Another variation on the 2-liter - I put 2 slits in the upper half, about 1-1.5 inches long, directly opposite each other. This allows the top half to spread apart just enough to slide over the bottom. Then I push the top down nice and snug. No way they are going to blow off, they're snug enough to lift the bottle without a problem. The 2 liter bottles are very easy to rinse out and re-use when they're cut this way. I have also cut all the way around and left a hinge, tape or no tape, but when it comes time to take the seedlings out, the top needs to be cut off anyway.

Good morning everyone! Aaahhhh Louie! Where can I begin? Since his arrival he has knocked over just about everything. Eaten 1 of our snakes (now, I can't confirm he killed it, but I did see him munching on it yesterday...can I say eeeewwwwww) And, he has single handedly mowed down almost all the flowers of my floating hearts. I did see him taking down my water celery last night. I want to be upset with him, but, I just can't. He's so little. Maybe a foot long. I told the kids he's like having another toddler running around. You just have to fix everything after he's finished with it. Bunzy (our paint turtle) and her two new paint turtle friends who showed up a few weeks ago, Bubba and Penelope (the kids named them, lol) all seem to be getting along just fine with each other. They were the only one's I was worried about. I'm going to try to get some pictures of him tonight. Last night I was feeding the fish and watching the turtles come up and eat the food. I was to zoned in on watching them that I started to get that weird feeling like I was being watched. I turn my head and there is LOUIE about 2 feet away from my feet munching away in the water. He is NOT afraid of people, lol! Sheri, LOL,I have no clue where he came from? We are close to the Seneca River. I say close, maybe a mile away, and our neighbors have ponds in their pastures. I don't know?? I can't imagine something so little traveling so far? Shirley, our "flying dinosaurs" have been making their nightly appearance as well. The herons aren't afraid of us either! The kids run at them yelling, they just walk to the other side of the pond. I put a couple of shepherds hooks down there with garden flags thinking moving things blowing around might scare them...nope. Hubby got me 2 beautiful heron statues last year for Christmas to scare them away. They stand right next to them, lol. The iris' did have a great spring! I did have some problems with rot afterward. I don't know if it was the crazy cold we had or what? I have a few die off completely. :( The ones that survived are multiplying like crazy. Your daylilies are so gorgeous! How large is Big Bird? I am picturing a very large flower head :) Col :) Yeah! It made it!! So happy!! I hope the Hawaiian Surf made it okay too? Since today is Friday, I've decided to call 2 BINGO WORDS :) THE BINGO WORDS FOR FRIDAY ARE: ALIEN'S STARDUST and OGON WOGON OH MY BINGO WORDS CALLED: 1. FLAMINGO TWISTER 2. DO THE MATH 3. TURTLE TIE DYE 4. TINTINNABULATION 5. ALIEN'S STARDUST 6. OGON WOGON OH MY'ERS: Shirley (brittneysgran) AND Alana (poisondartfrog) SWAP WITH EACH OTHER frankielynn AND Sue (sueguanzon) SWAP WITH EACH OTHER~~~frannkielynn SENT~~~ Kathie (sinbadsmom) AND Jayeanne (pinkiris) SWAP WITH EACH OTHER~~~ Jayeanne (pinkiris) SENT~~~Kathie (sinbadsmom) REC'D~~~ Sheri (panhandle_seed_swap) AND Cinnie0 SWAP WITH EACH OTHER~~~Sheri 1/2 SENT :)~~~~Cinnie0 REC'D~~~ Suzanne(hibiscusfan) SENDS TO Colcol Colcol SENDS TO Vina (flowergirl34) Vina(flowergirl34) SENDS TO Suzanne (hibiscusfan)~~SENT~~ Tomorrow is the last day to mail for our swap. I hope everyone has been in contact with your swap partners. Or if you made arrangements to mail a little later. If you haven't heard from your partner at all please let me know. Have a super Friday! vina ps. Tomorrow is the 50 mile long garage sale around here. It's amazing!! Kids are having a pool party today and tomorrow its all garage sales, lol. Iris: Ambrosia Fool

