I did some overhaul to the modern rose bed (prepping my first OGR bed now) this year and so far the best additions in my coastal, no-spray garden have been: Brigadoon - Very healthy plant, not the quickest rebloom, but still young and the flowers have been very large. The flowers have a very long life on te plant, but I generally only cut more fragrant roses. It's next to another winner: Double Delight - No powdery mildew at all which is my most notable issue here a mile from the beach. Great scent, the blooms don't burn or fade quickly. Good for cutting, and acceptable rebloom time so far. Hailstorm - I moved one that was a year old and got another one. I really, really like this shrub rose. I can't say enough good about it. They do wonderfully in part-shade with a very quick rebloom time. Not a lot of scent, but this just strikes me. It stays very pale pink for me till it's about to blow. Not much of the white stage the name would indicate, but it still works with the other white and pale flowered plants around it very well. Abraham Darby- This wasn't my call, but I'm glad we went for it. It's been much better than I expected. Slightly slow rebloom, but little defoliation, no mildew so far, and just incredible scent. Great color variation, usually that wonderful orange/apricot centered with a pink edge, but occasionally a solid pink or apricot bloom will come through. Nice and spreading. It should be a nice, large self-supporting/pegged shrub. Medallion - Really great color, mild scent, nice rebloom time. The foliage has been very clean as well. I have nothing but good thoughts for this rose. Some of my best cut roses this summer have been from Medallion. Hot Cocoa: Maybe the healthiest rose I have besides Iceberg and White Lady Banks. It has been astonishingly quick to rebloom, the new growth looks great, the foliage has been shockingly healthy, and while it generally has no scent, once in a while a bloom will have a very pleasant old rose aroma. Worst: Heirloom - One of my first purchases since getting seriously interested in roses this year. I didn't research it, just liked the bloom color and scent. The rebloom time is great, but the plant is a mildewed mess, the blooms rarely last more than half a day before burning and are nowhere close to the lavender/mauve color I was blown away with at the nursery. It's more of a browning dark red that seldom opens without issue. Probably should have gone with Neptune or just avoided mauve/lavender entirely. Really Heirloom is the only bad rose for me so far. Probably will be shovel pruned next year if it doesn't improve. Just today I picked up a Dark Knight that was incredibly healthy and on sale. It's going to be fun to see how it does. A very sultry, velvety bloom with little fragrance, but the coloration is just great. I had been eying it for a while and was all too happy to snatch it today when I saw it was on sale. I can't report yet on the following newer acquisitions (all of which have yet to even be planted): Marie Pavie Sombreuil Purezza (It's probably going on the opposite side of the house as the 20+ year old white once blooming Lady Banks) I'm personally more drawn to Antiques, but I hold no grudges towards modern roses. A beautiful rose is a beautiful rose. Whatever makes me happy has a place in the garden. Always interesting to see what people are trying out! Munstead Wood looks great, but I'm a little reticent to pull the trigger on most Austins. I may give it a shot at some point. As a white rose fiend I would consider trying Tranquility next year, but there are so many great whites I don't have yet that I doubt I'll be making that call. On the other hand, I think I will give Bolero a shot next year. It may be the closest rose to Madame Hardy with respect to bloom form I can expect to succeed here. Jay

Probably Sopranos and maybe Six Feet Under? The Wire is up there. Sopranos makes you really care about these horrible, yet terribly interesting people. Also some good action and plotting, although it didn't know where to go towards the end and the last season sucked! Six Feet Under could be very bleak and moody at times but so quirky and artistic. I also have a soft spot for Dallas and Knots Landing. Those last two shows aren't nearly as good from an artistic standpoint, but love the nostalgia and the characters. Speaking of Six Feet Under, yes I loved Ruth's upstairs part of the funeral home. It was so vintage-y and old, but totally Ruth! Carmela Soprano---those fake leather couches with the big puffy arms? That godawful kitchen chandelier and the balloon valances? The formica kithen counters with the wood trim. I did kind of like the rugs in her entry and living room with the water lily motif and the coral colors in her living room. That musical note thing above her living room fireplace was gross. Does anybody remember Valene Ewing's pepto-pink living room? Loved the house and the grounds at Gary Ewing's ranch, but the inside was disappointing. You'd think with Abby living there it would have been a bit more grand. Karen McKenzie's house looked like real people may have lived there. Remember Valene's boyfriend Ben? He had that amazing beach house with the sunroom filled with exotic orchids.

My mother's granite was poorly installed and poorly fabricated. I'm so sick about it. She is in another state and the company she used is so insecure and sensitive to any questioning of their work it makes it impossible to deal with them. They go by the deny theory. They won't recognize there is a problem. A long seam in the corner failed. The butted joint cement failed because one side is higher than the other. They came out to fix it only after I insisted and they said that happens sometimes due to settling. The house is 50 years old⦠They did a crap job and left flaws in the granite that should have been cut around like craggy pits in the slab, crazing areas that feel like cracks. It's so frustrating because I don't live near her and have to fly up to be on the spot to help. It was a beautiful slab of typhoon bordeaux but it did have areas of defects and we did pick it out together. I had no idea they would leave those in when we picked it out but I wasn't there for layout and cutting. I thought they were better than that. I didn't appreciate their attitude toward my elderly mother when I wasn't right there either. Boo⦠I guess they wanted to re-sell as much as they could and so that is why they left the defects in and didn't cut around them. Whenever you wipe the counter down it drags across the areas with the craggy pits. My sister the germ freak told my mom it would collect bacteria and of course that took all the fun out of it for my sweet mom. Sigh...

I'm very familiar with three of the cities:. Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and St Louis. Indianapolis is a lovely city with wonderful cultural opportunities. It's cost of housing is fairly reasonable and it is home to two universities. Cincinnati is also a lovely city - wonderful old neighborhoods with gorgeous houses, low cost of housing, cultural and sports opportunities. Housing costs are far less than many cities. St Louis. St Louis is an anamoly as it is a relatively small, old poor city, surrounded by 90 separate municipalities of all incomes, from poor old Ferguson to Ladue and other very affluent cities. There are many excellent school districts in some of these cities. St Louis has a wonderful symphony, a renowned art museum, a fabulous science center, a planetarium, a great children's museum, a world class zoo, a major botanical garden - the list goes on and on. Housing costs are reasonable and commutes are easy. And then there was the mention of Kansas City, KS. It is now, and always has been a poor industrial area. But it should NEVER be confused with the very desireable and affluent Johnson County, Kansas. Not the same at all.