Thanks Seil :-) I wonder though if Julia Child has a more consistent size across climates, it's small to medium down here. Whereas Buck roses change--according to the Buck rose website Carefree Beauty is a small shrub and ARE in TX says medium to large?? I should post to the general forum I think.

Marguerite - I would imagine this is just your typical 'Hummel's Sunset'. They mention it was grown outdoors so my guess is it just received that coloring from a lot of sun exposure. I have also seen them referred to as "sunset jades" before. -Erica

In 2002 I really wanted copper appliances Just how much do you want these? Is it worth a lot of money to you? Copper isn't exactly cheap. But the good news is that it is easy to work with. And most appliances are pretty straight-forward to disassemble. If you are sufficiently determined, you can take apart the front panel of your appliance and have a local metal fabricator replicate it out of copper. In some cases, you can also buy panel-ready appliances that would make this whole exercise a little easier. And in rare instances, you might be able to convince the appliance manufacturer to sell you a copper panel. I believe Bluestar has (or had) a "precious metal" series. I am not sure if it was available for all of their models. But I have seen that they can make copper oven doors. They look gorgeous. And of course, copper sinks are thing. Just head over to Dino Rachiele's website. So yes, if this is your highest priority wish-list item, then it absolutely is something that can be customized. As with most non-standard design choices though, it'll cost you. If you do go this route, you owe us pictures! :-)

Look to the west maybe 45 minutes after sunset. I believe the comet will be setting about 9pm tonight our time or about 2:45 hrs after sunset. Venus is pretty easy to see as it the brightest "star" in the sky, usually the first one you see. You can tell it's a planet as it doesn't twinkle like stars do. I've read 20° north of venus but the degrees don't mean anything to me so that didn't help me at all. I know it makes no sense, but I think in feet and inches, so about 16" north. About 14" up from the horizon...but even that would depend on how high you are relative to the horizon... mountain vs. valley would be very different. It looks very much like the picture Fun posted, though much fainter. I had to try from a much darker area before I could see it with my naked eye. I managed to get in the shade of some trees which helps as the moon is full. If you can find your way into the shade, it'd be easier. Also spend some time at it. It takes about 20 min for your eyes to adjust completely to the darkness. I needed binoculars to find it. Once I knew where it was, I could faintly see it with my naked eye, but the binoculars really helped.