veilchen: yes in general it is milder here, because of the costal location (We have the sea all around us ...so it takes longer time to get cold here (water takes longer time to cool down than land surfaces) than places with inland climate) and as long the the west wind blows and we have a constant stream of low pressures coming in from west it is mild here 34-45 degrees most of the winter. But every year a high pressure builds up and the bitter cold from east and north comes our way and temps drops below -16F- -10F or more for weeks sometimes months. And then it is certainly a zone 5 here and I choose roses accordingly. Only push the zones in sheltered locations and south facing walls. (Last winter was more like a zone 8 winter ...never seen that before here!!!).I always hope the winter is going to be mild ... At the end of winter in February and march we see very low temps since the ocean has become so much colder ... but yes a zone 5 with inland climate is much colder for longer time than here since the cold are more constant and comes earlier than here where we see great fluctuations. I love Papa Meilland. For me it is the quintessential red rose. Dark red, with a sheen like velvet! And a very, very strong perfume. Perfume Exceptional as Meilland says... It may not be an easy rose to grow (very mildew-prone here) and the plants are very small and barely hardy here. I have a few groups with 3-5 plants in my garden and a row of 12 in my cutting garden so I can cut one of these wonderful red roses many times during the season. There are many better HTs out there that are more disease resistant and hardier than this and looks better as garden plants...but that exceptional strong rose perfume and the velvety petals make forgive the flaws this rose have. And sometimes I am lucky enough to capture the beauty of almost perfect flower like this one... I really do like all classes of roses ... but I prefer roses with a very strong scent. Yes I also like the glowing colors on the Autumn picture. It may not be very sharp and a bit out of focus, but it did not make the impression worse since it captured the essence of Autumn some of the places I go fishing (Another one my hobbies). I sometimes make large prints of some of my pictures and frame them. I have really bought better cameras and lenses and hope you will enjoy some of the results next season. And no I do not Hibernate ... These days I really try to get in better shape so I can handle working harder ... making gardens for my clients (which takes good strength, especially a strong back and stronger shoulders)... I swim, do Pilates and work out with weights and work on better and healthier eating habits. I have lost 45 pounds during the last 15 weeks. I also need to take some courses so I can make some good homepages. One for my garden design business and one about the joy of gardening and roses. And another one about flyfishing and flytying (I am one of the best fly tiers in Northen Europe and have won many awards for my innovative designs). So I certainly do not have time to hibernate. Soon the holidays are coming and I am visiting friends in Chicago and Iowa. Hope to get to meet Foghorn Leghorn and maybe Aliska? Take Care all of my rose friends on this forum. Niels

thanks for the good thoughts, folks! I had a great day with hummingbirds visiting til sundown. had a close encounter in the yard with the juvenile. it stopped poking at petunias and beebalm to hover near me at chest level to have a look. my friends bought me an elegant desk globe with a wooden base and took me out to a great restaurant. a really fine day, and you all made it that much better, thank you! thanks for the beautiful flowers, mimidi! and ellery, if you remember local geography from your vandy days, I live near the corner of west end ave. and bowling ave. :-)

Oh! Thank you everybody!! ItÂs wet and soggy here, but IÂm having a nice dayÂkids are at school, LOL! IÂm celebrating my 50th birthday today by having all the kids have a "spend the night" guest. WeÂll have spaghetti and birthday cake. Yippee! I AM counting my NYC trip as part of MY birthday celebration, even though it was REALLY for She and I spent 4 days in NYC! We took the Acela train from DC. It was wonderfully civilized! Lindsay liked (Ã la Star Trek) between the cars. Having already done all the obligatory monuments, etc, we got to really travel the city like locals. The first night we stayed at the Hilton on 53rd & 6th (Avenue of the Americas). The other nights we stayed at an apt on 55th and 2nd. WeÂd leave at 8:00 in the morning and didnÂt head "home" until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. I knew it would be a good trip by bedtime the first day. We wandered upon filming for a We watched on the street for a couple of hours. He never got out of the car, but we were thrilled to see him. Finally we decided to head to our hotel. We walked down the street that had all the trailers. No one was around. Suddenly Nicolas Cage walked out of a trailer, right onto the street right in front of us! We squealed like little school girls! He walked up to us, chatted with us for a few moments (well, HE chatted; we babbled and drooled and shook!). He let me take a picture of . Ugh! I couldnÂt even hold the camera still or see the view finderÂI took a picture when he blinked! He was SOOOO gracious! I LOVE him even more now! But hey, Lindsay was so excited! We could barely sleep that night! We saw Mamma Mia the next day! Fabulous! We spent a day and a half in Central Park (and even ), walked all over the place. We didnÂt actually do a lot of shopping. We wanted to be out on the streets and see the sights! We walked through most of the neighborhoodsÂ.Lower East Side, Chinatown, Little Italy, Nolita, TriBeCa, East Village, Soho, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Meat Packing DistrictÂwe logged some serious miles! We tried to eat something in every neighborhood. We were stuffed by the time we left! Our last was breakfast at Max BrennerÂs, (OMGosh!) Âall the time!! We had a GREAT time! A wonderful 13th (for her) and 50th for me!! Thank you again for the wonderful wishes!

I just got a email from southern plate showing a Elvis Presley cake. I am going to try it soon. I was thinking his BD was in Aug. I guess thats when he died. Elvis Presley Cake 1 box yellow cake mix 1 (3-ounce) box vanilla pudding (not sugar free!) 4 eggs 1/2 cup oil 1 cup milk 1 (16-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained 1 cup sugar Mix cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil, and milk. Beat until smooth.Bake in greased 9Ã13-inch pan in 350F preheated oven for 45-60 minutes (or until center springs back).While cake is baking, boil pineapple and sugar on top of stove until sugar has melted. While cake is still hot, punch holes in cake and pour hot pineapple over cake. Let cool. FROSTING: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 stick butter or margarine, softened 3 cups confectioners sugar 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional) Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add confectioners sugar gradually and beat until creamy. Add pecans, if desired, and mix well. Drop by dollops onto cake until top is mostly covered, then smooth and spread to frost cake.