Ooooooh...you've got some real snow there! Poochie looks like he's taking it all in...LOL. Our childhood dog used to race around the backyard like a banshee in the snow and then come running inside soaked and exhausted just like us kids. If we don't get some "nice" snow down here soon I'm going to be bummed. Need some snow insulation for all my bulbs! Definitely wouldn't be saying that if I lived in a snow belt as you do...or probably after I have to shovel a few times.

I've never used horse manure. I used tons of cow manure. A friend of mine uses horse manure for her roses. Every spring she gets fresh horse manure and applies it in a thick layer around the roses. At some distance, of course. If the manure touches the canes, it will burn. Any manure. I've never heard of manure burning roots, just by being applied on the ground around the plant. Of course, maybe it is possible, I just never heard of such thing or experienced. A compost pile.... You can use the compost in any way you want - for mulch (when is not finished), for tea or straight in the hole. I have plants planted in pure compost and... I have to say that the way they grow is just incredible. Compost will never burn. There's no such thing as "too much compost". It is normal to have many many kinds of bugs and worms and other creatures in a compost pile. They are important actually. You want them there. It is a whole science in making a compost pile. You will have to learn how to do it right if you want rich compost and a pile that doesn't stink the whole yard. You can have a big compost pile or a small one (a 4 x 4 x 4 I would say is a good - small - size). You know what I would do? I would find a place in my yard that is a little out of the way, I would build a bin with some chicken wire, I would get the manure, I would go in the park or forest or something like that and I would get lots of dry leaves and I would mix them together and would just let them sit there until spring. Or... you can make compost tea. I assume you know how to do that one, right? Boy, did I talk a lot :) If there's something else you need to know... go ahead and ask. Valentina

Dave and Carol, you both have me way too terrified to adjust ANYTHING! Lol! Certainly not our intention. Salt, sugar, dried spices (not fresh) can always be adjusted to taste except when fermenting when the salt is crucial. Those are the flavor adjustments I'm talking about. In some recipes, like can be substituted for like. IE hot peppers can't be substituted for tomatoes or onions but hot peppers can be subbed for sweet peppers or vice versa. The key is that the total amounts must remain the same. Bottled lemon or lime juice can be substituted for vinegar as they are more acidic. But vinegar cannot be substituted for lemon or lime juice. So with your copycat Manwich sauce a taste before jarring would tell you if it is hot enough. If not you can always add more dried hot pepper flakes. Also keep in mind that they are using canned tomatoes to manufacture it so citric acid has already been added to it although not listed. It also contains some unlisted amounts of mustard powder, chili powder, and celery seed so you might try some of those too. Dave

Things that are authentic. Real (or correct, high-quality reproduction) Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Regency, Stickley, Eames, Knoll, to name a few. Trench coats. Blue blazers. Perfectly fitted fine wool trousers. Camelhair coats. Good cashmere sweaters. Genuine pea coats. Brown & cream spectator shoes. Chinese bronzes Japanese obi patterns French copper cooking pots Real silver and gold leaf frames. Wedding ring china. Certain silver patterns (1810, Fairfax, Old French, Tiffany Audubon, Craftsman, to name a few) Georg Jensen anything Linen slipcovers Mohair velvet Ticking stripes Old Hermes leather Red leather Mark Cross datebooks Heavy ivory letter paper Beeswax candles Audrey Hepburn Gregory Peck 1955 Jaguar XK140 Roadster A bobby pin holder made by your 8-year old from an old Sucrets tin with a bobby pin glued on top, and some awful pink paint .