Melissa wrote: "Climate in my garden is similar to Kim's but my care is different. I'm not nearly as nice to my roses in general.;) I water less, and feed differently I think. No chemical fertilizers at all." I think your "winter cold" is deeper than mine. (9b v. 10a, Sunset Zones probably between 18 and 19 for you, 20 to 21 for me) It seems your soil is quite a bit different in origin from what I've seen on line, being more of a deeper alluvium. Mine is the white shale layer of the Santa Monica Mountain formations. I water enough to keep plants alive, but not "thriving", particularly during the worst of the heat. I don't fertilize with anything other than prunings I shred and throw back on the soil surface as "mulch". I don't amend using anything, period. I avoid "organic" fertilizers due to the legions of moles, gophers, skunks, opossums, raccoons, coyotes, rabbits, rats, etc., all of which are either attracted by the organics themselves or to those which they attract. I don't need, nor wish to encounter any more "wildlife" that close to the house. Sometimes, it's a "witch" living this close to the "urban wilderness". I don't fertilize those in the ground with inorganic fertilizers, either. The soil is quite 'salty', as is the irrigation water. There has been no rain to flush the accumulated salts from the soil. Adding inorganics would only serve to intensify the "salts". I do use light, infrequent applications of inorganic fertilizer (always water soluble) to newly propagated, potted plants to replace the nitrogen they lose to watering. Being in an "extreme heat, extreme fire danger" area, I am allotted a relatively high level of "Tier 1" water use. I use, and have been using a quarter of that allotment, both to conserve the resource itself as well as to conserve the ever increasing cost of it. The areas I would normally irrigate show the reduced water consumption. I recently removed sixty feet of forty-plus year old escalonia hedge which had begun dying at one end and continued crisping and browning by the foot from the southern toward the northern end. Increasing the water to it had little positive effect, so eliminating the need, as I have done with all other plantings proving themselves "too needy", helps reduce the danger of combustion as well as need to increase the water bill. You might find this seedling of interest. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Puzzlement

I have a problem with the camera I am using now in that I often accidentally set the flash because of where the toggle wheel is place. My camera looks very similar to yours, and I find it very easy to press the flash without realizing it. Sometimes it is difficult to turn off the automatic flash, and this is most irritating. Most of the photographing I do now is of furniture and of cardboard models of furniture that I make at work, and I really do not need a flash for this. In the past, I have photographed wall sconces for tear sheets and these were difficult because the finishes were often polished silver plate or polished nickel. I had to be very careful about what was reflected in the mirror finishes. Of course I had to be even more careful when I photographed mirrors, and I often did those on a dock with the background very far away, so that it would be blurred. That was before I could fix them in Photoshop. Lars

I am sorry to hear about your brother, ML. I hope his treatment is going well. Sometimes it is harder for the loved ones than for the person with the illness. You feel so unable to do anything to help heal him. You want to take action, to do SOMETHING, but it is out of your hands and you feel helpless. I send you thoughts of caring and love, and your brother thoughts of healing and strength. I am using Google Chrome, and it does have a back button. You can open tabs at the top to have more windows open. If you like to have things like the "file" button and whatnot, DH says that you can add them back in. Let me know what you mean by the "open concept" and we can see if we can help you out. I avoid the evil EI, too, but Chrome may be just as bad, or worse, with collecting info on you for marketers.

Is Fruitless Mulberry a Fair Burning Firewood? I should be answering the question since I have burned some seasoned a year and it seemed “Fair” to me and a friend gave it an OK. I got some of 4 piled 6 houses away last week. The 4 piles have doubled since they took down another tree. No Power Line This Time that affected our power. The neighbor gave me permission to go in the yard and take any wood vs just wood on the curb. My Son-In-Law and I got a healthy truck load of the best looking wood and had planned two. More than I should have been lifting-handling, plus it had lots of years of trimming damages (possible insects). Her promise is that they will cut the wood into sticks to hope it will be taken faster by individuals vs “limiter” City Pick-Ups Monthly (that can be on the curb). The 14”Electric Wen had no problem cutting into sticks. Next will be splitting wood over 6” in dia. To me the electric is Quite enough that I do not need my Ear Muffs (hearing very little) with my Hood on in the Cool weather. That night, “Said Different “as My Ringing Ears w/n let me sleep. My Ringing Ears are from working around too much machinery on the Job. I took pride in listening for noises that indicate a machine having a problem. Two specialists have recommended sleeping with Low selected noise to override my “Ringing Ears”… See the attachment of the one load of Wood before and after cutting…