"and the little girl said, but which is a weed and which is not? and the man answered with, If it pulls out easy, stick it back in the ground. If it's hard to pull out, keep pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling, And the little girl said, OK I get it, don't pull anything, then I won't pull the wrong thing. Or I can just walk away and wait till the flowers and then I will know what to keep pulling and pulling and pulling and pulling." My grandpa to me when I was a little girl Fran

TGIF!!! Suzanne, VFTW is "Vote for the Worst" a website dedicated to controlling who gets kicked off American Idol. Thousands of dedicated website devotees vote for the worst singer. It's worked. Apparently, they claim to have kept Taylor Hicks on board, but I really like his singing! QOD: Tonight is a "Ladies of Laughter" fund raiser to benefit scholarship programs for the non-profit I volunteer for. We thought we might sell about 100 tickets to this comedy show/tricky tray dinner, but we sold out...289 tickets! Yahooooo!!! Should be fun. My sister is driving up with my oldest niece and stepdaughters are going to. We are looking forward to having a great time, followed by a PJ party at my place tonight. Marci, hope you and your mom have a better weekend. [[[[[[[[[[Donna]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] Besh, I also struggled these last few days. Last night was a BYO place, and I had two glasses of wine with dinner. (Raeanne, it was the wine you sent along with my birthday package....excellent!). Chilled out fine and no headache this morning, but I don't need the calories. It's gettting very tough for me to just maintain. Life gets a bit more challenging once you turn the big five-oooo! Patti, hope you and Dave are feeling better. I did, in fact, drink that wine with my family on New Years' Eve. It was delish, thank you! Hope everyone has a relaxing and safe weekend. Take care, eat healthfully, and NEVER NEVER GIVE UP! DeeMarie

Ok, back on my Macbook ... folly to have posted from an iphone! Roarah- my thoughts exactly Teacats - I hear you. I see fixer upper and think about moving walls, adding windows, picking paint and furniture ... yet I know it will probably also mean a structural problem or two, a code problem, etc etc Lucky, I agree with you. And there is always a "tweak". With our primary home, which we just moved into 18 months ago, I liked the idea that everything was renovated at the same time and in the same or similar style. I thought it would be so nice. Now I wished I'd "saved" something, LOL. Tinan, yes! It feels sinful otherwise, and it is! Nini804, I need some help, too. I can totally relate! Patty, it is consuming, you are right. But satisfying. But literally I could not justify changing anything about this place. Even the throw pillows were nice, to be honest. Sochi, I am hoping my problem is not quite that severe! : ) But in our first home, where we were for 10 years, i probably did a project a year, now that i think back on it. My mistake was thinking it was a good idea to do this house in one fell swoop. Allison, it needs art, but that is small consolation, LOL Angc, I am sure I could eventually find something ..,, or I could hope for a good hurricane? Fun2BeHere - I will admit that I did buy a totally furnished house when we bought our upstate lakehouse. I liked it a lot and it was very cost effective. I did change some paint colors, add a few pieces, etc. But there wasn't a lot to do. Of course, this was pre GW, and my fixation! Engineer _ another kindred spirit! I too enjoy our projects, I really do appreciate them. I just want to keep doing more. Bee, I can't believe you would want a done home, either?! No way. And I guess I should be a little less harsh. It is not a horrible dump ... it is being rented for something like 4-5k per week in season. It is sort of charmingly run down and old. I feel superstitious about posting just yet! Beagles, yes, I know, it is a little sad to be done. Crazy isn't it? I knew GW'ers would understand. It's almost embarassing. We haven't even told anyone we are looking. Pal, You seem like a reasonable person, so I am glad to hear you don't think it's crazy to reject a house in part because someone else did it! Laura - yes, location. But I think that the locations are very close in quality, only I prefer the location of the older home. View vs beach access and type of beach ... I actually think it is cheaper to buy a done house than to redo it, as much as that flies in the face of traditional wisdom. I guess I am a bad manager or maybe because I am a sucker for costly finishes, but I think almost all of my home improvement projects have cost a lot more that the value they added to the home. I think it's almost always cheaper to buy a "done" house than to fix one up. Bumble, that is kind of you to try to redirect me into something more beneficial! I was teasing my DH, who has done legal volunteer work, that maybe I could get it out of my system by volunteering "if you do not have an interior designer, the court will appoint one for you." Put aside the fact that I am not a designer! I do volunteer, though. In fact I over-volunteer. And in a few cases it has even been something creative (I designed logos for two different non profits, plus designed flyers and newsletters and such). Still not enough of a fix! Roarah --- that was what I said to DH. I told him the new house was soulless. RT Williams - It is exciting. I feel to superstitious to post, though! Maybe if I could post something that doesn't link back to the listing... Door1 -- Yes, we are! Waiting on GC to get moving on that. AS far as "work", it wouldn't be DIY, so it isn't really "work", kwim? Sunny - but you were the one who chose how to do your house, yes? would you trade it for a house you had no hand in? Sherrman - not dissatisfied, but maybe always restless? You are right though, it'd be nicer to kick back and just enjoy. BronwynsMom, Would you? Really? Make only superficial changes? You shock me! PorknHam - We are very interested. But it was our first in person shopping trip. I am trying to do some homework, but I always fall in love.

