Speaking of getting yanked, the high winds in Highwind, I mean, Highland, this week yanked many of the tulip petals off. So, a couple of questions for my first year of tulips... In order to replenish the bulb, you keep the leaves but cut off the flower stem so it doesn't go into seed production. That way, the leaves will store energy in the bulb for next year instead of expending it on seeds, right? Not that we are at this point, but no one, besides Temple Square or professional display gardens, really removes the bulbs, right? I mean, there are tubers that you remove after the first frost because they aren't cold hardy for our zones, but the home gardener is going to keep the bulbs in place year after year, even though there is probably a small chance of disease by keeping them in the same spot. What does everyone do about their bulbs? I've noticed that some of the Liliums we planted last year are coming back with children! Tulips are supposed to multiply like this as well, so maybe you would space them out more, to thin a crowd?

To do real wok cooking as done in a Chinese take-out place, you would need gas burners at least as powerful as 60,000 BTU's, if not 120,000 BTU's. No gas rangetop (cooktop) has anything close to that. Most gas cooktops have at maximum between 15,000 - 18,000 BTU's. Most people doing wok cooking on those are generally steaming their food rather than stir frying it. I have a Kalamazoo outdoors grill with a 60,000 BTU side burner. I use that for my wok cooking. I used to have an Elan gas cooktop with an 18,500 BTU maximum burner. I could wok cook in fairly small quantities successfully, but anything larger I would end up steaming the food. I have a 36" Thermador induction cooktop with 5 burners and it has the largest burner available (13" diameter) and the most powerful (4,600 watts, which is equivalent to about 45,000-50,000 BTU's). I use a 14" diameter perfectly flat pan to approximate wok cooking quite successfully, as one can't cook on induction with anything but a perfectly flat pan or saucepot, as the cookware has to be in constant contact with the burner surface to be heated by the magnetic waves. Nothing beats induction for low level simmering and melting chocolate, etc. And nothing beats induction for high speed boiling. Some of the outstanding characteristics of the 36" Thermador induction cooktop are as follows: Sensor Dome: Retractable sensor measures the heat of the pot and keeps the temperature consistent. Cooksmart: 9 pre-programmed cooking modes. Anti-Overflow System: Exclusive feature prevents spills by automatically shutting off and sounding alarm when liquids are detected on surface. Safer Operation: 2-Step Digital Control Panel indicates when elements are hot or very hot. As only the pot gets hot with induction cooking, it is very rare that any part of the cooktop gets hot, except from the reflected heat directly under the pan. Panel Lock-out: Child safety lock-out for protection. Six Timers: Auto Shut Off Timer available for all the separate burner elements enables user to set desired cooking times before shut-off. A Separate kitchen timer is also available for general timing and shut-off. Blue Light Illumination: Touch control panel with blue light illumination offers 17 power settings. Industry Exclusive Triple Zone: On the largest 13" burner it can also accommodate multiple size pans with 3 diameter sizes. Speed heating: Induction cooktops heat 50% faster than traditional gas cooktops. Since induction heating can change temperature immediately since only the pan gets hot, you can be ultra-precise with no lag time in heating. Gas, on the other hand, heats the grates besides the pan and isn't anywhere near as immediate in adjusting temperature. Plus, there is no cooktop as easy to clean as an induction cooktop. Since the cooktop doesn't get hot, there is no burn-on of any spills. A simple wipe down of any accidents takes care of everything pronto. To prevent scratching of the cooktop I like using Silicone pads, such as Merle's SilPat octagonal pad. Others use paper towels or cloth. The inductions magnetic waves only heat the pan, hence there is no danger of burning the SilPat or towel. Also, there is no "greener" way of cooking than induction, as between 85-90% of all electricity is used to heat the pan. With gas less than 50% of the gas is used to heat the pan, the rest is used to heat the kitchen and the grates. The kitchen stays cool with induction cooking. To chefs in the know, particularly in Europe and and at the Culinary Institutes, induction is the professional way to go. Gas is considered old-school--and not in a good way. Greg

Hey Lisa ~ It's good to "see" you ;o) We're going to a Bat Mitzvah in late September and I was just discussing our attire this past weekend with my cousin. She's the grandma of the Bat Mitzvah girl and is very "up" on what to do and what not to do (BTW, she's Conservative and keeps kosher). I was showing her the dress I had ordered for the event, which is sleeveless. I told her I would be getting a lightweight shrug to wear over the dress. She thought I was wearing a shrug because of the temple service, and she said that I didn't have to wear anything over the sleeveless dress because it was in a Reform temple. I told her that I was planning on wearing a shrug because I would feel more comfortable in a little cover-up because sleeveless might be pushing it because of my age and (ahem) arms LOL. We also discussed whether or not it would be a hose or no-hose day. She's even going to go bare-legged if it's hot, and believe me, if she can go bare-legged I know it's "correct". She knows her etiquette. You can certainly wear a casual skirt and no hose. Enjoy! Your son has really grown and he is absolutely adorable!

Well..... you're looking for a fair price too. How do you know the value of your house? Have you had an appraisal done recently? If not, get one so you'll know what price you need for your house. You're in an excellent position. They want your house. You have a built-in buyer. Many houses here sit on the market for months and months without generating interest. You can sell in a matter of weeks if you choose to do so. If you *want* to sell, this kind of arrangment can have all kinds of advantages. If they really intend to tear the house down and use the lot for parking, you can negotiate all kinds of things that would end up in your favor: waived realtor fees, waived inspections and repairs, the right to salvage materials and appliances for resell, etc. Heck! you won't even have to clean the windows or mop, lol! If they're going to tear it down, you may not have to leave them anything but the shell. But make sure all of this is in the contract, if you go that far. I've seen churches or businesses buy a house and lot, and then have the house moved to a near-by lot for resale, so they may want the house just as it is. They may also have plans to remodel your house for use as a church residence or office space. All of this can be negotiated and spelled out in the contract. In a few years, when you were thinking about selling anyway, the market could be even worse than it is today; buyers could be rare. And who could say if potential buyers would want to live right next door to a growing church? Churches can make excellent neighbors, of course, but if they're looking to expand parking, and you don't sell, then parking on your street might get pretty bad. Do seriously consider selling, but make sure you know the current value by getting an appraisal. Respond to their letter and tell them to make an offer. You are in no way bound to accept it, but having the offer in writing lets you review all the details and determine if selling now is worth it to you. And you could get really lucky! This could be the "asian gentleman" that paid 2 million dollars for a house so that he could tear it down and enjoy an unobstructed view of Cape Cod. :=0 (makes for fun reading, it has nothing to do with your post. this just reminded me of unsolicited offers to buy) Here is a link that might be useful: What would your reation be?