I keep going back and forth as I watch my ground covers spread. I do not like the "empty" look of nothing or the dead, messy look of mulch. I have a perennial vinca vine and ajuga. They just finished their bloom cylce. I loved the blue flowers among my hosta. The creeping jenny is just getting ready to bloom. It keeps moving toward the grass away from my woodland garden. At my place the ground covers compete more with the ferns, bleeding hearts and astilbe than they do with the hosta. The hosta aren't bothered but the others struggle mightily if a ground cover gets too close. They are not a huge issue to keep back. Once twice a season I go around and remove any invaders from under my hosta canopies. Once the hosta come in it is too dark under them for my ground cover to be happy. I have had LOV and snow on the mountain deep in the back of my woodland hosta gardens for over 10 years and never had a problem. They seem to be creeping now and I find myself pulling them up but I have so many seedlings to edit out it is all just part of the process. Wild violets love my gardens and I have all colors. It the spring they are very welcome. About now they are getting pretty large and the rain is usually at a premium so I pull them as I go. I prefer to think of "editing" vs weeding. People see my garden and imagine I do nothing but garden but they are wrong. I enjoy and hour or so a day. Some days when I am "painting" re-arranging I spend longer. This Lamium has me intrigued. I wonder if it would grow for me?

Oh, that is so pretty, punk! Love the pink plate also...but your flowers look so pretty with ms. bunny! I love the lace tablecloth but am lookin' forward to seeing your pastel checkered..that will be so cute, too! Placemats & napkins are great for this t'scape...pink & green combo works so good! TFS! Jeanne s.

Paul Prudhomme changed his recipes over a decade ago, and I tried watching his revised show, but he took it to an extreme that I thought was unnecessary. However, he is a good comparison and is what I thought of first. I have fond associations with Southern accents - it reminds me of some of my roommates at Rice. I no longer live in "Y'all" country, and I never used that word much even when I did, but I do not find it nearly as annoying as when people say, "What I'm going to do next is I'm going to..." instead of saying "Next I'm going to..." Or when people say "actually" twice or more in one sentence. There was a woman on the Steven and Chris Show that did that last week, and I had the change the channel because of her. Another word (not a real word) that annoys me no end is "vinegar-ette". It seems that chefs are deliberately taught improper English, and I think they should be made to take speech classes (or get speech therapy) like the class I had to take for my Interior Design degree. I do like Paula Deen, but I revise her recipes when I make them. I think her cheesecake recipe is fine as is, but I would not make it very often. I find it endearing that Paula calls her son "Son". To me, it shows motherly love. It's better than using "DS" on a forum, as "DS" can mean "son" or "sister", and it always gets me confused. Giving children numbers is even worse since pseudonymns are always an option. I had an uncle who had pseudonymns for everyone, but then he was rich, eccentric, and childless and could get away with it. Annie, I love the olive wood Paula Deen spoons you sent me!!! Larry the Cable Guy has made a career using a fake southern accent - he was born in Nebraska and has a midwestern accent in his normal voice. I wish Paula the best and hope she will be able to get this under control. Lars

My husband and I got rid of our TV about 5 years ago and do not regret the decision at all. We got tired of the media tainting, and in many cases, lying about most of what comes out of their mouths. We also got sick and tired of the poor quality of the shows and all the ads. We would rather spend time conversing with each other or just relax reading good books, or having a nice glass of wine on our porch. That said, we don't live in a bubble and do know what is going on around us. I feel this whole Paula Deen thing is a circus and totally ridiculous, as most of these type of things are. I've never watched her shows, or looked at any of her recipes, simply because I am not interested. I'd rather be cooking my own meals or gardening than sitting in front of a T.V. In other words, I consider life too short to care about Paula Deen. We now live in a society where people want to lynch someone on hearsay, which is exactly what the media coverage is causing and doing, or ancient history, yet politicians do not pay much price for some pretty disgusting behavior. The fact is, I'm betting that despite the fact that most people here are caring, non racist people, not one of us can claim to NEVER having made a less than nice remark, calling someone else a name, or done something unkind. And that goes for the people that are the first to complain they are being slurred. Just because someone makes an accusation does not make it fact. I guess this country hasn't grasped the whole innocent till proven guilty thing. I believe we should still have the right in this country to speak and say whatever we want, (but not abuse someone) particularly in the privacy of our homes. If someone says something nasty then that is a reflection on them, and upon hearing such things one can choose to walk away from that person, or can say something to them about it. Life moves on. Saying a nasty thing 30 years ago and being penalized for it now is just ridiculous. Give me a break. There are worse things to deal with these days, and wasting court time on something said in the past is absolutely ridiculous. Food Network has a right to fire anyone they choose to, and Smithfield and Walmart can do business as they wish as well. Frankly, I don't do business with any of the above anyway, and all they are showing is that they don't grasp the concept of innocent till proven guilty either. It does not make me admire them. As far as Paula Deen saying the thing about a "plantation wedding", has it ever crossed anyone's minds that it might have been a compliment rather than a slur? Maybe it was a slur, but maybe it wasn't. I will tell you that "white" people are slurred just as much these days. Why isn't someone getting worked up over that? Choosing to not watch Paula Deen because she is irritating, or you don't like her recipes is fine. However, judging her without really knowing the facts, or having heard in person the context of how something was actually said, is the only way to make a fair judgement. I also question why a former employee would wait so long to make a complaint about Paula Deen. Normal people do something immediately. It is not O.K. to bully, hurt, or discriminate against someone else. Ever. Period. But what someone chooses to say or discuss with a spouse, a family member, or a friend is no one else's business. Maybe Paula Deen isn't a nice person, or she may truly be a wonderful person....I have no way of knowing that as I have never had any contact with her. Either way, it does not belong in court as a court case. I am also wondering what all the demonizing of certain foods is all about in this country. Does everyone really blindly believe everything they are told, just because it was said? I guess so. Real farm butter, lard, grass fed beef, and free range pork, celtic sea salt, and whole milk from organically and locally raised farms is extremely healthy. It's all about feeling satisfied with your food, and therefore naturally practice portion control without thinking about it. My husband and I are "older" and we eat this way after obtaining the book "Nourishing Traditions", and also looking into what the Weston Price Foundation has to offer. We are both fit, healthy, and on NO medications whatsoever. And we eat grass fed raw butter lavishly, particularly on a nice grass fed steak or whole grain bread that I make from grain I grind myself. Consider maybe it's not the food itself causing the problems, but rather what "they" are doing to it before it hits the grocery shelves? I haven't bought a mix or anything processed in years. My husband and I have noticed that on the rare instance we eat out that we feel ill afterwards now. Blaming Paula Deen for obesity is absurd. No one is forcing anyone to eat her food in her restaurant. It is not the restaurant, or even butter that is making these people overweight. It's their whole lifestyle. I usually don't respond to threads like this, but this time it got my dander up a bit. Maybe people should spend more time on important things, like the relationships in their lives and their hobbies, and less time on Paula Deen.