I posted a lengthy piece yesterday but my laptop or web connection failed me. In summary: I doubled back to get the crunchy jackfruit but the fruitstand was closed. However, a farmer owned relatively large supermarket up the stree not only had jackfruit but also abiu. Sweet. Later that day we drove to Mossman and I happened to find a fruit stand (see link below). "Dee", the +70 year old proprieter of the 300 acre family farm is amazing. we bought mamey sapotesm huge biriba, huge custard apples and more. But the list she has of her fruit trees is even more amazing. She grew up among Asians and thus got a taste for tropical fruit. She has scores of varieties, some I have never heard of (even after seeing seemingly everything of this site!). Much are straight from the Asian tropics. Champedak, marang, mango, sapodilla, jackfruit, rambi, rambutan, wax jambu - she has it all. And a whole bunch of items unfamiliar too me. Awesome. My only regret was not taking a picture of the chalkboard list she had of her trees. She did show me her scrapbook with pictures of harvests...delightful. She says her are 4 family members alone pick all the fruit. Can you imagine? The tropics in Australia, btw, are as tropical as tropical gets. Here is a link that might be useful: Scomazzons Roadside Stall

I'm here! Been so busy haven't had a chance to get online! I got my HUGE box from Remy Friday! She sent a BIG planter (really pretty), a magnetic photo maker, a Weman's bag (that's where she works), flavored ice tea bags, herbes de provance, a citronella bucket (so timely - we just got a batch of skeeters this week because of the recent rain - it's rained four times this summer - HaHa), jostaberry jam (she made from her own bush), and plants gerber daisy, rudbeckia, vinca, sedum, a succulent and a geranium. Thanks Remy I loved everything! Sue G.

"claimed that it came with a manufacturers warranty" sellers can claim anything. it's called a manufacturer's warranty , and the contract is with the manufacturer - a third party cannot alter the contract without the manuf. written consent which will never happen. storm - let me try and clarify the winds for you. I don't think moja's problem quite meets the vote the free market I was/am talking about. He should not have bought a product from Miele in the first place. By telling people about this he brings the debate forward and can shape the market if he convinces enough people to to not buy Miele gear because they do this or that. Look at the aforementioned Maytag. They used to make superior washers, and no they don't really exist anymore. Enough people vote with their wallets by nit buying their washers because they turned to crap. Re: the Gaggenau / Miele fatherland thing. Gaggenau is highline- high quality - high price everywhere. Miele USA is really a different business than Miele Germany and what I'm saying is they have chosen to position themselves here as ONLY a high quality make. They don't import even half of their offerings to this market, and like I've mentioned to dodge before they are not simply putting a NA plug on their units, shipping them here and jacking up the price over the German/Euro markets. If a product is available both places the prices are very similar after currency variables are considered. Miele simply doesn't offer mid to entry products here. Because they offer a more broad range in Europe their rep. is slightly lower simply because of exclusivity. Benz does the same thing here. You couldn't get a SMART here until they figured out how to distance that brand from MBenz so as not to dilute the mark. They did the same thing with their vans via Freightliner and Dodge. I take exception at your assertion that I bow to the marketing chants or the winds of corp. top floors. I make no bones about being a Miele fan. But I also rec. lots of other makes. It's all dependent on the customer's need/wants. What I really have a problem with is what's moja's complaining about: I tried to save a few bucks by not buying through an authorized distribution channel and now the manuf. won't help me free of charge. The (my) problem is not that he's complaining per se, but that he seems to feel he has no responsibility in this and that it's totally Miele's fault because they are bad or that the system is bad because big government has allowed companies to set prices for their own products and say where they are sold by upholding a decades old practice. My problem with him over the health care thing is his math. Sure an office visit for the flu is cheaper in Canada than walking into the ER here in the USA. No one will rally debate this. ER's are set up for trauma and critical care and that care is very expensive to deliver. My tummy hurts or I have a cough don't really qualify but the public doesn't really feel like waiting because they are soft and or lazy. I saw it in the UK as I worked in an ER for 8 months. Care was no cost out of pocket and people would still come to the ER for sore knees, headaches, whatever instead of making an appointment with their family doctor which was also no cost, simply because they's have to wait several weeks to see him. They wait at the ER too sometimes a whole day while serious stuff like guys that got shot with a nail gun, or wrecked a motorcycle, or broke they arm playing soccer were attended to. Anyway the overall total cost of socialized system is more than a private one and the numbers bear that out. Oh and the CDC doesn't really keep that info, or didn't . It's not in their pervue. If they do now, please point me to the hard data.

Here is an article that tells about the furniture being made in Vietnam and China. Mike Copeland: Magnolia Home furniture hits market soon From the article - "Magnolia Home reportedly has become a division of Alabama-based Standard Furniture, which is receiving orders from stores around the country interested in carrying the line of merchandise designed by Joanna Gaines for bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms and home offices, said Thomas Russell, associate editor of Furniture Today, who wrote an article about the company for the magazine that included photos of Joanna in High Point, North Carolina. Russell said Magnolia Home furniture will be made in Vietnam and China and most likely shipped to the Standard Furniture manufacturing and distribution facility in Bay Minette, Alabama, or directly to retailers, including the showcase Joanna Gaines will have at Silos at Magnolia Market." But, my sister works in a high end furniture store in Maine, and when I would go over to drool at some of the items, I was surprised to find that the high-priced Maitland Smith furniture was made there. This is an article from 2004 about that. Maitland-Smith: Vietnam future bright BOTH articles were written by Thomas Russell. Check the prices and detail on Maitland Smith furniture on eBay HERE.