Moccasin, Sugar and Cream's first bloom opened today and plantaginea is sending up a scape. Guacamole is about finished with it's bloom. My second Sugar and Cream is sending up scapes, too. So, it's time for the fragrant ones for us in the South. bkay

1. No lint fitter that needs regular cleaning. 2. Just wash fuzzy sweaters on the wool or delicate cyle They'll be fine. 3. For large items like comforters or pillows, they must be combined with smaller items so the machine can find a good balance. Otherwise it won't spin. 4. My towels are perfectly soft. Stiff towels aren't clean , too much or too little detergent. 5. Yes, but use only a small amount, 6. I don't worry about lint, it hasn't been a problem, 7. The only things I put in bags are bras, just to protect them. I did notice, when my sister was here, that baby socks can get pushed into the gap in the gasket, where they don't get clean, so maybe they should be in a bay. One bag comes with the machine.

DH and I worked all last weekend and Mon and Tues to get ready for our annual July 4th party/music jam. We set up three sun/rain shelter tents in the back yard... had a jam going in one, a jam in the carport and a huge folk music jam going on inside. It was MUCH fun... and we only had a slight shower in the afternoon.. felt very lucky. AND... after spending all morning cleaning up, putting away chairs and tents, etc. my DH took me to Lowes and we bought the cement hardibacker (sp.) stuff so that he can cut me some pieces for the tops of two small, metal end tables for the screened porch. At next year's party... I WILL have them done... and the sailboat that I'm expecting to start tomorrow (yipee!) too. Happy yesterday's Independence Day to all! It was our 3rd anniversary yesterday. :) What a day to choose for getting married..... "independence" day! LOL

Sorry, no photo and it will be another month before we see any buds on it where I live. I see what you are saying, and I wish over fertilization was the problem. Each year it's the same story regardless. I don't fertilize much and certainly these two droopy flowered types that I"ve had about 10 years don't get any more than my other my dozen others, some that I've had for 20 years. They get enough sun. I even have a very tiny stemmed darling (it might be a persian) that doesn't look capable of holding up blooms and it will droop some - as much as horizontal sometimes. Yet it doesn't droop its flowers like these two french hybrids. These droopy guys have nice sturdy woody stems until growth begins in the spring and then once the flower buds open they literally start to face the ground and some will snap off on their own. They are huge masses of single florets. My dad always had a white double flowering lilac with huge masses of florets and they never drooped like this. I'm not sure but think one label on mine was an "Agincourt Beauty". Although purchased as labelled different varieties, they both seem identical. I have kept them this long because I was sure that one year something would go right and the flowers would not face the ground. What a waste of time and money.