Good morning all... I got the snafu cleared up with the checks, except I have not contacted Checks Unlimited yet. The customer service lady was very apologetic. Naturally it was not the store's mistake...it was only the check printing company who was at fault. Whoohoo! I have a new perm! I feel like a new person. :-) I enjoy visiting with my hairdresser as much as I enjoy getting a perm. We have so much in common, and talk non stop. She came up with a lot of good information for what I need, with my remoteness and my ailing DH. Her mother had lived with her the past several years, and passed away recently, at 91. One of her suggestions is that I get a Tracfone with prepaid hours, for emergency calls, espacially, both at home and on the road.I plan on checking on that. She admonished me to NOT get on a chair when doing things like the chandelier job, and told me of a neat stepladder that Walmart sells. ( I told her I had stood on a chair for that job.) You gals are all great inablers. and so is she. :-) I took my camera on my trip out, and got more pics of the devestation along the roads and in town. It continues to boggle my mind. I stopped at the One Stop on the way home. One of the local First Responders was there. She pointed out how much worse the fire hazard will be in the woods this year, due to all the downed limbs and trees. As you all know, our home is surrounded by woods! Nothing gives me a greater fear than a wild fire coming through our place. The predicted rain is beginning. There is the possibility of severe weather....hail and tornados! Just what we need! I got more yard work done yesterday afternoon. More limbs put on piles, and some clean-up in both front and back beds. How I hope my strength improves. The pain and fatigue are overwhelming when I try to do such jobs. I feel so sorry for Michelle, and all others who suffer from chronic pain. Only those who do so can understand what it is like. And the sad thing is...the difficulty definitely increases as one ages. 20 years ago I was doing many of the same things that you all are doing now. I scoffed at the older ladies who kept saying..."Wait until you are my age". Of course, having Fibromyalgia, and arthritis at a fairly young age puts one in a differant category than those who have not had such conditions. Honey, I can understand the job at the florist saving your sanity. When I first got on line it was a 'life saver' for me. Being a member of the Idylls was an added help. then when I goofed up here, the other forum that I was posting on was my mind-saver. I fulfilled my needs there, and am very seldom posting there anymore. My mental and physical setbacks are a constant condition that I struggle with. Having a deteriorating Dh adds to the struggle. I feel as though I am at a higher plateau this year, but who knows when I will plunge again? As I said, I work at it constantly, and I have lots of help...some of which is at a much higher plane. :-) The story of the kitten and the mama cat is very heartwarming. It sounds very much like something both Nolon and Tim would do. I am happy that anothr kind soul took them in. I am not able to do the heavy labor that you spoke of , Honey. I once could, but no more....But I do understand how helpful it can be. My finaces prevent me from getting outside help. My houseplants are an aid to my 'therapy', but they are such a drawback when and if I want to go somewhere for a few days. Even if it was not for staying with Nolon, I would have the plants and the cats to be responsible for. Neighbors would willingly tend to the cats, but I would not,could not, expect them to tend to 100 or so potted plants.:-( I appreciate your kind words, Honey. And the kind words of others also. They help sustain me. V, you have a very intriguing house. I love the pics of the stairway.And the paint color is lovely. Michelle, I hope you can keep your vow towards your place. I certainly did not foresee what all has befell both our house, and ourselves. Having sufficient finances to hire help would make a huge differance also. I never realized how badly a house can deteriorate over the years. I had never lived in one this long before. I can certainly understand the condition of your parent's house. I am sure they did not blindly allow it to get in such a condition. Saucy, I will pass on the rats. Our cats are more than I need to maintain. :-) I am afrad the rats rather creep me out! Eden, I love the story about Bella's dream. What a great tribute to her grandmother. Wow, Kathy! You are catching up on the rainfall aren't you. That is great. I am afraid painting is not the solution to our house's needs. There are too many repairs that need done first. About the only things in the interior that could be painted without major repair first is the woodwork and the kitchen cabinets and cupboards. If they were refinished it would perk things up a lot.The cabinet and cupboards need hingework, but otherwise good enameling would really help. Norma, sorry about your friends RA. I know that is a devestating condition, but varies with it's intensity. It was first thought that I had that, but ruled out when I was not showing the conditions that go with it. Your take on Michelle's parents home is similar with mine, and your DH shares Nolon's lack of interest. Of course, now he is unable to do a lot of the things that he once could. Mary, I am so happy that David's activities are looking up. I can hardly imagine what a relief getting back to a more normal day is to you both. And it is great that Annie had such a nice visit at her aunts. I hope the nerve pain is soon gone. There is no worse pain than nerve pain. Marie, you had such a handsome family! How good that the photogapher had the children smiling. All of the old pics of my relatives are so solemn looking. I am not as good at detecting resemblances as many of you are. I do not see my parents in any of my siblings or myself. My brother comes the nearest. He looks guite a bit lok our dad. If he were dressed the same, the resemblance would be more noticable. We do not have the crossbills here. They are farther north, even in the winter. The main bird of that coloring that we have is the purple finches, and they have been rather scarce the past few years. Honey, your check experience was lots more humiliating than mine! I probably would have never returned to that store. Since I have I new hairdo, the folks in that store will not associate the new me with the earlier snafu. :-) Marian

