Hello - I own a most handsome tree, and called him my 'Prince' ... for 20 years I saw him grow handsomely into a well bred & behaved young lad ... then into this very considerate gorgeous, young Prince, that never annoyed neighbors, with his golden cloak, that he drops down, just around his foot, when Mama Nature snaps & says "Right now!". I've only come home from a Fall vacation once, to see a sea of gold within my fenced yard & only a handful, perhaps, that have been carried by the angels, to my neighbor's ... certainly, they couldn't mind ... I've raked many different leaves from trees I don't own ... it was a freezing-wind-storm we just had! Alas ... he turned 21, we had a severe & decimating, ice-storm, that took many a great trees, down on their knees ... it was a disaster area & weeks of clean-up! No, not my Prince Gingko, he stood as tall and proper, though naked, as he was ... perhaps, shook to his core, but that was all ... so I thought! That was 10 years ago ... now at nearly, 30 years of age ... it still breaks my heart to call this beautiful & regal, 30ft (at least) tree a DUCHESS!!! For years now I have been painfully, doing my PURGATORY TIME each Fall! Â:( Heaven has spared me, perhaps, a year or two ... a week or so, of late freeze prevented the budding fruits, from clinging to their mom's arms!!! The price I paid for those late freeze, in Spring ... running like crazy, with burlap blankets & cover-ups, to save early bloomers & newly planted annuals!!! The Universities in our state, have decided to cut down many of theirs, for the students' comfort. When we heard of this, my hubby & I looked at each other & our beautiful tree, that shades our deck & breakfast room ... almost simultaneously "NO"! So here I am facing another bumper-crop year, of Gingko's over-ripe fruits, in a few months!!! Â:( I'm turning 72 this Fall ... how much longer do I have to do my Purgatory time'? ... I asked myself ... it'll kill me to take this beautiful tree down. I have 3, 'live-in' Squirrels (nested in her arms) that have been digging, young Biloba seeds, but they prefer digging seeds from my young pear fruits! So, no help there! Last Spring I was thrilled to be sweeping millions of fallen buds ... surely, I thought, I was spared this Fall ... 2 days of sub-freezing nights in April ... not enough ... so I looked up at this magnificent tree full of small, green balls & dream of training monkeys to harvest them, before turning into apricot color -stinky stage ... but mostly, simply lament over the 'Purgatory Time' I face! Â:) Thank you for reading & perhaps for your feelings of sympathy!!! Â;) It did take 20 years for my 'Prince' to take his mask off! Ditas

Val - Spanish Sketch is a nice addition to the narrow petaled part of the garden. Julia - I didn't even realize I had taken a photo with Zuzu in it. I laughed and laughed when the photos came up on the computer. Nat - Yes, the second daylily in the pic with Zuzu is Forsyth Frostbound. Debra

Good morning! I too try to visualize people and it rarely, if ever, works out. it is nice to put faces to names. Shirley, still thinking of you and keeping you in my prayers. i know that's your daughter, brittney and dawson -- who are the others (inquiring nosey minds want to know) and as for your mom, you never know what the next roommate may be, perhaps you can hold off on the move until you see what comes in LOL, however, I think I'd want to be with my own and her secrets kept!!!! annie your dogs are beautiful, as are you. my aunt and uncle, for as long as i can remember, were the first home for service dogs until they were ready to go into training. they had several different dogs from what i recall. sorry about your lizzie...i know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. my next dog is going to be a shepherd, but it's been decided that we will only have one dog at a time now, so I have to wait my turn. (we'll see) i made an anniversary cake for a group i belong to, it was our 7 year anniversary so i made this massive cake. i filled it with alternating layers of buttercream and lemon curd, and dang, if it was not tasty. I was able to take a slice home for the family to taste and seriously wish there had been more leftover, would have made a nice breakfast!!!! a real nice combination, even though it started out that i was going to use raspberry as well...i just couldn't get enough to cook them down to make a nice sauce/filling. it's still so cold and seems to be staying that way until at least next week, when it's supposed to go to the high 40's, with rain. by then, i'll think it's summer. this cold is bone chilling and of course, they are calling for more snow. we haven't got much of it, but.....this year it is bothering me like mad! i shouldn't complain, there are parts of the country that are in the negatives, so i'll just keep my mouth shut on this subject any further! so whose left to post their pic? come out. come out whereever you are! speaking of which, jeanne, how are those triplets of late? is mary ellen still a part of this group? i feel like i haven't seen her in a long time...maybe since she became a grandmom, or right before that? hae a nice thursday! maryanne

I saw this for the first time last night, two episodes, I recorded them on our DVR. I really liked it! You can tell that the people REALLY care and will do anything. How many people would sleep outside in a tented run so the new dogs didn't have to feel abandoned? I thought it was odd about not wanting to shave the little black dog, but hey, that's her preference. I know they ended up having to do it anyway. I would think that it would be less stressful for the dog not having to be combed out. But leaving the hair on the face and ears was a good idea. And jeez... They drive so far! I also wonder about the unadoptable animals. If they end up having to keep so many, where will the rescues go? Where will be the resources? And that brings me to another thing, how do they get so much money?! Even for a privately funded organization, I can't imagine.