Good afternoon GB - glad to see your clems are blooming despite being left to fend for themselves. Did you loose any? Baby Reed made me smile - what perfect little features. Ei - I'll have to go smell my quercifolia as I've never noticed any fragrance. I cannot remember now which cultivar it is. Michelle - hope your case Shingles is not too severe. It can be a rotten experience - take care of yourself. Chelone - glad Rex is doing well and being such a good patient. Cynthia - any updates on Katie? Last night really lived up to Michelle's title for this Idyll - a hot summer's night. Never the less it turned out to be a great evening with the Chicklits (our book group). We had a wonderful selection of food, lots of wine and good book talk. David came and played his guitar to us while we ate - he played so beautifully it almost brought tears to my eyes. A friend of my sister's from New Orleans has just moved to our town and I was able to introduce her to the group. It turns out she moved in 3 doors down from another book club member and both have sons the same age. I love it when you are able to introduce people and feel they will enjoy getting to know each other. Only one of the group was up for a swim and we floated in the pool under the stars with fire-flies flashing till late in the evening. It felt sooooooooo good. Another friend chatted poolside, entertaining us with stories of her wild youth. We've known each other for over 10 years and I would never have guessed at some of those secrets. We're all rather conventional now, happily engrossed in raising children, PTSA, jobs etc. but sometimes it's fun to remember earlier carefree days. Today I had a work lunch - it was social more than work, and I had the chance to see a training video I was filmed for earlier in the year. I was mostly pleased with the sections I was in, but thought I looked decidedly "wrinkly" especially on my forehead. Perhaps it's time to splash out on some Oil of Olay Regenerist. Tonight there are leftovers from last night (an easy supper), then David has Karate class. I think I should probably shoot for any early night too. Hi to all Mary

I just happened upon this posting, and feel compelled to add a bit of info regarding fertilizing new plantings. The current "rule" regarding California native plantings is NOT to fertilize or amend soil at planting. This is especially true if the plants are native to your local area. In theory, if it's a native, the soil should contain everything your plant needs. That said, by virtue of normal landscaping practices, we have mucked things up for our plants. Still, with natives, it's best to start without fertilizer. If your plants are from other Mediterranean climate areas of the world, then a little starter fertilizer may be helpful. It may also be necessary to amend the soil to improve drainage. They key is to match the plant's natural habitat and needs as closely as possible. Note: if you have clay soil, but your plant is native to an area with different characteristics (rocky, sandy, low phosphorus, etc.), you need to be mindful of this. Clay is wonderfully fertile, but tough on plants that prefer better drainage. If you do choose to fertilize, organic fertilizers are better for the plants, soil, and the environment.

Thank you all. It was one of those deals where they access your computer remotely and "go to town". I did watch most of it...scans, etc....but didn't get to see how they uninstalled Avast. I wish I had. I did do a search, ravencajun, as you recommended. The result was that no matches were found so I guess they did remove everything. That's good news. I agree owbist. I renewed my subscription because it's less expensive to have them take care of the problem and pay the opt out fee than it is to take it in to a local repaie place. And it takes much less time. Thank you for your views, everyone. I feel all right with Panda now. I will keep MSE on my PC.

Yes, I have worked with Baby Clouds by Red Heart (color: cotton candy), using a J-hook and it was difficult to find where to insert the hook with each and every stitch. The stitches are hard to find due to the boucle/chenille texture of the yarn. This slows one down considerably! So I made a square receiving blanket using sc, ch-1, sc, ch-1 and still had diffiulty finding where to insert the hook making each row stitches. Once the square was made, I did a simple scalloped edge using 5 dc in ch-1 sp, sl st in ch-1 sp, but it was a relief when done. To make it look better than it was, I put a tassle at each corner. This project took 4 skeins, as the yarn works up very quickly, disappearing rapidly. I had enough left to make a small hat with ears and ties. Email me for more info.