Suzy, this is the only time I saw a frog with longing in his popping eyes. Longing...yes, longing. Nay, verily, methinks 'tis love! Everybody's going green these days, kiss the lad!! Your heart may have been taken by many a cat and many a dog but no one hops into your heart for ever as surely as a frog.

I've been thinking there's one or more things that fall into this category for me. Not food--I've always loved eating everything (ironic when you consider how limited my diet has had to become)--but something else. One is public speaking. The first time I had to speak before an audience (a talk at a hospital about breastfeeding) I was extremely nervous, as most people tend to be. I recorded myself at home and cried. I sounded as nervous as I was, and beyond boring. Then my husband gave me an old book on public speaking by Dale Carnegie. I read it and applied the principles to my speech. What a difference! When it came time to give the talk I got the audience's attention, made them laugh a couple of times, and had a great time. I was hooked! That was about 35 years ago, and since then I've been happy with a microphone in front of me many times.

I was upset that I canceled my Regan’s order for Scentuous this spring and so I was happy to see Chamblees offer it as a 3 gallon in late summer and ordered it despite the cost. I was impressed when it arrived - it was large and blooming. I would normally wait for spring to order a bareroot that is less than 1/2 that price then but it was worth it to me this time to get to enjoy it immediately this time. I’ve ordered from Cattail Creek before and they send nice 2-3 gallon roses as well but was maybe even a bit more impressed with what Chamblees sent.

I visited them a few times after they were sold by Mark Chamblee and moved to Winona. At that time they were still own root. The grafted offerings must be a relatively new offering.