Tomatofreak I know that this will cause you more whining but I have 8 clematis and 6 of them are doing great and from these 6 3 of them are blooming now. I have 2 clematis pitcheri that are blooming all spring, summer and fall and sometimes if the winter is mild will bloom sporadicaly. I have a clematis Etoile de Violette(I think) that every year is getting better. This spring I counted 40 blooms and it's got 4 blooms now. I bought from E-bay to canyon clematis this year and they are growing beautifully but no flowers yet. Most of them receive just morning sun and I planted lots of plants around their roots but one of the pitcheri is in full sun but intertwine with wisteria and the perenial morning glory and I quess it's keeping it shaded. The other reason is the soil; very moisture retentive, full of earthworms. I fertilize them several times a year with organic fertilizer and top the soil with organic matter as often as I can. I wish I have the same results with the tomatoes. If you have the right spot maybe you should give them a try. Happy gardening Rodica

The caramelized onions are also a good addition to soups, they add a nice rich flavor, especially to beef or vegetable based ones. They are also a great addition to a french dip type sandwich or on a sub/hoagie. You could use them as filling for a loaf of bread, too, rolled up like a "swirl" or in a braided loaf. How about French Onion Soup? The pickled onions are good in salads, on burgers or other sandwiches or just to eat. Annie

First you need to find out if your problem is actually Late Blight, or if it is something else. Good Late Blight pics: http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm Pics and/or good descriptions of multiple diseases: http://kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/d_out1.html -- take a look at B. and C. http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/TomWlt/TomWiltKey.html -- Begin with the green chart. Look at the diseases which have an X in the "Stem" column and also say "leaves" in the right-most column. Do they match your symptoms? http://vegdis.cas.psu.edu/VegDisases/Identification_files/tomatoleafspot.htm#septorialeaf

You can't do anything about the changes in volume levels as programming content changes. The station engineer has some control, but he would be fiddling with the controls all the time. It seems that the problem is with the advertizers. They do not adhere to modulation standards and like it when their recording studios pump up the volume on their clips - in other words - it was recorded that way! Here in the States, we sometimes have a little recourse by complaning to the station manager and sending a copy to the company whose ads are offenders. People have threatened to boycott stations ccarrying such obnoxious ads. It also helps to complain to the licensing authority. If you still get no attention, it may help to tip off an investigative newspaper reporter. Just make sure that the TV station and newspaper are not owned by the same company. In the inttrim, there is a work-around and that is to hit the mute button on your remote when an ad comes on, then hit mute again when you desire to resume watching. This saves wear on the volume control knob. [However, most volume controls on modern TV sets these days are digital and do not have a physical potentiometer to wear out.] Another solution is to record the show and play it back later. Use the fast forward to skip over the ads. You'll find that you wiil save a lot of time.