I've been making these B&B Pickles for years. I think they are every bit as good as what I spent hours making from scratch. This takes minutes instead of hours. You need to find a kind of Dill Pickle that doesn't use garlic. The only one I've found is Vlasik, and I try to find the ones that are already sliced into rings. I use the same jar in which they came. Bread & Butter Pickles (out of Dill ) 1 qt jar of dill Pickles (NO GARLIC!), drained, rinsed, and cut as desired. 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup cider vinegar 2 Tlbsp. pickling spices Boil mixture of sugar, vinegar and spices for one minute; remove from heat and allow to sit for a few minutes so the spices can better infuse their flavor. Return pickles to the original jar or any other. You'll need to strain out the spices as you pour the spiced liquid over the pickles to cover. Re-lid the jar. This tastes best when allowed to sit for a day or two before eating. Keep refrigerated. You can also use this for Pickled Beets by doing the same as above only using 2- 15oz jars/cans of sliced beets, drained Hope you like them as much as we do. CAKate

Notwithstanding the tragedies that have occurred in N. California... I feel I must say something in defence of Eucalyptus trees, at least the ones we grow here, and which many of us love and put to good use... ...There are I think 3 varieties that have been popular for a long time... Eucalyptus gunnii, Eucalyptus dalrympleana and perhaps the most attractive of all Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. niphophila [Snow Gum].... ...you can see any of these pop up in gardens all over the place... I've grown 2 of the 3... We now also have 2 dwarf versions, Eucalyptus gunnii 'Azura' and 'France Bleu'... ..'Azura' is very dwarf, almost a miniature... 'FB' is larger but very slow growing, a dwarf gunnii.. I would love to have 'Azura' and might be on my shopping list... The way to use gunnii I think is to give screening to a garden where you are overlooked by a neighbouring property that is on higher ground. A single specimen tree will do, it grows 6 foot a year, so within 2 years or so you start to have cover. It's crucial with this plant to cut 6 foot off the top with one incision every year in April, when it has reached just beyond the height you need for screening... if you miss a year it gets away from you and you have lost control.... I also used my plant to support a rambling rose... I grew 'Leontine Gervais' up it right to the top, where it would then cascade downwards, more so after the annual prune... the light pink and the blue foliage I found very attractive.. ..I also planted Cistus purpureus around the base and a tree lupin... gardeners here don't make enough use of these trees like this.. they plant them, neglect them, and before you know it, you've got a 40 foot tall tree on your hands.. there is one in a garden near me, it's about the tallest tree around here, perhaps 60 foot or more, that is just not the way to do it in my opinion.. used to best effect as single specimens, these are superlative trees, and I absolutely love them... I do not like to see them planted en masse, like a small wood [there are some here like that]... I'm so sorry, and was not aware, they had been over planted in California and that they have contributed to the fires..

I haven't been here for quite a while, myself. I've looked through older posts for Mike & haven't seen anything. Has anyone heard from him? Thanks, Betty Dotson

I heard from her about the ones that I asked for since early of 2021 (last year). But her Austins were sold out within the 1st minute thanks to some big orders of 50 or 20 roses. I was able to get non-Austins plus Wise Portia (I asked for Wise Portia early in 2021 when mine died through that winter). I gave a long list of substitutes knowing that Austins would be sold out fast. Also with Roses Unlimited summer sale for the past decade, I never could get any Austins except for loser like A Shopshire Lad. I got into the habit of giving a very long list of substitutes for Roses Unlimited summer sale since 2011, and did the same for LongAgoRoses.