Taoseeker, Thanks for the information on the European history with long term use of their most common rootstocks. I find it interesting and very useful and hope for long term good results - more vigorous root growth translating into more resilient bushes. I do remember seeing a number of times R. laxa use mentioned in the hybridizing experiments by the Canadian pioneer prairie hybridizer. One of the Skinners I have is apparently a cross with it and a pimpinefollia - sorry have not taken the time to check if it is Haidee Suzanne Butterball or all. Makes me wonder if that was the influence of their European ancestry, availability or factual superior hardiness - don't know but in 5 years I should. By the way very pleased to see very good cane survival for the first year on my Portland named Marie Jean I got from Lynnette last year when she gave up on it. Melissa, There is a gentleman in British Columbia I met through Lynnette who has made it a mission to collect and save Geschwinds. I need to let him know what I received and get him some cuttings. The two Canadian nurseries that I would be happy to share cuttings (gratis) that graft I have not approached as it gets too close to commercial for me and I would have to be absolutely sure that the roses are out of patent before even contact (most are over 100 years old so I am probably safe). However I sense both of them have absolutely the strictest of QA controls and would do it on their own so as to be sure of providence and disease free stock - if they survive winter and prosper I may contact them to guage their interest ... they both export to the States. Kaylah Hi, I was fortunate my Charles de Mills that I cover and is in the south gardens has 3 foot canes and lots of them ... problem is blooms are usually in short supply and last year I think I got 3. I leave it as it always grows well and takes to protection well. All my other dark gallicas are history except for the many exmaples of Belle d'Crecy I got as delambre - it also seems to survive well if covered ... but too much damage and the blooms are gone. All my cardinal Richelieu departed voluntarily over the years (3). Me I fool around with teas but only in pots and bring them in in October ... got a couple new ones this year. My FMkruger ... is a monster in zone 3 (hahhaha) and I think I must of got the most vigorous clone of this tea via Quebec. Kids you not take a cutting - stick in earth in the house and it takes like in February when I accidentally snapped a branch off ... now I got two with the younger being already at least foot high in 4 months and has gone through one bloom cycle. But the one I really miss is Mrs Schwartz ... almost as reliable as Mlle Franz Krueger (sp) ... forgot to take a cutting and over wintered her in the garage and she and all the other ones died - fortunately had cuttings for 3 of them in the basement to replace them - there as tall in two 365 day a year growing seasons as the originals.

