What a coincidence! Just last night, I was reading Diane Ackerman's "Natural History of the Senses." It has a giddy couple of pages about roses, including the following: "In Damascus and Persia, people used to bury jars of unopened rosebuds in the garden, dig them up on special occasions to use in cooking - the flowers would open dramatically on the plates." Seemed unlikely to me, but now I wonder.... I'm only about forty pages into this book, but enjoying it. Plan to keep it on my shelves just for the rose trivia it has. Anita

Does the type of tree or leaves matter for mulching? I have some various huge shrubs and a tree that all drop smaller leaves (some needle like) that are quite dense. Living in So Cal they tend to dry out but not exactly break down. I was planning on doing lava rock in the border of my yard, but since reading this post I'm thinking that that is not such a bright idea. My issue is my long-haired cat will find whatever area of the yard is the most dirty/dusty and cover himself with all kinds of earth and burrs, and then immediately after he asks to come in the house. Half the time my kids just let him in, and then the floors inside becomes filthy and my carpet gets pokey things embedded. I've been worried that if I did anything like bark chips, then my fur buddy is going to bring into the house slivers -the kind that are so tiny you can't get with tweezers. (I tried playing barefoot in the stuff as a kid, and you'd think it would only of taken the first time to figure out that's not something to do again...) Anyhow, with my own kids running barefoot all the time and the cat living like royalty, I worry about using old wood chips or mulch. Anyone have advice?

Sheshe, I do remember you (although there's a Sheshebop around here, too, and I thought it was all one person). Life has certainly dealt you a bad hand, but I like your spirit and determination to get through this. Your DH's ingenuity in devising a way to work with only one good arm is evidence of that. I'm sure there are better days ahead! I like Snookums' suggestion for DH to hire a helper and become the supervisor, but if that's not possible, could he do better as an employee of a large contracting firm, perhaps giving estimates and rounding up subcontractors? Or perhaps a job at one of the big box stores like Home Depot or Lowes (or their subcontractors)? If so, he might be able to eventually get an employee discount on readymade cabinets and on the home repairs and installation. I hope things work out well for you both! Sue

I try to be up at 4am to watch Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford and all the great 50s cars! Two-door squad cars... never saw one in real life but maybe they had them in California where it's supposed to take place. I remember watching Amos 'N Andy after school. It's downright sick that they pressured that show into hiding. So many other shows are far less politically correct but this is an example of hysteria ruling the masses. Here's over 5 hrs of Vintage TV faturing an episode of: Jack Benny Show, One Step Beyond, You Bet Your Life, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Red Skelton Show, Dragnet, Milton Berle Show, This is Your Life, Andy Griffith Show, Mr & Miss North, Soupy Sales Show and more. Gotta love the internet, and the stations like THIS and MeTV for keeping this type of classic television around for those of us who appreciate it. Mr. Ed, Patty Duke Show, Beverly Hillbillies and all of them.