I received my box from Deb today. This is what was inside. Thank you very much, Deb. Now I need to get some potted. The flowers the neighbor weed whacked in the highway curb are trying to come back. It looks odd where the blooming Gypsophia ends, though, like the row abruptly stops. I'll be thinking about all of you. Seeds- Orange Cosmos Mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower Sparkler Radish Mimosa Vitex Chaste Tree Unknown colored Cosmos Shasta Daisy "Silver Princess" Pink Oleander Shrub/fragrant (seeds have a poisionous label) Hardcover book- "Scrapbooking with Memory Makers" Tons of ideas, pics. 118 pages package of copper plant markers Roses 1001 Gardening Questions Answered, 131 pages, hardcover Big Crinium bulb! Victoria Principal's book- "30 day plan to look and feel 10 years younger", hardcover. Caladium bulb- "F.M JOYNER" Caladium bulb- "Candidum" More seeds- Lavender '08 munstead Red Kurl Uchiki Kurl Squash Cactus flowered zinnia Lemon Balm Sweet Dumpling Squash 4 O'clocks, yellow Gourd "Straightneck Wrenhouse" Poppy "Peony red" Black diamond heirloom watermelon Zinnia "Cherry & Ivory Swizzle" Scarlet Scarlet Marigold '08 Black eyed Susan vine/Orange Thunbergia Alata "Superstar Orange" Cinnamon Basil Georgia collard greens Marigolds yellow/orange 2 baby cactus 1 Aloe vera pup, rooted 2 cactus pads- outdoor optunia Boston Ivy cutting, very nice!! Thanks again, Deb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drought Lands Doubled By LiveScience Staff posted: 11 January, 2005 9:45 a.m. ET The amount of land ravaged by droughts has more than doubled over the last 30 years, and the key factor, according to a recent analysis, appears to be the rise in global temperatures. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) studied the widespread drying trends in Europe, Asia, Canada, western and southern Africa, and eastern Australia. They found that the fraction of the Earth experiencing very dry conditions rose from about 10-15 percent in the early 1970s to about 30 percent in 2002. The researchers claim that almost half of this drastic change is due to global warming as opposed to a decrease in rainfall or snowfall. In fact, the average global precipitation has increased slightly over the past few decades. "Global climate models predict increased drying over most land areas during their warm season, as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases increase," said Aiguo Dai, lead author. "Our analyses suggest that this drying may have already begun." Warmer temperatures cause more evaporation drying out certain areas, while drenching others in rain and snow. Evidence of the latter is the United States, which has become wetter overall especially between the Rocky Mountains and Mississippi River over the last 50 years, says Dai. Other parts of the world showing a moistening trend include Argentina and parts of western Australia. "Droughts and floods are extreme climate events that are likely to change more rapidly than the average climate," Dai said. "Because they are among the world's costliest natural disasters and affect a very large number of people each year, it is important to monitor them and perhaps predict their variability." Dai will present the new findings on Jan. 12 at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting in San Diego. The work also appears in the December issue of the Journal of Hydrometeorology.

Vee, I didn't grow up with English boys but I really didn't notice the Englishmen I knew as co-workers, friends, and male relatives of friends as being as allergic to female company as you describe. Maybe the ones I knew had outgrown it. :-) I did notice the shyness of both males and females, though. As for American guys having 'trophy' girlfriends and wives: sure, there are those but I think gals were/are just as likely to collect 'trophy' boyfriends and husbands. The quarterback of the football team was always more popular than a defensive lineman (a necessary but less glamorous position); the guy with a 'hot' car impressed the girls while the poor fellow who had to drive his parents' car on dates was a 'drip'. I was probably a typical snotty female in some respects: I was mortified when I was a senior (12th grader) in high school and a sophomore (10th grader) boy asked me to an important dance. He was too young for me. I think it's funny now that I have a husband six years younger than me. Annpan, it's true that Americans are obsessed with the appearance of teeth. Martin Amis (Kingsley's son) said that before he dared go to the US he had to get himself 'an American smile'. Looking at YouTube video clips of singers such as Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and David Bowie before they had their teeth fixed always draws comments from younger Americans nowadays. How could these guys dare sing with such teeth? As if shiny, white plastic chompers are a prerequisite to singing talent...apparently so in their opinion. Americans are just about as obsessed with body hair as with teeth. It wasn't always so, but it is now. Females should have hair in three places only: the head, the eyebrows and the eyelashes. Males are allowed facial hair in addition. If you're wondering about the other region where hair usually grows...that's just ick, ick, ick! Hair removal is big business in the US. Mudlady, I've run across that parental attitude you describe that sons are always more important than daughters. I think it must be a holdover or throwback in American culture and not the norm as it is in certain other cultures. I never felt that I was less important than my brothers, but I was the only girl and youngest child and that probably made a lot of difference. Ah yes, cars had character back then! I can barely tell one make & model from the next nowadays. My first car is only a fond memory but I still have my second car, a metallic-blue 1966 Plymouth Satellite with a 383 engine, 5-speed manual on the floor. Lots of girls never learned to drive a standard transmission, but they missed out on loads of fun! I'm glad I grew up in the heyday of American car culture. As frivolous as it might seem, it signified freedom to me more than anything else could at the time. I didn't think anything of jumping into my car and driving alone from Iowa to Texas. I drove from Paris to Istanbul one time, too. It was marvelous.

re the war-time cake recipe. We make a similar 'boiled cake' as Annpan describes but add an egg. Difficult for me to think in terms of cups as we still weigh in oz (or younger folk in metric . . I'm too old to learn). The amount of baking powder does seem generous, but as the book was produced by the Rumford people I suppose they had to make sure their product got used. Yoyo, I so agree about allergies. All these people saying they are gluton intolerant etc. when in reality a very small %age of the population have a 'reaction' to it. I also wonder at peanut etc allergies that are now heard about so often. I'm not saying I don't believe that people or their children can't tolerate these foods but how is it for eg. in my distant childhood (the '50's ) these things were not a problem? Has there been a change in people's physiological make-up? Does it go back to what babies are weaned on?