Good grief will someone turn off the artic blast machine???? Its 16 degrees out right now at 3:30PM with winds gusting to 35+. Wind chills are off the charts and hitting new records. The cats are driving me nuts. Luke must be feeling better because hes been crying for the door for the last four hours. Rahjii is wailing away and it is just too dangerously cold for him to be outside but there is no way to explain that to a cat. So I cant get a thing done because this cat keeps sticking his nose in everything Im trying to do. Hes already knocked the mouse on the floor and I only just turned on the computer. Grrrr Have I mentioned that I hate the wind??? So the other thing is that it is supposed to go down to -1F tonight. I can see the holly and English Ivy dying a bit more each day these cold temps keep up. I shudder to think what is going to be toast in the gardens when spring rolls around. I know, I know V. consider it a new opportunity. Winter doesnt normally get me down but this hideous cold and windy weather is beginning to really bug me. Holy moly. The side of the dining room just got slammed by a 12 foot pine branch!!!!!!! Came flying through the air from one of the trees next door. Glad it didnt get my duck blind. Have I mentioned I really hate the wind. So, Martie, I agree with Cindy 100% that kind of malicious, threatening and harassing email is unacceptable. Is there any way you can find out where that email came from? I think we need to find out who it is and do something about it. There is no excuse for anyone to get threatening emails from a gardening forum or on any forum for that matter. I know you want to take a break for a while and I dont blame you a bit but would you please forward that to me so I can get my computer gurus working on it and finding out who it is so it can be reported to the proper authorities. I know Eileen also got disturbing emails in the past and that kind of underhanded, vicious stuff makes my blood boil. T. how neat about the Elk but what a bummer that the boys are so out of sorts lately. Ive heard that isnt uncommon with twins but dont know why. ~~ Hope you find out whats wrong with the car. That would have me unsettled, not to have a reliable automobile when you aren't close to town. Babs, I LOL over the sandwiches. Too funny that Ryan ate both sandwiches. So what did AJ have for lunch? ~~ Sorry you are tired lately. Sounds like you are burning the candle at both ends. ~~ Yes, I did find Billy Greene again from WWF, thanks for asking. Next year I think Im going to keep them under the lights all winter so I dont lose them. It really is a wonderful variety. Eden, what a bummer you lost your fuchsias! I cant imagine what happened. I wonder if your basement is too warm to let them get truly dormant. Well, I cant winter over Rex Begonias to save my life. I lost two of the three I had and the third is looking pretty awful so I guess we are even. How about I raise fuchsias for you and you do begonias for me??? LOL So Sue, maybe when we TONAW next year we ought to do it on Key West???? Bug, that photo of your DD and DH is priceless!!!! I just love that. Flowers are lovely also. I forgot to tell you how much I like that red cable piece you are knitting now. Are you quite sure you dont want to knit something for me???? LOL Cindy, LOL about the snow having to melt on its own. My grandmother used to say "God put it there let him take it away". Yes, Im thinking that there must be people lurking here who glean this site for ideas. The chances are astronomical that a greenhouse would just happen to begin carrying those particular varieties out of the thousands that are available. I actually found one of my container combinations on the Proven Winners site last year. Could have been coincidence but who knows. Ok time to run, Martie please forward those emails to me if you dont mind. Time to get to the bottom of this. Later Deanne

A couple of comments are in order here: First, I think my concept of a "pressure cooker" needs to be updated. I guess I was recalling the "pressure CANNER" that was my total experience with pressure pans of any sort, until I got a long handled pressure pan as a wedding present way back in 1958. And the TIMELY MANOR....what a great name for a house! You caught it yourself, MamaGoose, and then you tracked it down in that other naming thread. It is a truly inspired name. With hints of British humor, much like Fawlty Arms. It could be a TV series. Also, because of THIS THREAD, I cruised by the small appliances in my trip to the WalMart pharmacy yesterday. I saw the KitchenAid mixer, sitting there in all its glory. Everything else cost under a hundred bucks, but the KA cost $199.99 so they are still proud of it. Any thoughts I had of buying it must wait until I get the kitchen done. I sure did like the looks of the stainless bowl and the heavy duty blades. It is a design which has endured. I also looked at other small appliances. You know, they make so many different shapes in SLOW COOKERS....what I used to call the CROCK POT is actually a BRAND NAME, like saying I want a COKE when I want a SODA POP. I have a "slow cooker" now which can bake cornbread or otherwise act as a tiny lidded oven. It really can get confusing if what you want to do is take all day to cook something and avoid burning it. Some things should not multitask, they should stay the same!

One the secretaries in my office is totally blind. She is just amazing. I work in NYC and she takes 3 different subways to get to work. She doesn't hesitate to ask for help if she needs it, but that is rare. She and I both loved spinach pies from a restaurant nearby and whenever I went there I'd bring her one. One day she asked how to get to the restaurant and I gave her the directions (she did not want anyone to accompany her). A short time later, she was back with her spinach pie! She said she got there all by herself and when she got right to the door someone asked her what she was looking for and she said the name of the restaurant and they guy said you've found it and opened the door for her! She went to a camp for the blind when she was a child, actually she still goes some years.

I just added one. I couldn't find the "good" photo in my computer. They were made in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Several of the old homes here in town still have them up. We played with the idea of "new" fabric awnings, but these babies have stood, and will stand, the test of time, as in decades and decades.