70 degrees here today. I was checking out refrigerator and freezer last evening, doing inventory. Lots of soups, roasts and steaks, but no appetite...we're still in big salad mode, eating light. In fact I turned on a/c to keep me and the frozen stuff cool while I cleaned and reorganized. Noticed the whole northeast is running 20 degrees warmer than usual. Dug all my garden magazines out of unread stack today to see what "new" plants are touted. Best news is that Dan Hinkley will be writing regularly for Garden Design about his plant exploration trips and finds. I'll renew subscription just for that reason. On front porch my young Helleborus foetidus is budding...it's in a pot with Saxifrage sarmentosa as groundcover. Above it the Japanese Climbing Fern is still green and lacy climbing the porch support. Usually by now it's turned a creamy tan though still pretty. The little Chamaecyperus I used for Xmas tree is back on porch ...it's been almost as warm outside as its week spent inside so no big adjustment. Still trying to decide re a kitten or older cat. And what new seeds/plants I must have taking into account how much I hate watering all those containers in August...LOL And I always thought I was a decisive person...the fewer decisions the harder it seems nowadays. josh

In the 1930's my grandfather planted a fig tree in our family property in the low montains (Jura) of Switzerland. The climate is very hard there but this fig tree had always lots of fruits. No one knew the name of this tree. When I set up near Paris (France) I took a branch of this fig tree and planted it in my garden where it has lots of fruits too. I searched everywhere the name of this fig tree but didn't find it. Now my brother discovered the advertisment for the "Grosse Brune d'Enghien" which correspond to the fig tree we have. From this point I found this fig forum. So I can confirm that this type of fig was already growing in Europe before WWII without any name. What is to point out is that in my parents garden we had only one harvest in July. From the tree I have in the Paris area I have one harvest in July with large brown pear-shaped fruits and one in October with small purple/blue round fruits.

Karen : I could only DREAM of doing Pergo "wood" in my house. Far to many paws come and go for it to survive very long. Earlier this year when we decided to do the kitchen, I found the really nice hardwood look linoleum at that big orange box store and loved it. It's tape down so simple to put down and no fumes from the glue. It looks fabulous and can withstand the amount of traffic we have here. I wanted to do tile through the house but that's just to cold for my liking in the winter so for all intentive and obvious purposes , linoleum wood it is in a light oak pattern and big area rugs. I of course know it's not the prefered or "trendy" thing, but we'll likely be here until we pass on so onward and forward. As to the other,I've found fostering is HARD but on the same hand, one of the most rewarding things. Don't kid yourself, I've failed (twice...lol) , but that doesn't represent the 5 (including an abandoned litter of 3 puppies , now that was tough to let go but I did) I've sent on their way to new homes with a different agency than I'm working with now. By next week I will have 6 here (4 are ours- YES, we failed and are formally adopting MICKEY because Hubs fell for him hook line and sinker..lol) so the house will be full of snoring energy and chaos but it's worth it all. Aside from fosters, we've had the neighbors boy, my Milos sister , my Remis brother & their parents, a friends 2 plus a coworkers 4 here as visitors so experience comes in paw loads [along with the fuurrrr , oh the fur!]. Ones like the next 2 are easiest for me because I CANNNOT fail, they are already lined up for homes in another state but have to be out of the shelter for 4-6 weeks before transport to prevent spreading kennel cough and the like with others on the same transport route.

Karen, thanks for the humor, enjoyed this. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I hope you get your BOP decorated so you can add to Jeanne's post. This makes me wonder where my silver deer is I normally use in there.Sigh I dug out a few decorations this afternoon but...... Punk