Bkay...thanks, I looked it up and BINGO! It was there at the top....now that is one game that is challenging! I'm only fairly good at guessing at hosta I have myself, because it is easy to identify what you already have, isn't it? Since I have under 100, my guessing would be very limited. :-( I have visions of your little doggie going crazy with a hosta pot...it may be funny to me, but how disheartening for you! She will grow out of it I hope. Like I said before, since you rescued your latest dog and adopted it, perhaps Cleo will be too busy with her new companion in the spring to bother with your hosta! Fingers crossed... I was visiting relatives in Florida years ago, during our March Break when kids are out of school, and recall how frozen my aunt's garden looked at that time of year. She said it was a bad spring...that was back in 1989. It was actually beautiful in a way...nothing was disfigured, everything just had a coating of clear ice and the forms of the plants were perfect. But I would hate to have hosta suffer, or have them die on me. I have a beautiful Dark Star in its 3rd year coming 2014...let me find a pic to show you...not to add insult to injury but simply to share with you. The way it grows for me reminds me always of your famous So Sweet. I hope this year will be much better for you - weather and Cleo! :-). One can hope. Jane...opened your list thread...:-) now searching online for some interesting named ones you have listed..oh boy, fun! Will comment when I am done on that thread. Jo

Lovin' the denim purses! I have ruined 3 pr of kid's jeans-trying to make a smaller version for my 'diva' 5yr old granddaughter! I too, would love to know how to correctly do them and if it's possible to make a smaller version. I don't want the feedbag style..like you,I want the flat bottom. Please email me w/the way to do this if you would? My only problem seems to be the distance where you cut the jeans off and how to make enough room to make it flat! (clear as mud, right?) LOL! shchmb at msndotcom

Okay, cookie mavens. I took a stab at this, and I like the result, but ... had some snafus. I will say one thing I have learned. Buy a lot of tips and bags, it makes life easier if you are doing a lot of colors. Also, buy colors! Mixing color is not easy and it is so important to have the right color to get a certain look. For example, these colors should be a bit muddy and grey, not pure and bright, but then you also have to make them appetizing! Not easy. Also, I did try gold powder, love it and very easy to paint on with spirits. As for my attempt to copy these cookies... I ended up deciding that I would rather do them without a flooding color. Flooding color is just a sweet taste, it adds little else. The cookies themselves are delicious with no icing at all. I think i'd rather leave the background plain. Still, I am frustrated by my inability to to finely detailed icing. When I choose piping consistency, it won't go thru the (smallest) tip. When I thin it, it goes thru, but spreads as it dries. Anyone use piping gel? I assume that is the perfect consistency? I forgot to get pics before i bagged them, but here we havermy first try on pachyderm.

This question is timely for me since as of Friday I'm now officially retired at 61 YO. So I've been doing a LOT of processing and thinking about time, career etc! My 50s were tumultuous and intense. Transitions of leadership at work meant huge adaptations needed to deal with different managers. My kids went from HS through college and started their adult/professional lives, my MIL's health and independence declined precipitously, my stepmother died leaving my father bereft, menopause happened causing not only physical changes but the need to recalibrate my intimate relationship with my spouse (as did becoming empty nesters), a close friend died and I was primary caretaker for him followed by managing his estate which he left to us, and toward the end of my 50s more whiplash: another leadership transition left me marginalized and very depressed about the career that had always been my joy. Then too after 60, the struggle at work is real; I could feel that gentle but inexorable sense of becoming one of the oldsters as more colleagues left and younger people came in. Not that everything was bleak. My husband and I suddenly and unexpectedly bought a vacation/retirement house that was more than a dream come true. We realized that we were extremely fortunate that we had enough resources financially that we could begin planning for life without paychecks. On the whole I loved my 50s--for most of that decade I still felt on top of my game both at home and at the office. However the big transition came as I approached that 60th birthday. As others have noted, what started as a small voice became a shout, telling me that this chapter was ending and something new was coming. That's exciting and I'm eager to explore it but at the same time there is an undeniable sense that it's no longer the summer of my life, and that I don't have unlimited time left. It was hard too realizing that the comfortable structure of my life, my days, my social interactions, my entire financial and professional support at work was going to be over soon. Work had been such a deeply passionate part of my identity. But as life does, it was teaching me important lessons. Being sidelined and ignored after all the years of hard work and dedication brought home the truth about a job: it's not your partner, it's not your family, it's not your friend. I don't regret my years at work but I do know very clearly now that a job is a job, not a life. So it all brought me here, sitting on day 2 of my new life stage. And all those changes have taught me it's important to treasure what is here and now. Be happy that I wake up healthy and get up easily and plan a day without physical limitations. Be grateful when my kids connect with me and appreciative of the time they give me from their busy lives. Be patient with the elderly people I love who are often so challenging to care for and help. Be loving with my husband who has been my rock and partner for so many years. Be AWAKE to the beauty of every day, every conversation, every experience and be ready to explore new experiences. I'd say the 50s for a woman is the time to look backward and forward and be mindful that where you've been is the diving board for leaping off into what you will be.