King syrup on oatmeal pancake (already made up, so just popped the frozen disk into the microwave); apple cider. The syrup made it sorta high calorie, but the rest is healthy enough. Glass of skim milk. I think the size of the breakfast is directly related to the usual physical activity of the consumer. Back when I got up at 0430 to bike-deliver papers over a 5 mile route, I probably tucked in a couple thousand calories via pancakes, eggs, bacon and several pieces of jelly-topped toast. But that was followed by a full school day, a couple hours doing yard and garden work, an hour to fix dinner and make breads and desserts, cleaning house the old fashioned way - no vacuum or steamer; then babysitting and homework. No car, so transportation was shank's mare or bike. Oh yes, and I played baseball with the neighbor kids a couple times a week and eventually took up other sports at school which involved biking 8 miles to/from the school.

They're really a mixed bag when it comes to actual growth habit -- especially in warm zones with long growing seasons. IMHO, 'groundcover' is a somewhat unfortunate & misleading term when applied to roses. To many people, groundcover means extremely low-growing, dense ground-hugging plants that serve to control erosion and curb the growth of weeds. In the home landscape, 'groundcover roses' are a very poor choice if one aims to accomplish those things. I use them not to cover ground, but to cascade over retaining walls -- & some groundcover roses do that much more effectively than others. My favorite (because it's extremely low-growing and very healthy), is 'Bubbles', which would be perfect if only it were self-cleaning. For many years the only source for 'Bubbles' was Pickering. Unfortunately, they discontinued it at the end of last season due to lack of interest/sales.

I picked my first ripe Aunt Gertie's Gold this afternoon and my wife and I had it for an appetizer tonight. After several bites each she said "You've got to grow this every year." I said we've only gotten one tomato off the plant in 5 months! She said "Who cares?" Yeah, it is that good. The best thing out of the garden so far this year. That one and Aunt Ruby's German Green didn't set fruit for 90 days after plant out (they're both kind of prissy about night temps below 55 every night). I guess with 29 other plants producing well I'll have Aunt Gertie back for another visit. Maybe cover her with a afghan every night... pour a little sherry on her roots... make her feel more welcome as she shivers on the foggy nights.

I haven't skied it but have gone up on the gondola as well as the lifts at Whistler. Both beautiful. Vancouver is a very cosmopolitan city. Even though it is less than 200 miles away from me I feel like I am in a very different city than Seattle. Hard to explain but it does feel very European. One of my very favorite places on earth!