Lynn So sorry for your stress. It brings back bad memories of my own stress dealing with landscape crews when we lived in an homeowners association. It took monumental effort to keep them out of my yard spraying poisons I didn't need and blowing debris from one side of the street and then coming back and doing it in the opposite direction. Result: air pollution with no positive results. I asked nicely, wrote letters, called and was assured it would never happen again and finally started yelling when more poison arrived without the legally proscribed flagging and/or notice. Threats about reporting them to state authorities finally worked because they would be fined and lose license. Sorry for the rant. I care deeply about poisoning the earth, it's animals and it's water. I now live in a non-HOA. The yardwork belongs to ME!!! Yay. Good luck with your roses, I think they'll make it. BTW I saved my yelling for the bosses because the crew is underpaid and never gets any information from higher ups. The are just doing what they are told by people who give them a check. Denise

Well, Michelle, you have a "junior gardener" so you end up with double the plants, just cause she want's her share as well. OH, my did Soren look like the Cheshire cat when she saw all the containers that where coming home with her. You are doing a lot better than I am in planting. I really haven't started yet. Did get the couple of bare root divisions into some soil in a pot and watered my own containers, but that was it. After everyone left and we cleaned up outside, brought in all that was left over in food. (thanks for taking some of it home with you) , I just collapsed for several hours in a chair with a huge hot pack on my back. I did manage to get out and get some groceries and get some dinner made later. I vow that one year, I am going to have the swap and there will be no more serious problems with my spine, no more need for spine surgeries and I will be able to move without the need for sitting down every few minutes. So, got to get moving and get the gardens planted within the next 2 weeks, cause then it's history for me on hands and knees till at least the fall. It will be knife time in the spine for the 3rd time in 4 years. Pictures to dawiff, it will either make her cry cause she wasn't here or put a smile on her fact to see that her friends back home are still getting together, enjoying each other's company and sharing the wealth of their gardens, WS seedlings and plants with each other and with others. The recipes, you me both want all those recipes, so I'm going to start a thread for the recipes from the billerica swap. I'm betting that the marshmallows where home made. They where all cut in squares, and didn't taste as sweet as the usual ones you buy in the store. I'm so glad that Soren had another "junior gardener" here as well. they looked so cute together too. OK, girl, I'm off to get a bit of gardening done myself. and post that thread. And, it was my pleasure to host the swap and to continue to doing so every year. Fran

Am I the only one who didn't GET the whole Izzie/Denny thing?!? At first I thought his explanation for coming back was because she had some horrible disease and he came back to 'take her home'. When I saw what she was doing last night, I thought I was right, but everything turned out OK. So what other explanations do you all have?