qknitter - You are LUCKY! Can you shows us 'before' pics? The staples in this chair were incredibly hard to pull out. There was NO WAY I could get them out with even a less expensive tack puller. If yours come out with a screwdriver and pliers, I'm jealous. Many of mine broke as I tapped the tack puller into them. The 'real' upholsterer showed me that I had been using my tack puller incorrectly. I was just taking those sharp points and trying to wedge them under the top of the staple, and then prying them out. He grabbed a small hammer that I had in here and he used that to it the wooden handle of the tack puller and drive it up under the tack, then push on the handle to bring the staple up. 99% of them still needed to be pulled out with pliers or 'side cutters' that I have similar to what I linked below. The cutters are very sharp, so they sometimes cut the tack I was trying to pry out and the fun continued, but I was determined after making that back cushion and seeing the improvement. If your tacks come out easily, you're very lucky. The upholsterer saw my chair and said 'It's the worst type to re-do' and that's because of all the staples. I did spend hours removing them, but sewed in between sessions to rest my hands. Here is a link that might be useful: Diagonal Cutting Plier

Around here it's not easy to volunteer at the battered spouse places. First of course is security issues but just as important, for some of the activities you need to have psych evals to see if you can handle some of the potential scenarios. They don't want the liability for someone wigging out from the stress that can happen. But there's ways to work in and find out if you thing you could be interested in related areas too. Sounds like you're finding what you're looking for but if you want to get more involved in some other areas, check with your local police department. You might even be interested in some crime prevention activities rather than the after the fact items. You obviously love kids. Would something like dressing as McGruff at community events be of interest? There's also the fire department comparable (the dalmation) and it's heartwarming to see kids literally run up to hug these critters. The more you work with them the easier it would be to work in the homes with troubles, whether it be foster homes, battered spouses (it's not just women y'know) and the like. Even with trying to get toy donations that cops give to kids when they've had something traumatic happen. House fire, burglary or worse, they can give the kid a stuffed animal or something to cuddle with and it helps a lot. Crime prevention needs all kinds of volunteers, even with babysitting while others are doing fundraisers or something. It's a cliche, but think outside the box a bit. There's lots of ways to volunteer. Don't forget the libraries. Like schools, they're under belt tightening over the past years too. Any community recreation programs to help with volunteer needs? City hall and police/fire departments can help with this too. There's needs of all kinds so it doesn't matter if you may be under time constraints, there's a little time here and there that's still appreciated. Handicapped? Still tons of things to be done that can be adapted to a persons' needs. Blind? Deaf? Don't let anything stop you folks. I harp a lot about getting involved and I'll take the chastizing. I truly belive in its importance and necessity. Everyone has their pet projects and that's great. Just get involved. I applaud you for wanting to get involved. It's SO important. And I can say from experience there's not a lot that truly is more satisfying.

cjoseph, Mine are thriftshop finds. I have one slim volume, an abridgement edited by Isabel Ely Lord covering 1660-69, which got me hooked. Later found an old slipcased edition entitled Vol. !! covering 1665-69, transcribed by Henry B. Wheatley, unabridged, published 1942. I know there are undoubtedly later and better transcriptions out there...I've just enjoyed these. So no, I haven't read the entire diary (I wasn't sure to be honest until you asked)...but I think I'll look for Vol.1 now that it's so easy to buy old books on the net. In my post I was just thinking of books I can pick up after an interval of months or even years and immediately settle into as if I'd been reading the night before...Pepys fits in there...josh

I'm not even sure I'd be comfortable calling myself a small-r rosarian. I've been growing roses for only about 5 years; before that I chose plants that reminded me of roses but weren't as intimidating - begonias, dahlias, etc. Now I'm up to 55 roses; mostly floribundas with a handful of HTs, shrubs and minis thrown in. A couple climbers too but I don't have a lot of room for the really big ones. If I did I'd try Jude the Obscure in a heartbeat! I'm living in Toronto Canada, and my neighourhood is a nice little microclimate that qualifies as USDA zone 5b; at times I can even stretch that to 6. My yard is full of mixed perennial beds and has all types of light areas. I've got almost as many varieties of hostas as roses, and more iris, but only because they don't take up as much space. I also love lilies and peonies, particularly the intersectionals. In my "past life" I was a wildlife biologist and worked at several different zoos in Canada and the US throughout my education/career as a keeper, trainer, wildlife educator, and researcher. I loved that work more than I can say, but ultimately, when the time came, being at home for my kids came first. To my immense pleasure, I found that my appreciation for nature, science and taxonomy, my obsessive devotion to detail and my love of living things of all shapes translated very naturally into gardening. I'm not a member of any rose society yet, but now that you mention it... I'd better look into the local club scene! This is the big version of my current profile icon. It's not a rose shot but it reminds me of a very special time in my life. The shot is about 10 years old, and is me visiting with some young and friendly elephants. I will always feel highly privileged to have had such experiences. Karen