If you invest $1.00 at 5% and let it run for 50 years, it would have grown to $11.00+, without allowing for the erosion of your income, whether annually or after a period of years, several times, by income tax, or the ongoing erosion in value of your asset by inflation. If, however, you could invest it at 10%, after that same 50 year period it would have grown to $117.00+. Your investment could lose 3/4 of its value and still come out ahead of having invested it at 5%. Actually, more than that - for it's the value after taxes and inflation that really counts. Do you expect that companies like Exxon, Gillette, Coca Cola, and such, or other major petroleum, pipeline companies, etc. may go out of business? Or even suffer serious losses. A person who invests a major portion of his (probably less likely "her", cause women generally are more risk-averse and less likely to plunge; [some would say, "smarter"]) total invested asset into highly speculative issues seems to me to have cheese for brains. The stock markets as a whole have average growth of 7 - 8% or so, over the long term. Few mutual fund managers' holdings have grown faster. And they charge fees for their expertise - somewhere between 1 - 2% in the U.S. for equity (i.e. stock market based) funds, most of them over 2% annually in Canada. If they match the long-term average growth of the market ... they're reaping about a fifth to a quarter of the growth, a larger proportion in Canada. Unfortunately, if there is no growth - they still get their percentage. Many persons calling themselves financial planners/advisors are actually mutual fund sales people: that's all the equity-related financial issues that they're licensed to sell. They don't want to talk to you about individual stocks, for they can't sell them and it's illegal for them to recommend them unless they've taken the courses that stockbrokers take (which few have - their courses are much less complex). There are a few who sell no financial products, but many of them stop doing that because often their income levels are much lower, despite many people who want to invest saying that they'd really love independent advice. One should investigate what kind of training a prospective personal financial advisor has taken and whether s/he has advanced courses above the minimum requirements. Also what kind and length of experience the prospective advisor has. Also what lifestle experience the prospect has: some have seen a great deal more of life than others - and have learned much more per year than many who have lived as many years. Finally - you need a person whose personality and ideas are compatible with yours. You will trust that person with a very important part of your life. Some years ago, when I had a display at a county fall fair, someone asked me what right I had to call myself a financial planner. I said that we could get rid of unemployment tomorrow - we need only have every unemployed person put out a shingle on his front lawn calling himself a financial planner, as it was unregulated - any darn fool could do it. Stock brokers were regulated, as were mutual fund salespeople, but in our area at that time financial planners were not, as there were few of them operating outside of stockbrokerage and mutual fund sales agencies. That's not the case now - but it would be a good idea to ask several of them what kind of regulations there are governing them. I took the course that stockbrokers take, over 20 years ago and worked for a mutual fund sales brokerage (i.e. they could offer mutual funds managed by a large number of managers, rather than only funds managed by their own company). I didn't produce enough sales to suit them, so was there for only one year. I'm more tuned into the idea of helping people set their financial goals, look at some concepts that they might not have thought of, and work toward achieving them. I am totally devoted to helping my clients decide what they want to achieve and start out on a plan of how to achieve that/those goals. They don't have to be concerned that my advice or recommendations may be slanted toward various financial products that I just happen to sell, for I don't sell any. One local person that I met a few years ago said that he'd done well in business and managing his investments, so some friends asked him to manage some money for them. He asked for a minimum investment of $10,000., asked the client to sign a power of attorney for that account only, and when he made decisions about investments, a copy of the confirmation went to the client and one to him. He charged 10% of the growth (exclusive of dividends, if I remember correctly). Rather a good idea, for if he doesn't produce, he doesn't get paid. There is a fairly major proviso, though - that he might choose some fairly risky investments where there could well be a possibility of major gain. He being a person of integrity, I think that he was quite strongly guided by the level of risk that his clients were willing to tolerate. When I asked what happened if there were no gain - he said that there hadn't been a year yet that he hadn't been able to send a request for payment to every client. I'm not sure how many years the concept had been in operation. This has been rather off topic - sorry about that. As for many people lacking time to manage their investments ... ... many people spend more time on consideration of where they'll go for a two week vacation than they do on an investment system that may well be in place for forty years (or more). Good wishes for making your money work well for you - rather than better for someone else. joyful guy

It seems like Quick Silver, Violet's Pride, and Love Song are rapidly becoming a formidable trio of lavender roses: "The Three Musketeers, The Pale Purple Crusaders, The Regalia of Nostalgia." The more lavender roses the better, especially when you get older and find yourself becoming increasingly sentimental. The color lavender glows next to any other color, except perhaps orange, maybe that contrast works, too. Thank you everyone, for all your input. I'm sold on all thee lavenders. It seems Quick Silver and Love Song have the best formed and colored blooms, while Violet's Pride is the most fragrant and more pink hued of the three. I suspect the bush form of Love Song noted by Texas Ben is the most impressive/rose bed centered of the three. The photos that Texas Ben and Diane (thank you for them), provided, give me weak-knees! Lavender roses have surely come a long way since Angel Face. Moses