I think it is a matter of taste and texture and if you make mix cakes most of the time that is what you are used to so this cake would be different. I don't use mixes very often because whenever I eat anything that is premade I seem to break out in hives (preservatives) A lot of people here rave about the lemonade pie that gets posted every summer. I made it once after reading the reviews and really thought it was terrible and because I couldn't find anyone to give it to I tossed it and was mad at myself for wasting the ingredients. For me it was too sweet and the texture wasn't something I liked and this is from a person who can eat condensed milk by the spoonful (love the stuff) LOL I think I didn't like it because I like my lemon pies on the sour side and nothing can compare to a homemade lemon meringue pie. I was really disappointed I didn't like the lemonade pie because I usually love anything lemon but the sweetness of the lemonade and the condensed milk was just too much for these taste buds. Just like movie reviews - some people will rave about the movie and when you go see it you didn't enjoy it at all or when the movie is given a bad review and you see it and thought it was great. Recipes are the same way. Anne

I had to read this twice. Looks like from the second post that the OP did not encourage the family to attend the wedding - the 'adult' part of her simply decided not to push the issue and agreed not to attend, herself. Dirtunder, are you upset by the events, or are you upset by the silence? Sometimes the elephant in the room left undiscussed is far more painful then the event itself. At any rate, we all benefit by setting emotions aside and by learning how to talk to our families about what upsets us. BTW, is anyone talking about the fact that brother is an alcoholic and had (has) sexual boundary issues? This seems like a forest through the trees topic to me.

Grandad..... no..... though I answer to Grandma to a couple of sprogs. Frieda, you are very partly right in that'Dido' is from classical legend of course - Queen of Carthage - and I love references like that; also poetry, yes, and I particularly love Purcell's opera 'Dido and Aeneas' with her dying lament, 'When I am laid in earth' before she climbs her funeral pyre as her lover sails away to found 'another Troy on Italian soil'. The opera also has a very beautiful viola solo - I used to be a viola player and have played it in several productions, up and down and here and there. But also, in another life I was a Diana.... let's not go into that, shall we..... but when I had to change, I realised I can't seem to let go of my name totally - it's me. So 'Dido' was one of the closest I could manage: even so, simply Dido was already taken so I had to put a 1 after it. Reallly, I should have registered as Dido Jones which I now consider to be my alter ego, though at first it seemed strange. For a while I felt like a different person, having a different name. Now I've just reverted to my old, grumpy, usual self. And, to cut a long story short, I suppose I look fairly Welsh (what I am - hence the adopted surname 'Jones'), being smallish (5'2", 56lbs), with dark-brown eyes, ex-dark hair (now white) and of an 'excitable' nature (have been known to throw things like ashtrays, in the olden days when there were such things lying around in any old places) Dido

Hi Karen I use lots of fertilizer on mines..I use Foliage Pro and Neptunes Harvest and it has been cut back twice..How funny is that the same pot? That is just weird. Great minds think a like) It's hard to explain my 100 year old one..I let it dry out too much the past week and and its leaves and flowers dried off. Ugh. Did not know the sun was that hot in a south window in December. I always underestimate the suns strength and get lazy about watering at times..I will take a pic once it's up in bloom again which should not take too long. I can share a cutting or two with you on this one too. Yes, I agree, spring sounds like a good idea. Just remind me about that time and I will send them when you do. In the mean time take good care of yourself and keep posting your pretty plants too. Did that San's you water rooted ever grow for you? Thanks for your kind words, it means much since you have taught me much. Mike