I have a brug that changes colors as the flower ages, not sure of the name, and I have a variegated brug with white flowers, and just bought the double brug from Logee's greenhouse. I'm looking for large flowered and scented brugs, also need care info for insects for brugs. And how to keep my cats from using the trunks as scratch posts, besides declawing, lol.

I call the beastie the "Suburban Assault Groundhog". Since shooting the nasty rodent would get me arrested (although I think that my .45 would do a wonderful job of tenderizing him) Lee, my DH, purchased a techie slingshot and ballbearings. Now, all we have to do is get a good shot at him! Keep your fingers crossed girls! Alison and Karen-You two crack me up! Karen, we'll make sure Lee is fully clothed when he goes gunning for the chuck and Alison, my kitties have brought me various "presents" including a bird, all caught in the house. Unfortunately, they have all thought that my BED was the proper place to share them with me! Mrsgeekboy-We had a squirrel that I tought to "knock" at the door to my MIL's. I would then give him a nut as a reward. I did this to make my SIL freak. It worked only too well. The bushy tailed rat soo got so bold that he learned to open up the screen door and would come in and help himself to the nuts I kept in a bowl for him! I had to put a better latch on the door after that. Even my dear SIL didn't need to have a squirrel with bad manners strolling in and out of the house! ~~Mimi P.S. Bev-you left out *@ and ~^#@!

I have had the Elux Icon Speed oven for 8 years now. It has been trouble free, except for a screw that came loose that holds on the handle, (was easy to fix). As you mentioned, it does not broil, most of the time we do that outside, but I can use the broiler in my regular Elux oven. We like potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams here, and it sure is nice to be able to do them in 14 minutes (including preheat), compared to the regular oven which takes 45-60 minutes). The Elux "defaults" to the microwave mode, just enter time and push start, and we have used it a lot as a mircrowave in the 8 years we've had it. We could do just about anything (except broil), that we could do in our regular oven, and I've baked turkey thighs, stuffed tomatoes, meatloaf, desserts~~~you name it. It came in handy as a "2nd oven" during "Thanksgiving", (for some of the "side dishes"). I've found that for reheating poultry and fish, as well as French fries, that these "Somewhat tricky to reheat" items come out best when reheated in the speed oven using "Speed Cook"~~~they don't get soggy like they would if you just nuked them or tried to reheat in a regular oven. You can watch "The Great Potato Race" on UTube, to see a comparison, (well actually a contest) baking potatoes using the Miele and Electrolux Speed Ovens. The Elux was easier to use as I just chose potatoes, entered how many and the Speed oven did the rest. With the Miele, the user had to enter preheat time, (alto he did not use preheat), He had to enter temp, cooking time with convection, cooking time using microwave, etc etc. The Miele Speed ovens do enjoy a good reputation here in Garden Web~~~~but~~~~~I would invite you to google "Miele Speed Oven Reviews" before forming any opinions about the Miele. (Likewise do the same for "Electrolux Speed Oven). Wife still likes her large oven, so it does get some use(Large oven), alto there have been very few times in the 8 years that we've had the speed oven that which we cook would not fit in it! Anyway, to "Sum It Up", My Speed oven is one appliance I will never be without, ( I even do my toast in it)~~~We don't eat enough toast to merit buying a toaster, and the toast comes out great~~~You just have to "Flip it"! The other appliance I could never do without??????? My Elux Icon Induction Cook Top~~~~~We love that cook top!!!! Gary

We've lived in our house for 10 years and never seen a mouse until tonight. I remembered reading this thread and thinking "Over 20 traps -- has Karen lost her mind???". Well, now that I have one of those little buggers in my house I'm thinking 20 traps is not nearly enough, and I'm merely thinking for prevention of any mice that might be left. We came home tonight to find my two cats and our dog surrounding a dead mouse in our dining room. The three of them were just staring at it with very confused looks on their faces. I guess once they killed it, they didn't know what to do with it. After reading everyone's responses to Karen, I'm now convinced we probably have hundreds of those nasty little critters (or will very soon). So, tomorrow morning DH will be putting traps everywhere!