Patrick, What a wonderful gift to your mother and sister, and loving tribute to your late dad! It's one thing to dream up a grand project like that, and quite another to labour at it month after month, as you have done. And you have such good taste! Your lyrical descriptions have sustained me while waiting for my first Molineux buds to open, and I have saved for reference your treatise on fragrant roses. You are so right about The McCartney Rose, it's a monster! I hope you will not regard it as bad etiquette to add pictures to your post, but I would like to dedicate these photos of McCartney to your huge heart and enterprise. This plant has been in the ground since 2005, I can't imagine what your mum's bush was like! And a close-up of those amazing blooms: I would love to see what you have done there and also with your own garden creation. Do hurry up and post pictures! MayBee

Nobody has mentioned Bubble Bath yet so I guess I'll chime in. First of all it gets huge. It is sometimes listed as an "either or" - climber or tall shrub. I'd never want to train it as a climber - it doesn't seem to want to grow that way. I have mine in a corner of a board fence line. I think I made a mistake in location as I can't get to the back to weed at all and I actually removed the boards last fall to weed and replenish mulch (with lots of cardboard underneath!) It will drop a few leaves, but not many, to BS. I forgive it as the fragrance is divine and the sweetly cascading branches drip with blooms at least twice a year, with intermittant blooming in between spring and fall flushes. If I had to plant it again I would leave it to the wilder parts of my garden where it could ramble at will.

Sue, I'll ask DH as soon as he's home (he's on a plane) so I'll post it tomorrow. Why he can retain that name but I can't...I don't know. Anyhoo, she's with JH proper verses the area we were in, female (ok that's obvious) african american if I remember right...and a specialist in ped IBD under 5. I owe that woman my life and I don't remember her name! Anyhoo, I won't forget to post it tomorrow. Ehhh screw that I decided to go online and look at all of them and she came up first (she's kind of strikingly gorgeous so I remember her picture LOL). Maria Oliva-Hemker MD Aj's mama...is this aj that's the problem LOL Gad, there's the problem with an older child. This is a tough issue and so hard on a preteen. I assumed immodiam was in use, so if not, do add that. (We couldn't because of my son's age) it's something and it would help a bit, if only to control the violence of a "moment". What to do if he won't cooperate? You're challenged there hun. It's almost easier for me because my son is so small he does not yet know it's suposed to be an embaressment. He has to buy in if you are to get him care. You know your son best, but if you make the appt and then consider leaving him with the doc on his own, he might open up more (cuz the gastro guys are used to this). Your ped is ok in ordering that test...but also insist on the referral. It takes time to get in, and if you son is celiac you'll still need a gastro guy so gettting in line isn't going to hurt. I remember our first ped...since fired. He didn't want to refer. I told him that I wanted to see an expert and he wasn't it. I was going to do so with or without a referral and if he was wrong, could he handle the financial implications in denying the referral. He provided the referral immediately. I don't remember where you are. If you're near Minnapolis I can give you the name of a great doc there (they have a school of gastroenterology). Sue: Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Oliva-Hemker

shellfish: Oh, lovely room. That is right up my alley as well! I'm so envious of your space! I like the idea of the white coverlet which I may add in winter below the duvet. DD and I are still looking through the samples though lean towards a more saturated color like boxerpup's DS's room, then a lighter shade for the ceiling. Hope to narrow it down to a few paint samples to test on the walls. DD has little patience with me as I wanted to show her the inspiration pics. I'd rather she just pick a look she likes and let me narrow down the paint colors to 2-3 that match the one in a picture. That has always been my difficulty in doing her room--she just focuses on one aspect, the bedding, WTs or paint and not how they all look together in her room, with her floor and lighting. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done in terms of room layout at present and it's not possible to remove just the head and footboard. It's a captain's storage bed with four drawers which she uses for her clothes. In another year my DS will most likely go away to college then I think I will let her move into his room which is a smidge larger and then we can do something similar to paintergirl's rendition. In which case I'll be repainting both rooms in a year's time. If it wasn't so hideous right now, I'd just wait another year, but she and I both hate it and the bedding and WTs can simply move to the other room when the time comes. I lvoe the paint color in the living room photo above and think DD would agree to that since it's so vivid. That B&W accents really seem to mitigate the intense shade as I'd hoped it would. Does anyone know what color that is?