Oh, Faye, I would have missed your weiner dog if it had not come in email....what can I say! I'm printing out that picture for my DH's amusement. I already fell off my chair! How adorable. Meanwhile this winter, our younger, Dolly, learned to dig and to catch moles. She has TWO MOLES to her credit just this week. If it is raining, she looks out the back door, and you can SEE her disdain, "You expect me to go out in THIS?" So DH ordered an artificial turf layered poopy pad....which has "mixed reviews" at our house.....sigh....come on spring. Today they are both outdoors, chasing squirrels, digging holes, telling Papa where to put things. They're girls.

The post's title made me chuckle. It's so true that we are bound to have some (or at least one) that looks ugly. For me, my ugly is Brim Cup. (Runner up to Brim Cup is Twilight.) When I bought Brim Cup in 2011, it looked nice. In 2012, it also looked good, and I patted myself on the back (especially when I found out it was considered one of the "difficult" ones). Well, I congratulated myself too soon, as this year, right off the bat, it looked ugly. Ugly it has been all season. Mind you, mine has been in a pot, so no slugs or pest issues like North53. I think mine has two problems: I've never repotted (I know, I know . . . I'm a bad girl). The second problem may be that it got too much sun in spring. So how long will I try with this hosta? I think I will try my best for 2014 and then 2015 will be the year it goes. I like a challenge, but there are so many beautiful and less demanding hostas out there that it just isn't worth my time. Babka, I also would find it very difficult to throw away a hosta. It is hard for me to imagine that no one would want it, even for free. I certainly do not have that problem. I can sell at garage sales, fund raising events, give them to our library's gardens or just post on kijiji.ca. If I were giving them away, a posting on kijiji.ca would guarantee that they'd be gone in no time at all. Just like plantbug, I would say "send them to me!" and I'll pay the shipping, but I am in Canada. My opinion is that if you are looking at some ugly plants, have tried almost everything you can and they continue to look ugly, then I would get rid of them. Doesn't it make you sad to look at them? Isn't life just too short to (year after year) see that kind of ugly? Part of gardening is to learn what grows well for you and what it is that makes you happy. I have purchased hosta that are going to grow too big for my garden (if I am lucky). What I am going to do? I don't know. What I do know, is that they are bringing me joy now. As for the future, well I can dream. But there are no guarantees for the future. So I choose to find enjoyment in the present.

HHZONE4: I do not like the flavor of carp. If it is mixed with whitefish and pike, it is OK in gefilte fish, but I don't like the flavor of it by itself. Your mother-in-law is no doubt a great cook, but that's HOMEMADE cooking. Nothing wrong with that! It's the commercially prepared stuff like canned fish that I question, as I do not know how sanitary or strict the Romanian "USDA": standards are. That's what I was referring to.

My best friend (since first grade), Tony, drowned in a boating accident when we were 23 y/o. That, and working in the medical field forever has sadly kept me aware of my own mortality. My middle and high school best friend, Kathy, died a year ago of metastatic bowel cancer. Another longtime, very close friend has an incurable cancer. I lost both my parents last year within six months of each other. And so, my own mortality seems to stay on my mind even more so lately. I don't have a so-called bucket list, but I have become very focused on living out whatever life I have left (hopefully another 30+ years) on "my terms". How so? - I've stopped focusing on acquiring pretty much anything material. Instead, I'm determined to notice and appreciate the small, beautiful things already in my daily life, whether it's a flower, a sunrise, a smile or a kindness to me or another. And, I am . . . every day. It's been a gradual change of focus, but I've noticed how much happier and less stressed I am because of it. - I go out of my way every day to do small kindnesses for others. Both of these may seem inconsequential, but it's become very important for me to try and make the world a little better in my own small ways. - Although I'm always open to making new friends, my focus now is more on spending good quality time with my close friends and family. - My parents knew how much I love to travel and see and explore new places. My inheritance from them now allows me to do more of that. In the past year DH and I've vacationed in several states and in Mexico. We'll continue with more in Europe, Asia and Africa as time allows. If anything, traveling would be on my bucket list, if I had one. - With age, and facing my own mortality, I've become more tolerant in many ways. I've also become much more outspoken, especially when I encounter any type of religious, racial, or gender prejudice. I just feel that it would be wrong not to call someone out on it. That my own integrity would be greatly diminished if I didn't, if that makes any sense. - And, finally, volunteering. I did much of it up until my last child headed off to college five years ago. About 20 non-stop years altogether. I guess I got a bit burned out, but am now focusing on new, different volunteer work. So, not so much a bucket list of things I need to do and mark off, but more of a mental reassessment as to who I am, what good I've accomplished so far, and what I want to do with whatever time I have left here in this lifetime.