Helen Van Pelt Wilson was certainly famous in her day & obviously loved plants, gardens & gardening. She grew & knew what she wrote. Any & all of her books are solid with info & inspiration. Throughly agree that life-size line drawings are the best for detail. In love with dianthus since first intro in childhood & can barely imagine a garden without them. Current favorite is Rose de Mai for its relatively rare in its clan happiness in Winter wet & acidic soil, along with its cinnamon clove perfume & abundant bloom from early to late. It's not a stand-up pink, but rather a billowy relaxed one, and can easily reach 4' across. There seems a renewed interest in backyard recreation & entertaining that leads to appreciation of nature & plants, if only to the depth of decor at the start. Someone right now is being drawn to a leaf or flower for the first time & may be nudged into exploration of Nature's bounty. All the home arts seem to wax & wane in popularity with the times. Yet there are always those drawn to them whether the pursuit is fashionable or not, and kindred spirits will find a way to gather, as we do here, to keep the knowledge & adventure alive. My son never showed any interest in gardening till he bought a home. His wife's interest was sparked by his, and my granddaughter knows every plant in both our gardens well enough to give tours. Here is a link that might be useful: Bio for Helen Van Pelt Wilson This post was edited by vasue on Sat, Mar 15, 14 at 1:03

got it :-) Lucy

What's happened to the posh hotels in London? They seem to have managed to market the charm out of themselves. I went to the Ritz once, long ago, for tea - in the late seventies, it would have been. It was excellent, good cakes and tea, and beautifully served. And we just went along on the day and went in. The price didn't seem completely over the top, either. And there is the story in Helene Hanff's The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street about her visit to London in 1972 (I think) - she was walking through London with some American friends, and saw Claridges (sp?) ahead of her - and again, they just walked in and had tea. A mid-morning slot for afternoon tea? and having to book months in advance for it? Daft! It's afternoon tea - it's not a meal at the Ivy. For what it's worth, I've been to the Cafe in the crypt of St. Martins-in-the-fields, and I also enjoyed it.

We've been able to recyle cardboard here for a long time. Not only cereal boxes, think toilet and towel paper rolls, kleenex boxes, cardboard from various packaging (think of the ridiculous amount in toy packages) and of course cardboard boxes (flatten first) We also recycle plastic bottles and other plastic products (just have to check the number on the bottom - anything 2-6 is considered recyclable). Sometimes our recycling bin is filled more than our garbage bin! >I have been turning off....air conditioner when not in use and have noticed a lowering of my electricity bill. Double check this one. Its always been a controversy around here whether you should just raise your AC when you leave the house, or turn it off, and then turn it on when you return. Which one saves more electricity? We generally turn ours up to 78 when we leave, turn it back to 74 when we return. I suspect that it takes less energy to cool it four degrees than it might to cool it 20 (remember tho I live in a place where 110 degree days are not uncommon in the summer. Might be different in milder climates) I shop local when I can - certainly the local indie (tho I still use Amazon and Borders for new books), and our Farmer's Market. Theres also this great local Taqueria (taco shop) near our house that I just love. Unfortunately, shopping locally means higher prices at times. If going local means driving 20 minutes, I have to decide whether I want to waste gas, or save money and use less gas. It is a cunnundrum. But I do try when I can.