Funny you should post this as I just made a list (for myself) of my favorite roses this year. Here we go: Ancient Mariner: I got this one a couple of years ago (when it first came out). Its not super disease resistant for me, but in my no-spray garden it has continued to grow and bloom. Its not very bushy, but I'm happy with it as I love the blooms. Mine is on Dr H. Bliss: This is most likely my favorite new rose this year. Bliss is an amazing rose that has superior disease reistant, is vigorous and blooms well. I also love the peachy, Austin-like blooms. I dont get much fragrance, but so far her perfomance has made up for it. I recently purchased a second from J&P. Mine is own root. Bordeaux: This has been a surprisingly good rose for me. Its more of a landscape rose because the blooms are not very full or very large, but they are constant and the plant is very healthy. Charles Darwin: This rose has been somewhat slow to start, but has good disease resistance and most importantly, full blooms. Many roses in SoFl have low petal count because of the heat, so those that stay full are a big plus for me. Easy To Please: I got this rose in one of those Breck's grab bag sales where they send you 5 roses for like $20. Its been surprisingly good growing very large in one season (5 feet) and blooming in large clusters. The blooms dont last very long on the bush, but its a keeper for its superior disease resistance and eagerness to grow in my climate when many other roses dwindle. Grande Dame: I got Grande Dame last year and its been a very good grower for me. My only complaint is that her blooms get very skimpy in hot weather. However, her spring and fall flushes make up for it. And her scent is to die for. She's very disease resistant for her type and even though she does loose her leaves by september, by October she's fully leafed out and blooming again. Huntington Rose: This is actually not a new rose for me, as I've grown it before, but I ordered one this year to replace my long lost one from many years ago and I had almost forgotten how much I love this rose. She's such an amazing bloomer and her blooms are very round and petal packed. She also likes growing in a pot much more than growing in the ground (which is odd, but she can have what she wants). This, i think, is one of the more underrated Austins. Light Pink Sunrosa: this is a little work horse of a rose. I bought it online as a little band and it has since grown into a very bushy yet very compact little rose. The flowers are semi double and about the size of a nickle, but they are many and so so charming. Overall quite the little work horse that never looses a leaf to disease. Princess Anne: This one too is new to me this year and i have to say, she's got very good resistance to disease, particulary for an Austin. And she blooms very often. Her blooms remain somewhat full, although they shrink in the heat. She's a strong rose though and made it through my harsh summer looking more than decent. Thats a huge plus for me. Princess Charlene De Monaco: I love love love this rose! I cant tell you how much I adore this rose. Her blooms are to die for and the scent is intoxicating. She's also a very vigorous grower and has better than average disease resistance. I cant say enough good things aobut this rose. Spirit Of Freedom: I've had SoF for a few seasons now, but I cant tell you how great she is. She's a very good bloomer. Very vigorous and she's got blooms to die for. She's also one of the only roses who's flowers dont shrink in the heat and she continues to pump out full blooms even in the heat of summer. The chili thrips dont even seem to bother her. And to top it all off she's got a wonderful scent!. The Faun: This is a charming little rose with lots of spunk. The Faun is a strong bloomer, her blooms last and last on the bush and she's very disease resistant for me (although she will loose her leaves by the end of the summer, she bounces back fast in the fall). She's one of my best bloomers in the spring, just loaded with perfect 2inc blooms all over. Super cute.