Mmmm, all this sounds so good--well, maybe not that pork roast that got this thread started (you go out with your oven on? You have an amazing sense of adventure). I've made Wellington a couple of times and while it turned out fine, I finally decided I don't like to go to all that trouble. So I'll just come to your house and eat yours. I'll bring the cosmos to make sure no one will notice whether it turns out wonderful or merely terrific. I want to know how the standing rib roast turned out, so please post an update. We had a crown roast of pork--mindless preparation: season, put in oven, cook until done--plus garlic-mashed potatoes, and veggies (my fave was the braised red cabbage with apples, yum). The topper was my DIL's pumpkin pies which thankfully she didn't do lo-fat this year. I whipped heavy cream to go with it. Ice cream is nice with pie but there is nothing like freshly whipped cream. I must get back to my ordinary and a lot more abstemious diet, starting soon--but not today. I'm taking my "girls" (daughters, DIL, granddaughters) out for an elegant lunch today. Maybe next week. . . .

My mom has the purple one, and she always said it was a trumpet vine and I thought she was wrong, but now that I see yours I am going to have to eat crow on this one. I love this vine, do you grow the purple trumpet vine in the shade or sun. my mom grows her's in half sun half shade. Where did you get yours my mom picked her's up at Home Depot but it has been some years now since she purchased hers, I want one. I need some color in my garden in the summer, it is so plain right now, I guess I should ask does yours bloom in the summer, I can't remember if my moms does or not. I see the orange ones quite a bit at at Home Depot but I have never seen the purple ones. Thanks Carrie

Look no further! I will have tons of seeds when mine ripens. They reseed here, so if you plant them in the fall where you are, you will see lots of seedlings in the spring. When the plants are small you can eat the leaves in salad, plus they are a beautiful ornamental plant, as you noticed. Email me with your address and I'll send you some. :-)

A northern goshawk is gray. There are a lot of online sites with photos of birds that you can use in lieu of a fieldguide. One such source is the Cornell Ornithology website. See URL below. Richard Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Bird Guide