gb - the flu has largely passed now -but I'm still more tired than usual. Randy is back to being pretty perky :-) Too bad about Skyler's surgery deferral! Getting psyched-up for something like that only to have it delayed to an indefinite time would be an additional element of stress that would not be welcome! All the shots etc. for the trip to Haiti would be pretty intimidating. My family doctor is there at the moment. He's associated with some childrens' hospital there and seems to spend a week or more there almost every month. There will be no issue of overlap between Phoebe's stay and Blue's - we just found out yesterday that Blue's owners won't be heading to their Mexico condo until January. Blue will be here fro Jan. 17-Feb. 28th. While I was under the weather recently, I finished a sweater for Randy. Given that the previous two I've made him took years(!) to finish, I decided that I needed to use heavy yarn and fat needles if I was going to be able to finish one in a reasonable time! So, in mid-September I bought Lopi wool and dug out my Nordic-style pattern books from years ago. It only took me 2 months to make this one - it used to only take a few weeks to make one of these, so I'm still slow but it's a big improvement from needing years to complete a sweater! Next up (maybe!) is a matching hat and socks (Randy loves hand-knit socks...) We've had an unusually mild October and so far this month. For the first time, there's been noticeable pink color on the heptacodium calyxes - but nowhere near as colorful as in the pictures Monique has posted of theirs.

You are correct not to automatically assume that new growth that is red is necessarily a problem. Many roses, especially if their flowers are red, yellow, orange, or mixtures thereof (including peach, apricot, gold, etc.), have long lasting dark red new growth (sometimes resulting in foliage that is not only dark green, but also burgundy for many weeks before turning fully dark green). This feature probably comes from the semi-tropical wild roses in their ancestry, such as Rosa chinensis. Many tropical trees & shrubs share this behavior. It's common enough for at least some researchers to have speculated that these plants produce those dark red/burgundy pigments as some sort of biochemical protection against the intense tropical sunlight. (After all, our bodies tan in sunlight to attempt to protect our skin from damage from the sun's ultraviolet radiation. Why should tropical plants not attempt the same thing with their tender, vulnerable new growth?)

Sorry you're not getting any gulf frits, Laura! That's too bad if the zebra range is shrinking, Mary. I got one visit years ago, haven't seen a single one since. If they're retreating, I'll probably never see one here again. I just released the gulf frit - she's a female. The sun came out, the temps went up to 90 degrees, and she was flying all around the cage wanting out, but now I'm hearing thunder out there. I sure hope she'll be alright! There is a pair of gulf frits that have been nectaring in my garden, a male and a female, but the female hasn't laid me any eggs, at least I haven't seen her do so. So I'm wondering if they haven't mated, maybe don't like each other, strange as that sounds? Maybe he'll like the female just released, and I'll get some eggs/cats! :) Sherry

Sandy, Boy, do I know what it is like dealing with Alzheimer's and being a caretaker. My 92-year old mother-in-law has had the disease for a number of years now and we get her every third weekend (if not more often) since a niece is the primary caretaker (niece and nephew but she's the primary) so that they can have weekends off and away from mom. Mom's gotten to that point where she doesn't recognize anyone at all and she can't possibly even get up to go wander (which is definitely a blessing!) so we don't worry about THAT. It's more the bodily functions, if you know what I mean, that are problematic, for my husband, ever since mom started slapping me this year, causing some dissension in the ranks. As you have noted, the dog has been the BEST thing! Chelsea is also a registered therapy dog, having received her CGC and also her therapy dog certification this year. I think that dogs instinctively know (or at least some dogs do) when someone isn't 'all there' just like they know when someone is ill. When mom is with us, Chelsea loves to go up and snuggle with her on the sofa. She gets so excited to see 'gramma' that oftentimes, we have to say, "Chelsea, wait until gramma sits down or she will sit on YOU!" (which would be a very BAD thing, indeed!) Be sure to take good care of yourself, Sandy. It is no small task, to be the caretaker of an Alzheimer's patient. This is why we all pitch in to give Lika the weekends off. You need to take good care of yourself, too. Watching the deterioration is sad. Hang in there. Sherry aka tdogmom