I DO love bougainvillea...but I do not neglect mine...this past summer I had over 20+ inches of rain in July and Aug. and part of Sept was very wet also...and my pot stayed wet for weeks on end and all the leaves dropped...I thought the plant died...but, I changed the pot and repotted it and luckily it's growing again and is blooming again... Very Nice TC Kris and Mike!! For me it would have to be my Jades and Succulents and a couple of my very large Hoyas that get neglected the most... Rhizo, that Hoya story is hilarious!! You must have had either Lacunosa or Carnosa, one of those I'm not thrilled about the smell of the flowers either...it always reminds me of hint of a dirty litter box,lol... This picture is from January 2013...when it was looking pretty good. Doesn't look as good as it did then but its coming back :o)

I went through what I grow and here is a list of some of my favorite intermediate-large growing conifers. If I had to pick one from the list which is a must-have for you I would go with 'Skylands'. Abies concolor 'Blue Cloak' Abies grandis x 'Luteneggeri' Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Glacier' Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Boyko's Sundown' Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Nietschke Cream' Picea abies 'Aurea Jakobsen' Picea abies 'Gold Drift' Picea glauca 'Yukon Blue' Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns' Picea orientalis 'Nutans' Picea orientalis 'Skylands' Picea pungens 'Sharp Cheddar' Picea pungens 'Spring Blast' Picea pungens 'Straw' Pinus aristata 'Blue Bear' Pinus cembra 'Stricta' Pinus contorta 'Taylor's Sunburst' Pinus koraiensis 'Silveray' Pinus resinosa 'Aurea' Pinus strobus 'Stowe Pillar' Matt

1. Large (12"?) saut� pan, aluminium with stainless steel interior, pretty tall sides and helper handle, a KitchenAid that my second mom found at a flea market for $15-ish and decided I needed. Uses: general frying, braising, saut�ing. A couple times each year I take a buffing pad, drill, and metal polish, shine the interior to a mirror, the pan is slick like ice for awhile. 2. Medium (10"?) cast iron pan, some cheapo Taiwanese no-namer, that the same friend got for me at the same market for the same price. Uses: searing, stirfrying, general frying. So easy to clean, nothing ever sticks, happiest when it's smoking. 3. 7 qt Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, bought with the encouragement of the CF, and opened whole new vistas through the magic of time compression. Uses: slow cooking fast, fast cooking faster, stocks, stews, pot roasts, legumes, grains, also works as an everyday deep pot. If I was putting together a traveling kitchen, I might bring the smaller pressure cooker and a smaller saut� pan, just depends on space restrictions.

I love scarves for dressing up an outfit. I wore them a lot in Europe as they are an extra layer...over the shoulders for the cathedral, over the head for a drizzle, around the neck if it's chilly, around the purse if it's hot... Below is a nice video for ideas about how to tie a scarf. However, I too am in the camp of no more turtlenecks...when I have a hot flash, it feels like strangulation. Scarves I can take off, but turtlenecks, I'm stuck. Such a shame as I have a zillion of them...I lived in them all winter when I was working...they look so great under a jacket, with or without a scarf, necklace or lapel pin... I have a couple of white shirts, but I have trouble finding them opaque enough, I never have them ironed so when I'm rushing to get dressed, I by pass them for something that doesn't need ironing, and with my coloring, the white is a washout on me so I have to add color besides. I also have to worry about length as I'm short...tunic shapes just cut me off. Then there's the boobage issue...button fronts can gape on me which also isn't fun. (I remember giving a talk one time, and the fellow in the front row was staring at my belly. I realized my shirt had gaped and he was seeing skin. At least it wasn't in the boob arena. Last time I did that! After that it was pullovers, button in the back, long scarves in front or camis underneath!) So for me, it's not a go to item, though I can see how it could be for someone else. Also, these days, I'm so into comfort that knits are by far my favorites...they move and stretch with me. When I wear wovens without any lycra in them, I feel like I'm fighting my clothes. I didn't try them, but was tempted....I was in walmart and see that Lee is making a super comfortable jean now out of very stretchy, very soft denim with almost a flannel like feel...a real cross between a legging and a jean...but they also had them boot cut. Next time I'm at the VF outlet, I'll have to take a look. Here is a link that might be useful: how to tie a scarf