I go up to Canada every year for a few weeks or more!!! and upon returning from my first trip north to find my very large 6ft prickley pear laying across the patio and my aspg ferns looking like hanging straw I have learned to just let go ...and head straight to the nearest nursery. we lived in a apt then I could not believe it !!! I asked my husband (who was suppose to be watering things)why he did not water ?? ...he said "But it rained!!" Oh I'm sure it rained but these plants were UNDER a patio!!! what part of ..plant lying on ground...looks like it got water!!!SHEEESH the next year we had a house and not that I didn't trust my sweetheart but by this time I had some really nice plants sssoooo I loaded up my truck and took them over to a good green thumb friend. they all survived.I did that for a couple of years. now that I have almost everything on drip or they are established enough to take some stress I can leave them all here and most survive But there are always a few casualties. I take stock and .....head straight to the local nursery. Its the circle of life....and the only time my husband does not say anything when I arrive with a bunch of new plants!!!!HEEHEE

I am canceling my service with Comcast. I have the $4.99 charge to cover me in case I need to have a service call. Well in April I did have a service call as one of my two phone lines was not working. The technician who came out broke my phone and did not tell me that he broke it. I found that out much later -- it should have been a hint when he did not want me to hold the phone. Then he or Comcast put a $70.00 charge on my account. When I called Comcast, I told them about this, they admitted that it should not have been there and they told me that they would credit my account on the next bill, but that I was expected to pay it and they would issue a credit. I need to check the statutes but I don't think you can collect on disputed charges, especially when you are aware that YOU made the mistake. For the $70.00 that should not have been billed, they interrupted the service. I refuse to pay it and have notified my local jurisdiction and the FCC. If you are looking for a cable or internet or phone provider, don't walk past Comcast, run as fast and as far as you can.

Dear Polar Princess, I am happy to read of your recent survivorship and a getting new lease on life. I think your oak cabinets look very well made and can be a star with some new accessories. Oak is a timeless, beautiful wood. Here are the changes I would try for minimal cost: 1) As has been mentioned numerous times: remove the stenciling & ivy to freshen the look. 2) If you can easily remove the light bridge over the sink and add molding to the top of the 2 cabinets where it connected, that will also modernize the look, as previous poster suggested, for not much money. 3) Backsplash: Provide Maximum sizzle and splash, which will transform the kitchen with a shimmering glass tile mosaic. See link below as example. Your area is not big, so you could pull this off for only $200 to $250 in materials. 4) Definitely bring in the brown leather bar stools you like or even something very modern in style as a contrast. 5) Counter tops: white laminate is not necessarily bad. In fact, if you add a shimmering glass backsplash that is a nice counterpoint to the white counters, you may find they are now more pleasing to you, without going to the expense of adding granite. You already know how easy to maintain your laminate counters are. You might jazz them up with some interesting place mats or update your centerpiece to be more in keeping with the brown leather & mosaics. 6) Window valence: maybe replace the lace look with something more tailored to complement the new backsplash and stools. 7) Wall paint: See how the backsplash changes the look and decide if you want to add wall color or not. 8) If you still yearn for SS appliances, check into changing out the front panels of the frig and dishwasher with SS. Don't think that is possible with the stove. I would really keep the bisque because they will look nice with the new backsplash as well. The link is from a larger website with many different choices of mosaic color combinations. The featured one is Anima because I think it would complement your while/bisque and oak and brown leather. Also check out several of the Spectralight (with and without El Dorado), Shimmerfly (one is Honey Pearl)and others which might complement your adjacent room colors. Good luck with all your decisions. We celebrate that you are here to make them! Anna Lee F Here is a link that might be useful: Glass tile backsplash

Hail is strangely absent from my gardening woes. We have..., drought, floods, heavy snow, sleet, hurricanes, an occasional ice storm but I have only seen hail once maybe twice in half a century now. (Seems to be most prominent inland and at elevation and I am coastal and sea level here in NJ/Zone 7a). Even so, I just got a new car and figure I gotta get it into the garage for a possible hail storm every time I see a forecast for possible thunder. Been hot and droughty here all summer and supposed to continue very warm into Autumn. I wish there were some "big rain" but every day is crystal clear, blue skies and into the 80's. Our concern is hurricane season this year as ocean temps are at record levels this far north (low to mid 80's F. at 40 N.), and that brings a LOT of potential gardening issues and WORK as well. (Not sure what if any the implications of abnormal ocean temps in the North Atlantic are for the Canadian West, but everything IS connected in some way, so expect more WEIRD weather is the moral!)