Jen and Tally: I think we were all typing at once! Sorry I missed you two...Tally, I don't even like 55 in January, but yeah, it's worse when the calendar says next week is April and our trees are trying to wake up! I love your idea of beautifying your street with "spare" plumies :) what a good neighbor you are! Who needs tomatoes? Well...I do love me a home-grown beefsteak...but as between tomatoes and plumeria, there's no doubt which wins LOL Once I need the space, those tomatoes will have to go. Jen: happy for you for your Waimea "score"! It's definitely one of the best. Kona Candy is pretty fab, too. In answer to your question: last year, a single inflo on my KC bloomed for six months straight. This year, in January, when all were sleeping, KC pushed this inflo and never slowed down; AND there's a new inflo on one of the other tips. So I answer an emphatic "YES INDEED!!" Smart cookie indeed, too! ;-) Yes, that is my evil plan: lease community garden space at rock-bottom prices so that I can continue my unchecked, fever-pitch purchasing of "must-haves" hahahahahahaha as I've said to you in the past: touché! 10x mag and flashlight, crazy? Not on MY planet, at least LOL I bought a headlamp and wear it as I search for new inflos nightly (just when I think I've learned to recognize the appearance of a just-formed inflo, these trees jerk me around!). The neighbors all think I'm a total freak hahaha which leads me to... Emily! Be proud of your obsess... er, I mean, "hobby." LOL Yes, mere mortals may think us strange, but what do they know?? I think there might be a grain of truth in what you said about my driving up demand ;-) I keep waiting for my OWN stock price to go up LOL but so far, nada. Thanks for the compliments, all! Looking forward to lots of photos in the months ahead! G

Vince...another Sam's Club tri-ply clad owner here. I compared my Sam's Club to my friends' All-Clad and the difference in the "cooking experience" is nada, zippo. The big difference is in the cost! I also lived for many years with my "purchased when I was newly married" Revere Ware. As I got older I decided that I must be a really good cook, since I was using less than stellar cookware and produced really good food. I coveted friends' top of the line cookware, but having a frugal side and being a veteran "shopper", was not ready to plunk down an arm and a leg on cookware that cost a small fortune. I knew I could do better, and researched, researched, researched. I spent more than needed hours looking for the perfect cookware/cookware set that would give me the benefits of All-Clad without the hefty price. And then I went to Sam's Club...just an ordinary day. Saw the Member's Mark tri-ply clad, and the light went on! I handled every piece, saw how the lids fit, looked at the thickness of the construction and decided that it was time. And at less than $130.00, it made sense. I also know that if I wasn't happy with it, I could return it for a full refund. Try that with a retail store! Long story short...you have proved that it's the nag that can keep up the pace to the finish line, rather than have a burst of speed and then poop out before the final bend. You'll love how it evenly holds the heat, how it gives you that delicious bit of fond, how it gently caresses your delicate sauces when necesary, how your pasta keeps on boilin'. BTW...Cook's Illustrated is looking for you!

In this book (which it took the librarian about 35 seconds to find - it was on the display table by the front door) it's called "The Christmas Song". "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, Yuletide carols being sung by a choir And folks dressed up like Eskimos. Ev'rybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe Help to make the season bright. Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow Will find it hard to sleep tonight. They know that Santa's on his way; He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh. And ev'ry mother's child is gonna spy --- To see if reindeer really know how to fly. And so I'm offering this simple phrase To kids from one to ninety-two; Although it's been said many times, many ways, "Merry Christmas to you". Hope you're looking forward to an inspirational one - I think that we need such, this year. ole joyfuelled

It's so interesting to take novels we enjoyed as young people, and re-read as adults. It's a whole different viewpoint. I wouldn't include The Little Prince as a novel, but it is a wonderful little book. Every time I read it, or my kids read it, it's different. April and Lars, perhaps I will try Russian novels again . . . if I own it and can mark it up, and if it's a good translation. But maybe not Dostoevsky. After reading Dickens and Hugo, who were also likely paid by the word, I don't think I have the attention span anymore. My son was in Les Mis in high school, and I decided to read the novel by the time the show closed. Well, through 4 months, wholesale skipping pages dealing with pruning fruit trees, underground sewer systems, and Napoleonic battles, I finished the last page while waiting for him to get home from the cast party. Grueling. Excellent, but grueling.