This is yet another industry that has managed, with the help of Congress, to basically create a monopoly whether literally (where I live, Comcast is our ONLY option) or via collusion. Politicians are useless as they're all bought by these companies. No one is protecting the consumer (well, hello Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, but they are alone). I called my state rep about it and got a bunch of gobbledygook about how Comcast owns the infrastructure and a competitor would have to build their own in order to open up shop…couldn't belive what I was hearing (literally). Every new competitor who might want to start a new telecommunication company has to first install cable lines, telephone poles, etc.??? The whole point of that is to make sure, once again, that there is NO competition and therefore NO pressure on prices, keeping them low. That is how business is done in this country now, precisely NO free market. The rep did tell me that there is an investigation going on into possible collusion between the two or few companies out there now. I'll believe it when I see it. Most likely, Comcast and Verizon will just pay them off, and the "investigation" will go away. Ultimately, the problem is that Congress no longer protects Americans fro corporate predation, has weakened Taft-Hartley, among other important laws put i place long ago for good reason, and we now live in a corporacracy, and an oligarchy to boot.

As someone who doesn't like design shows, I'm really looking forward to a new cooking channel! I can't tolerte most of the cooks on The Food Channel. I don't like how they use film for the shows instead of tapes, it makes a big difference. Paula Deen's show uses tape, the others are film, I think. The Bark hotdog sounds like fun...coming from a hotdog girl! Just no low talkers like the Contessa or whatever her name is. lol

Love Sarah! I've always been disappointed that HGTV in the States doesn't air it. But why should I be surprised? HGTV here airs about 90% crap & if I read correctly Divine Design won't be back next season either. I may as well cancel!

Ingrid and Jin, I’m glad you like my lupine. I’ve waited 3 or 4 years for it to bloom! It’s meant to survive on our winter rains only, but because it was planted during our terrible drought, it concentrated on surviving instead of blooming. We didn’t get much rain this year, but I think last years rain allowed it to finally establish itself enough to bloom this year. There is something special about FINALLY seeing something blooming that you’ve waited years to see. Now I need to get up there and try to get Mel’s Heritage out of its way. The more I times I climb up that slope, the more “Javier damage” I see:( Small drought tolerant natives, meant to naturalize and help with erosion all gone. His “quick and impressive looking” weeding up there, was done by scraping the topsoil with a shovel. By doing that, he tore out small plants, and really only exposed the weed seeds to spring up with a vengeance! He also neatly cleaned up the shaded side of my slope, removing ALL the years of fallen leaves that I use for mulching. I know he was just cleaning up, but I didn’t see him doing it. Now it’s long gone. I do need him to come back once more, because he left my drip system half finished. I need him to come and be done with it! He hasn’t been paid for what he HAS done, so you’d think he’d be eager to wrap it up. Marlorena, thank you. I know you’re always interested in the unusual plants I grow. I’m one of those “plant snobs”, spending my pennies on the unusual things. My garden is an eclectic collection of roses, annuals, bulbs, South African plants, South American plants, and CA natives. Really I grow whatever catches my fancy, and will grow here without too much fuss. Ingrid will be shocked, but I even have a few thriving hostas and astilbes! They grow in the shade, where the water collects. My soil is heavy clay, so it holds water. In my defense, I planted these many years ago. I wasn’t thinking about water restrictions back then. They look nice right now, but disappear as soon as it gets to hot and dry. They always return the following spring, though. The fruit you see is loquat. It tastes ok, but has huge brown seeds that take up most of the center. The birds love it, but so do the roof rats! I have a phobia about those. I know it’s silly, but I change the channel if I see them on TV. Snakes don’t bother me. I don’t know what it is, but it is. Here’s a picture of the loquat tree. I’ll add more pictures after I finish my coffee. Lisa I might as well take a couple more, while I’m here. Excuse the gopher cages and the bareness around these. The cages are an absolute necessity, and will soon be hidden by the growing roses. This is a bed I work on a little bit almost every day, but it’s VERY slow going. Below is ‘Hommage a Soupert et Notting’ proliferating. This one is its first bloom. The rest of HaSeN’s buds don’t appear to have “that look” that the first one did. I was a bit worried about ‘Rev H. d’Ombrain, as he’s been slow to wake up from his move. He’s finally showing some life! I really need to do a thread showing my roses from Cliff and forward him the link. I’m sure he would like to see his roses in their new home. Lisa