i dont understand the frustration ... if the seller does not wish to make the buyer happy .. then ... as you note ... cancel the order ... i have never had a problem in this regard ... because i insist on them sending dormant plants ... when my garden is still dormant.. and i make them understand that i am well aware that the plant they send will look dead ... and in fact might be.. since the seller can not verify it will come out of dormancy ... so you are increasing their risk of loss ... if you then require replacement .... in effect you probably have to waive your warranty if you wish that they do this ... but any good nurseryman can tell a dead dormant plant.. from a healthy one ... regardless.. who needs to argue with idiots.. if they cant make you happy.. spend your money elsewhere ... this is all complicated by hosta ... if the seller sends leafed out plants ... but i dont think you are referring to that ... especially if you southern folk who are ordering from the great white northern hosta farms ... you will be in summer before ours even break ground ... one thing that took me about 2 decades to see the light on is this: YA KNOW ... you dont have to plant it in the garden when you get it .... pot them up.. and plant them at the next PROPER PLANTING TIME ... if they will struggle in the earth ... and that would be fall ... by doing this.. i found i can buy all summer long.. and HOLD THEM until proper planting time in fall ... this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT when dealing with trees and conifers ... you just do NOT plant them in summer ok.. my afternoon coffee just kicked in.. and i dont even know if i made my point.. or what .. and i dont care anymore .... i have to hit send .... and i have to go run around the house for 10 mins .. lol ... ken

Back in the 1950's my grandmother made a frozen fruit cocktail salad. I'd like to find the recipe but everything I see calls for cream cheese or minature marshmallows in the mixture - neither of which were in her's. I'm wondering if these recipe ingredients are a regional thing. She lived in San Francisco if that makes a difference. Anyone from the bay area remember this salad as a child of the fifties?

when I make a sour cream topping for my cheesecakes, I use 2 cups sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, & 2 tsp. vanilla extract. If you like your topping a little sweeter, you can add more sugar to taste. But this is plenty sweet to our taste.

nivea, I agree with you. DH and BM should communicate with each other. But if she calls him to tell him to tell me something because she has a problem with me or something I'm doing, I would think that she'd get better results by calling me directly. It turns into a big drama when she goes to him because she doesn't control herself when she calls him, she gets him at work where he can't really talk and yells at him. Most of the time, he calls me and can only reiterate to me, part of the conversation. Then I'm supposed to respond to him so he can call her back and give her my side of the story? Half of the message can get lost in translation or he forgets everything she said or maybe he interprets it differently than she intends. It gets very confusing, when she could easily let me know what the problem is (with me) and I can respond to it. If it's an issue about their daughter that DH can handle, he does. But, her complaints are stupid to say the least. She will call him and yell at him because I take SD to girl scouts or bake cookies with her. Then she will call him up the next day to tell him she can't be here on time and to have me watch her daughter until she gets here. Even my daughter (17) noticed that I'm damned if I get along with SD (BM calls DH to yell at him that I am not her mom, she is) and I'm damned if I don't (BM calls DH to yell at him that she doesn't like the way I treat her DD or DD is not happy living here). and when we were in court, the Judge commented on how lucky SD is to have a SM like me. He was impressed with all of my efforts to build a relationship with SD. That only pissed off BM and she stormed out of the courtroom. Then, I just found out today that BM called SD's therapist to get info on her sessions. I don't know what the therapist told her, other than she's doing well living here and that I'm a good SM to SD and she shouldn't be worried about SD living here, that she's doing much better. That was a few days before BM started accusing me of abusing SD. (by giving her peanut butter & jelly sandwiches in her lunch, because SD hates peanut butter although nobody has ever told me that until I was accused of being abusive in my lunch making.) I agree that the court doesn't like a new spouse that butts into the custody situation and makes waves, but in my case, BM is the one making all the waves because she has a problem with me. The court saw that and made mention of it. It's not always the step parent that causes problems but if they do, somebody should stop it, either their spouse (bio parent) or the court.