Sounds like much of the same here in the lower 48. Even here is ND where the oil boom is bringing in so much money BUT everything is way too high for the average person. Just ask some of the Canadians that come south to shop and try to find a place to stay.

Here are a few of our favorite casseroles. I don't know that they would win any healthy awards, but they are good. ~Anj CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE CASSEROLE 1/2 stick butter 1 cup uncooked rice 2 cups water 1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix Raw chicken pieces (whatever you prefer, whole or cut up) 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup 1/2 lb link sausage, sliced In a 9x13 pan pour melted butter over onion soup mix and stir. Add rice and water; stir again. Place chicken over rice (I added a little spice to chicken) and spoon mushroom soup over chicken. Place sausage slices over the top. Cover and bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour or until chicken is done. (I cook uncovered for about 15 minutes at the end to brown up the sausage.) Chinese Chicken Casserole 2 cups cooked, cubed chicken, turkey, beef or pork 2 cups cooked rice (use minute rice if you're in a hurry) 1 full cup mayonnaise 2 TBL soy sauce 2 TBL finely minced onion (processor great) or substitute 2 TBL. chopped green onions 1 - 15 oz. can LaChoy chinese vegetables, drained & rinsed in a colander 1 - 4 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained & rinsed in a colander Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Place in a greased casserole (deeper one works well, like a square corningware or something - the 13x9 will dry out a bit). Cover with lid or foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until bubbly and just browning on top. Chicken Broccoli Casserole 2 lg broccoli heads, cut up (you can probably use frozen, but I never have. I don't like the stems and I like to cut my broccoli up kind of small) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked & cubed (I usually do about 2-3 large ones.) 2 cans Campbells cream of chicken soup 1 can Campbells cream of celery soup 5 heaping Tbls mayonaisse 1 cup grated cheddar cheese rice (enough for your family) Mix first 5 ingredients together in a 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Take it out and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return it to the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese. You can eat this like it is, but we prefer it over rice. Even kids who swear they hate broccoli will like this one. Pork Chop Casserole (serves 4) 4 Pork Chops 4 cups sliced potatoes 1 can cream of celery soup 1 cup milk 2 T. chopped onion 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp pepper, or to taste Grated American Cheese (I just use Cheddar) Season & brown pork chops. Place potatoes in greased 2 quart baking dish. Mix together soup, milk, onion, salt and pepper. Pour over potatoes. Place pork chops over potatoes; sprinkle cheese over all. (I put the cheese under my chops) Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 60 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Chilaquiles Verde Bake Serves 4 1 can Campbells Creamy Chicken Verde Soup 1/2 cup sour cream 1/4 cup water 2 cups cubed cooked chicken 2 cups frozen broccoli flowerets (I used fresh and had to cook it longer) 4 corn tortillas (6'), cut into strips 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese Mix soup, sour cream, water, chicken, broccoli and tortillas. Spread in a 2 qt shallow baking dish. Top with cheese. Cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot. Mexican Chicken Casserole 2-3 Boneless/skinless chicken breasts 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 can cream of celery soup 1 can rotel tomatoes 2 cups chicken broth 1 bag tortilla chips Grated cheddar cheese Boil chicken in a little onion until done. Cool and chop into bite-sized pieces. Mix soups and rotel tomatoes together. Add chicken broth to soup mix. Crunch up tortilla chips. Put chicken, chips and soup mixture into a 9x13 baking pan and mix all together. Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes. Add lots of cheese to top. Bake til cheese melts, then eat.

Good morning Sue! Stayed up late last night so I slept in this morning. Did nothing all day yesterday except dishes. Alex left for a week long camping trip with friends yesterday and Lauren is at her father's. So, I have the house to myself...with the dogs. Today I'm going to write some e-mails, a letter or two, do laundry and work out in the yard later after the sun starts going down. I need to clean the house too, just not sure I'm going to get to that today or just leave it for tomorrow.

I do love Evelyn! I purchased her mainly due to fragrancenutter's huge thread on the General Roses forum titled "fragrant roses that produce abundant perfect cut blooms". She is in Australia, zone 10a and gets dry heat, as I do. I figured it was worth a shot, since it does so well for her. I'm very impressed so far. I'll keep you all up to date with how she does in the future. I have a credit with Heirloom Roses, and today select DA roses are on sale. Most seem to be out of stock, Evelyn included:( Where abouts are you located, boncrow66? Maybe Evelyn really likes a hot and dry climate? Mine doesn't even get as much water as I thought she needed, (for a youngster), because she's in a difficult spot for me to place the hose. BTW Ingrid, last night I found a "snip and drip" system at a great price, PLUS 20% off my order. I was all ready to check out when my 20% discount disappeared. This was at exactly 11:00pm last night. I forgot about the time zones and missed the discount by about 5 minutes! I was so disappointed, that I just shut off my laptop and went to bed. I'm very sad about it. It was a really simple system that I could install myself. It had good reviews. I just took too long picking out extra parts to customize it. I'll make a copy of my cart. Maybe it will go back on spectacular discount again. Thank you, Justin. I see that you also garden in zone 10a. You must be getting some high temperatures as well. I think that does make for some odd blooms sometimes. I deadheaded that bloom this morning, and also saw that a worm or something had been inside. That's why the backside of that bloom was kind of missing. I've had an awful lot of worm ruined blooms lately. Here's what I found when I removed Baronne Prevost's odd little bloom. My deilema rose has been Poseidon. It was frying instantly last year in full sun, and this year I moved it to afternoon shade. That's still not enough to keep the beautiful blooms from frying. During the last flush, I put up an old screen door to shade the blooms. I got perfectly gorgeous, unfried, lavender blooms. Even though Poseidon is hidden away in the backyard, where I tend to do as I please, I'm not willing to do this all summer. I'm also not big on moving roses. My boys are busy, and it's difficult to get them to plant a rose. For them to recognize a rose they planted before, that is now quadrupled in size, to be relocated? Boy, I hardly dare ask:) I have a few things planned for Poseidon, before I begin negotiations with my sons. I purchased a shade cloth for my patio lattice. I had a huge Texas Privet hedge removed, and while I love my new rose bed, my patio is much hotter. It just so happens that shading where I sit will also shade Poseidon.(I think) I have some Pro-tekt, but I'm not a sprayer. I can try to see if it would keep Poseidons blooms from frying, but in this heat I'm afraid I won't keep up with it. This option I think I am going to go with regardless. Plant a passion Vine near Poseidon to shade the blooms somewhat. I know they can grow like a house on fire here, but I checked, and it can also be cut back and kept smaller. I bought two passion vines. Here is one that just bloomed in its pot. It's a bit more mauve than the photo shows. Here is a Poseidon bloom Poseidon is loaded with buds, but unless I put the ugly screen back up, all will fry. Love Song however, takes the heat like a champ. This self seeding annual has been amazing! It goes from seed to bloom in about 8 weeks maybe? Cynoglossum Amabile 'Blue Showers' A giant Dahlia with Shasta daisy. The dahlia is actually more purple/burgundy than the photo appears. Mrs. William G. Koning is always healthy here and blooms well in mostly shade. A rare moment, this morning. Sebastian and Millie playing together on the patio. Not the best picture, but I dared not disturb them. Ok, that's it for now. Time to round up my kitties. Lisa