nanners, I placed one order with those folks, well over 12 years ago, and vowed 'never again'. I did not get any of your aforementioned varieties, however. I did get 'Black Giant' mulberry, which is nothing more than a non-descript row-run M.alba seedling, producing bitter little fruits that are anything but giant - but they do ripen from red to black. It worked well as a diversion crop to draw birds away from the cherries and strawberries, but it's going bye-bye this year. I do have a buddy in NV who bought a number of figs from 'em and actually got some decent plants, though I don't know if he got Patrick's Supergiant - I know he had 'Mystery X', which he sent wood from one time. Another buddy, in NJ, bought one of the 'Cannonball' black walnut seedlings. Still hasn't borne nuts yet, so who knows - will seedlings of the Cannonball tree produce nuts that are as big - and are the nuts themselves really big, or do they just have a really thick husk on them? Then, even if the nuts are big, what's the kernel %? He sent me some scionwood from it a couple of years back, but who wants to graft an unproven seedling BW - especially one from an outfit who's just as likely to have sent you just a run-of-the-mill BW seedling as one that actually descended from the 'Cannonball' tree(if such an entity even exists!)? Cold-hardy bananas? I suspect they're just Musa basjoo. Hey, I've got one growing here that was sent to me by a friend who's got it growing in MI!

I was just talking about this recently on another thread. Our property was covered with violets when we moved in. There are a lot of them in the lawn too. It is a violet that I do not enjoy. White, large leaves, no fragrance. It is easy to pull up, with a spade. Pulling alone usually just gets the leaves and not the root. I don't find them that difficult to get out. I have not had that much trouble keeping them out of the garden beds, but I gave up on them in the lawn. I did decide to actually add violets..lol. Since I wasn't going to lose those I didn't like, I decided I might as well have something I did like. I've added labrador violets that have a pretty heart shaped small leaf and purple flowers and a viola odorata that is a very dark purple and very fragrant. So far I am enjoying those and I am hoping that if they get to spreading around, at least they might compete with the ugly one I don't like. [g] pm2

A few thoughts - --I had to cancel an American flight last year, and I think the fee was $200 or $250. --Typically you have one year to use the credit from a cancellation, but it's one year from when you made the original reservation, NOT one year from when your original flight was. So pay close attention to the expiration date, since it's likely earlier than your original flight date. Also ask to make sure whether you have to fly by the expiration date, or just book by the expiration date. --I don't think I had to fly to the same destination as the original flight (even though I did), but I think it did have to be the same person taking the replacement flight. I'm not sure about that because I was planning to use my credit anyway, but I seem to recall the agent saying something about that. It's worth asking if you're considering trying to combine both your and your husband's flight credits for one flight for one of you or something like that - they may not let you do that. --Cancel before the day your first flight takes off. If you wait until after your first flight leaves, then you're considered a no-show and I think your options may not be as good? --When I cancelled my flight, I found the way they worded the credit confusing. If you pay $1,000 for a flight (just to keep the numbers round!) and the fee is $200, I expected to be told that I had an $800 credit. But they tell you that you have a $1,000 credit, and the fee will be deducted when you go to re-book the flight. So it amounts to the same thing - you still have $800 of usable credit, I just found the wording confusing. I think maybe they phrase it that way in case they decide to increase the fee before you use the credit, and then they'd be deducting the new higher fee from your credit instead.

I too remember the ice candles. We too used an old can in a pan of water to melt the wax and had purchased wicks and tied them around the handle of a wooden spoon to hold it vertical while we filled the container first with crushed ice and then the wax. I remember making red ones for xmas time. If I recall my chemistry, wax has no melting point so it will just keep getting hotter which is why you want to be careful with it. In the old days, I too remember making hand casts with wax. It was tricky to get the wax warm enough to melt but not so hot as to burn, and then we'd dip our wet hand into the wax up to knuckles (but no further as then you couldn't get the wax off) into the melted wax. We'd dip it multiple times to build up the layers strong enough to hold, and then we'd carefully slip our hand out of the wax, leaving a mold of our hands.