we all learn as we go along. I personally don't know the botanical name of lots of my plants. When I first started gardening and trading I actually didn't know the common name of most of my plants ;-) But I still felt comfortable about trading my seeds because I put a good description of them on the packets. I trade my seeds and if I don't know their name I make as good a description as I can in my posted trade offerings so there's no confusion. I feel confident when I make a well described seed trade....the other trader knows the plant description and they trade for my seeds knowing that I have done my best to decribe what I'm offering. It's fair that way. New traders are often new gardeners too and so they haven't had enough experience with plant names to accurately name the plant they gathered seeds from. What information should I put on the packets? I always put the following information on my packets: Common Plant Name and/or Botanical Name Flower color or "mixed" Height at maturity Sunlight requirements: full sun, part shade, or shade (fs, ps, or shade, or sometimes fs-ps which means full sun to part shade, or ps-shade, which means part shade to shade) A, P, or B (annual, perennial, or biennial) My email address (optional) My name (optional) ======================================================== My trader didn't put all the information on the packet that I thought should be on it....what should I do? Email your trader asap and politely ask for specifics....sometimes a trader can't offer them as they're sharing/trading the excess of a humongous pack of seeds that came their way and IT wasn't labeled with specifics. If you've got a packet that's not labeled with specifics grow it anyway. A packet that says something as simple as just "marigolds" is often a joy to grow. WHY? Well...you know it's an annual, marigolds love full sun. So put the seedlings where they'll get full sun. But I don't know the height.... Plant it in the middle of the border or up front. If they grow tall then you'll have added "dramatic depth" to your garden and reduced the monotony of everything short being up front. A brilliant patch of tallish flowers at the front of the border is often fascinating and is NEVER boring. But I don't know the color..... Marigolds can be yellow/gold, orange or mahogany red. These are the choices....sometimes they have a blend of those colors on the same flowers, or it might be a pack of mixed single colors. What I'm trying to say is that suprises are part of gardening and that you should celebrate the beauty of your plants even if they aren't what you expected. A garden is for relaxing and enjoying. It's NOT for causing frustrations....expect an occasional suprise and you'll be very happy in your garden. ========================================================= Flower Colors...I'm putting in this list as a help in labeling seed packets....no one is perfect in their eyesight so being "close" is just as acceptable as being "accurate". (This color list came from the "Field Book of American Wild Flowers by F. Schuyler Matthews, 1902) Pure yellow Deep yellow Golden yellow Pure orange Scarlet Pure red Pure pink Crimson Crimson-pink Magenta Magenta-pink Pure purple Violet Blue-violet Ultramarine Pure blue Madder purple Madder brown