Tess, A gift from a thoughtful neighbor of so many varieties of iris sounds like a dream come true! I had irises given to me this year by six different people. Most are probably the historic irises. One 87 year old lady gave me a start of each of her three irises. I asked an elderly widower for a start of his irises. He was happy to share. He only had one kind, a lavender bi-tone historical, but he was very generous with the rhizomes. I can hardly wait to see them bloom in my flower garden. Walter, I'm a newbie. I notice you said you put Preen on your iris bed and were going to add lime. My husband says lime will kill weeds. Is that what you're using it for or does it serve another purpose, too? I bought some of the 100% corn gluten herbicide someone recommended in this forum recently. I was going to use bonemeal, but after reading the comments about the dogs digging up the iris, looking for the bone, I reconsidered, as I have a dog. Then a lady told me that as long as the dogs have bones to chew on, they won't dig for the bone meal. I've decided to go ahead and add the bonemeal. Will let you know what happens with that. I"m learning a lot from this forum. Thanks. Charlotte

Hi Glenda, When I told your story to the guy with a car with fewer years on his than mine, who says that he likes to have me park next to his, 'cause it makes his look good (and there's just room for two cars where he likes to park, beside the driveway, not far from the church door) ... ... he got a good laugh out of it! Being beset by a certain measure of laziness ... when I have some veggies to haul into the church, I like to park not too far from the door, when possible. ole joyful

About noon ... looked out the window ... snowing! Only a small amount ... but less here, about 10 mi. away, at the library ... and through the (high) ceiling-high windows, I can see that what was on the grass has all melted. Car's been telling me, over and over "change oil soon" ... ... and I should have ... before the snow. Hoping for warmer weather, next week. Did I tell you that I passed the test following an hour and a half consultation with about a dozen other seniors and the test needed to renew my driver's licence for two years? I figure that I can stay in my current house ($565./mo.) as long as I can drive (was paying $800./mo. for 2 br. townhouse, unfinished basement, in suburb about 15 mi. away, 10 years ago). Hitch-hiking in Feb. in this part of the world ... not a pleasant task! But ... some recently-acquired good news ... maybe I can extend my stay ... with a self-driving car! But ... that'd have to be a new one, and I haven't bought a new car in almost 40 years ... and they'll be expensive ... (but think of the saving in rent: but during what period was that relative independence to continue, did you say? Oh, right - no one knows!). (Plus ...would I trust my well-being to a robotic driver???) I've been saying for some time that several singles, especially seniors, should share one housing arrangement. To call daughter, birthday, Sunday, cancer doc, with son, Mon ... and with regard to cancer doc (I'm at intermediate risk) ... decision time as to whether to continue with anti-testosterone shots, $5,000.00/yr. (of which I pay less than $100.00, I think), as health system closing beds, laying off nurses, etc. Think I'm selfish enough that I'll continue - you don't want to hear son's opinion on that one! Also, maybe they'll suggest radiation, as well: we'll see on Mon. And there are still some stakes and strings to remove from the garden, so the landlord can cultivate it (except for a bit of garlic in one corner). Need to check with neighbours re: cell phone ... internet ... (plusTV?) service providers out here in the country ... looks like upwards of $200.00/mo. Yikes! Used to have dial-up, slow loading but about $10.00/mo. if paid annually. Only peanuts available on TV with rabbit ears or individual tower. Sort of need a rabbit-hole for winter. ole joyfuelled

There's nothing wrong with free expression of opinions. Some people get a little to worked up over little things but that's okay with me. So long as comments there, as here, remain non-personal I'm a denizen of the double yellow lines in the middle, I don't have a lot of affection for either of the two major parties nor their leaders. Both sides have plenty to be criticized about and blamed for. Outrage has taken the place of engagement and compromise. Whether justified or not, there were plenty of Republicans who were unhappy with Obama and what happened during those years. And with Clinton. Is anyone more right or more wrong? Maybe, but it doesn't matter, because criticism of the opposition is what rallies supporters. Less so than in countries with parliamentary governments but here too, how the country stays on an straight course is by having periodic changes from one party to another. More extreme things get changed every so often or changed back to how they were before being changed, it's not a bad thing. In the meantime, obsessing over details or events really doesn't do much. Vote for the candidates you like and don't expect them to do much once in office. There are some exceptions, good and bad.