That's OK Deb, I'm a little slow myself, this will still be here tomorrow or next week or next month. It's odd, I've no doubt my cellar would be fine for winter storage of ferments, I just haven't done it yet. Probably the main reason for that is that fermentation has become as much or more a culinary technique to me as it is a preservation method. Example; I prefer two or three day old 'half sour' cukes over the 'full sours' (and keep using the same brine over and over, it just keeps getting better). It's become routine for me to rehydrate 2-3 Tbsp minced onion, add a little whey and let it ferment 2-3 days, and then add it to a crock pot of soup beans which provides a wonderful deep onion flavor to the beans. The main reason I would want to BWB canned tomato sauce or salsa or relish is to 'capture it' at the stage of it's prime flavor. I haven't tried that yet but intend to (though I DON"T like the idea of 'killing it'). Also, I've no doubt that 2-3 days fermentation to tomatoes would eliminate the need for the addition of any citric acid prior to processing, ph would be lowered from the lactic acid content. Any way, you've inspired me, I've now a new goal: ferment lots of season's end veggies from the 2013 garden and store them in the cellar (which is actually an offshoot room from the basement but should do well for winter storage of fermented foods). Recipe; it's more about method than recipe. I don't follow exact recipes much anymore, each batch of anything I make is always a little different, a character of it's own. The basic 'sauce' recipe is derived from a tomato pepper relish found in Sally Fallon's book, 'Nourishing Traditions', which incidentally if you don't have I very highly recommend it, it's chocked full of the latest nutritional findings that contradicts much of what is being espoused these days, sound traditional food wisdom from around the world, and lacto fermentation comprises a significant portion of it. This is her relish recipe at this link: http://adventuresinsidewaysliving.blogspot.com/2008/12/lacto-fermented-tomato-relish.html . Thus far the only fermented sauce I've used is what I've ladled from the top of relishes and salsas: The link at the bottom provides a fermented sauce 'method' that I like and will probably roughly follow this year. I really like the idea of using narrow necked bottles and capping the sauce off with a dab of olive oil, it should work very well. Simply put, make your relish or salsa or whatever you like or want to try, let it ferment completely, then run it through a sauce maker to remove skins and seeds, and then bottle it. Viola! Sauce! Live sauce, not dead. If you wanted a thicker sauce simply let it sit until the separation occurs and then draw off the liquid. Brace yourself, I just took this pic, you're looking at the ferments on the top shelf of my fridge; tomato pepper relish, kraut, corn relish, and whey. I always have whey on hand, it keeps for 6 mos, (actually longer). In the fridge door there are cukes, minced onion, garlic, and chili sauce: The tomato relish on the right (all store bought veggies) is made using Serrano peppers ( c. annum), the relish on the left (store bought Romas only) has Burpee hot lemon peppers (c. baccatum, from my garden) which, true as advertised by Burpee in their catalog, combines wonderfully with tomatoes for an outstanding flavor. I try to incorporate some sort of fermented food with every meal. This is often simply a shot of lacto fermented beverage such as beet kvass, kraut juice, or sauce ladled from a relish or a salsa, which greatly aids digestion of a heavy meal with meat and helps to lower blood glycemic response when eating carbs. This is some cabbage left over from a head I cut up to make some turkey noodle soup Saturday: I added about a half cup honey (which converts to lactic acid) in order to produce an ample amount of 'kraut kvass' as a beverage. There's plenty more I'd like to share and talk about but I've got to go right now, duty calls. Talk to you later, hopefully. Here is a link that might be useful: Fermented Tomato Sauce

On my behalf, for my baby years, the only momento kept is my baby book and portraits. I'm glad I have the baby book. I can't think of any small-child items I wished she'd saved. The school things...she kept all our report cards, school pictures, and any paper certificates (ie spelling bee, attendance, citizenship, etc). As for the awards and any bulky items as we got older...my mom never managed those things for us. Those were our things and our responsibility to care for. If our rooms got too messy, dusty, or cluttered...we were told to be responsible for cleaning up & clearing out. If we didn't...they would. That was the rule, and they held to it. The threat was there, and neither my brother or I let anything get far enough for them to clear out for us. When our rooms would get full, and we didn't clear out things in a timely manner, there would come a point where mom would announce we didn't get anything new...nor were we allowed to buy anything new with our own money until other things were removed...meaning trash or burn pile. We made our own choices on what we tossed. That included our clothes when we got old enough to care about them. My parents held very firm to not aquiring anything new until room was made. Even went as far as telling relatives to give us birthday money...no items of any kind. No presents to unwrap on a birthday at certain ages is no fun! The lesson was our rooms have finite spaces, and when that finite space is taken up, you have to make choices on what stays, what goes, and what's useful for NOW...not yesterday. You are responsible for your own space. I still live today with the awareness of finite spaces and making the choice to be comfortable and cleared out. Gayle

I've purchased a couple of casual block print tops, new white jeans, espadrilles and that's about it. One of my girlfriends is turning 60 and a group of us are planning a trip to the 30A area of Florida in August. It will likely be the only get-away and I am looking forward to it. Fingers crossed no hurricanes. Will look for some simple caftan like dresses for that (and to wear around the house). I actually prefer shopping online most of the time and don't mind the hassle of returning. For some reason, I just can't stand trying things on in the store. I sell on Poshmark and can attest to the good deals there. I have the best luck selling things I bought (usually on sale) that were never quite right for me or very gently used higher end clothing. And by higher end, I mean like Tory Burch or Theory.