Been sick for three days. On the plus side: lost ten pounds. While I was lying in my bed with two pups and one cat, I reflected on my five days in the hospital at about this time last year. Read all you want. No dietary restrictions. Food arrives, was pretty good, didn't have to make it myself or do the dishes. Watch whatever on your own little t.v. Go to take a shower and someone makes your bed for you and tidies up your space. Bring you your meds with a little cup of juice and tucks you in. The last three days were almost the same except no food, no t.v., but did have the pups and cat. I do not want to spend time in the hospital unless it is really necessary when I get such kind care at home. Last year it was necessary, but this time only the flu! Just started feeling better when DH came in looking very serious. Guess what: wet basement. Finished and carpeted basement of course. Called in the specialist; he came quickly, told DH and DS where he thought the problem was. Rip out the drywall and insulation, tear up the carpet, he will come back and fix it. Of course DH and DS didn't accept the location the the guy indicated so they tore out drywall etc. about five feet away. Nope, the leak was right where the man (the EXPERT) said it was likely to be. Waiting now for the repair. For few hours I thought IU8 was fading from my future, now not so much. We saved the carpet, we still have half a can of the wall paint, so when the repair is completed and new drywall installed and painted. it is likely that you would never know there was a problem. Expert said he'd had 18 calls in the last 24 hours due to a huge rainfall on the weekend. With the ground frozen and unable to absorb the water, it had nowhere to go but inside if there was any tiny crack or opening anywhere. Le sigh. One more project....Expecting huge snowfall today and tomorrow. Better than rain this time. We had a flock of about 50 Redpolls this morning at the wine deck birdfeeder, and one stunningly luminescent male Cardinal. Sure sign of spring, when you see little birds you have not seen all winter. Hopefully all of you are seeing more spring-like weather than I am *LOL* But we always get wallopped in March. The last hurrah of winter. Cheers, Julie

I have seen littleleaf lilacs (S. microphylla) in bloom in summer and fall in the lilac colection in the city gardens. The plants were small and the rebloom small and sporadic, nothing that was abundant enough to give off fragrance into the air or anything. "The little leaf lilac is a slow-growing, compact shrub reaching six to eight feet in height, and spreading even wider. Its pale lilac flower clusters appear in small quantities throughout the summer and into the autumn, giving it its second common name, four season lilac. In gardens, it is usually represented by the form 'Superba' whose profusion of clear pink flowers heads bloom from late May into early June. Like 'Miss Kim', 'Superba's' delicate foliage is quite mildew-resistant and takes on burgundy tints in autumn. " Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.plantations.cornell.edu/publications/IthacaJournalArticles/Little_Known_Lilacs.cfm

I have been scouring the internet for an answer to this very question. I have canned for a number of years but only got into canning meats with a pressure canner for 2 years now. After Thanksgiving I decided to can turkey broth. I also followed Ball Book exactly. I had never experienced all that pinging before! I caught a sale on chicken quarters, canned the meat with no problem and then canned the broth with all that pinging again! Might it have something to do with canning liquids only? The seals are all good but are the contents safe? The only answer I found was one lady who said she leaves her broth sit in the canner for at least an hour after the pressure has fallen before she removes the lid and that solved her ping problem. I have not used any of my canned broth yet since I was searching for an answer as to whether or not it was safe. I will try leaving it sit for an hour the next time.

You can use Outlook Express with AOL // Yes, but she does not want that. I just went over to an AOL board, and about half the questions there were concerning this...only members did NOT want the original email to show when they replied. It seems that is a problem to a lot of them. My guess is that my friend has an older version. Maybe if she were to get the latest, then the original email and all the replies could be seen. This is something that is quite handy in the seed and plant trading world...keeping track of all that was offered, ship dates, addys, recapping, etc. A single trade might involve several emails back and forth. How can she tell which version of AOL email she has? Sue