I am also one who has enjoyed reading this thread. I have gotten rid of a lot of my Christmas decorations...and I was one the used to put a tree in every room (including the bathrooms), but have cut waaaayyy back....mostly because of health problems and a DH who does not "decorate"....so the outside lights are not put out anymore....because in this cold Kansas weather, it was me out there in January taking them down. I put wreaths with red bows in the windows, along with battery operated candles and a big wreath on the front door. I only put up a smaller tree in the LR and one in the basement family room where we all gather on Christmas to exchange gifts.....and of course, do decorate the fireplace mantle and I use a lot of bright red poinsettias scattered around. I always put out my grouping of singing carolers...they are so ugly that they are cute...and of course, never leave out the two nativity scenes that mean so much to me. When I looked through all of my boxes of decorations, I just kept telling myself.....what you take up from the basement has to come back down....and with my bad knees, it didn't take me long to just leave them there. I do believe that less is more...too many decorations doesn't give the eye a place to rest and gives the "cluttered" look. However you chose to decorate, I hope that each of you and your family have a very Merry Christmas and I hope that 2009 will be a better year for all of us.

We thought we were so close that it would be no problem. Most of the work being done, with "most" being a famous last word now. Yes, we did get all the moldings stained, finished, cut and up. Hooray! We have more recessed lighting to install (the boxes are there in the attic wired and capped, waiting for final steps). Husband had avoided doing a full ceiling sheetrocking; seemed eco-friendly and budget friendly at the time. (These decisions always do.) The sheetrock around the old light fixture had years of heat and whatever. Therefore, plaster just crumbled when we put the Halo can in. Argh. Many phone calls. Patching. I need to go to a special store. Will the "mistake ring" arrive at our lighting store soon and will it cover enough of the problem? These are the days of our lives. When we're not chasing down our kids. Stairs to the family room, still not done. Subcontractor had to make those special, wanted to finish some bigger jobs first. More famous last words. Goes it without saying that I too lack a backsplash? I liked a "value" (really a relative term) glass tile from Ann Sacks. But then I find out that really I want the clear poly grout, and the installation really goes up in price. And too, I have the rest of my granite on hold. I have enough granite to do both my bathroom vanities upstairs. And I ought to do those tile backsplashes at the same time... A decision before February is needed.

Hmmmm... well, for me, AAM is a smaller bloom that lasts longer and has more petals, and a nice range of color changes. It grows about 3-4ft tall. EDGAR DEGAS grows shorter, and the blooms blow pretty fast, altho they're very pretty. As you can see, they both get blackspot, at least in the early spring. This is just my experience... Oh and my GEORGE BURNS stays short, about 2½-3ft tall, even after 15+yrs. Blooms are medium size, all sorts of ranges of striping and last longest of the three...

Anne, I saw my first Rose Chafer beetle last year. I didn’t know what it was until you mentioned it in a beetle thread. So after that I have been in denial. I hope that the JB’s never get worse for you CB’s are bad enough and they are ugly. Carol, It’s not that bad really (well it is) but you get them anyway. I have found threw the years that you need a few sacrificial lambs. A couple of roses that the beetles love so much that that some others are left alone. wirosarian, your so dog gone funny. Now who remembers the poster from years back. They showed a necklace made from JB’s. Maybe we should have their nutritional levels tested like they are with other insects.