Okay, you guys are starting to know me a little too well. No, Moonstruck was not adapted from a book :) But if it had been, it'd be dog-eared on my bookshelf, believe you me! The quote I wrote down is more of a contemporary classic. A hint? Mellors is the name of the hero. Maybe "bane" was a little strong, but it's certainly annoying that Every Single Term, at least one student asks, with wide-eyed tabloid eyes, if Mary M. and J. really did make babies... Have you heard about those historians who have filed a lawsuit, claiming that Brown plagiarized from one of their books? You know, if my academic work were in ANY way associated with that book, I wouldn't advertize it. To their credit, though, they claim that one of the reasons they've filed the lawsuit is because they feel that being associated with Brown's book makes their own work look bad. I like the idea of a "truth-sorter", though :) Sounds like some sort of futuristic, robotic computer device - like you'd find in a "Jetsons" court room.

Thanks for starting this thread, Ingrid. In fact I was thinking not only of resource-thrifty plants and gardening techniques, but also of attitude adjustment. I agree with your ideas. When I started gardening here I had an idea that water was going to be the critical item, and with our dry summers and diminishing rainfall that's true, though we also have our flood-landslide years. Scrounging up organic matter also turns out to be quite a chore. I think it's scarcer here than in the U.S., and our clay is very poor in organic matter, though once adequately supplemented it takes care of itself. People who garden in Florida sand, for example, may need to amend forever--do you? I'm asking--while, if I can ever get ground well enough amended that the plants there grow vigorously, the litter and prunings from those same plants provide all the organic amendment that ground needs. Unfortunately there's not much of the garden where this happy state of affair reigns, but it's true for the escarpment in front of the house, the bed beside the house with the big climbing roses, much of the woods, and a few other places. My goal is to get the garden feeding itself. Generally I'm friends with annual grass in the beds: it grows, dies, and provide a layer of organic matter above AND below the ground, with its dead roots that I don't have to dig in. I want all the ground covered with plants busily generating organic matter. Nonetheless I anticipate that we're going to be buying bales of old hay for years to come. Digging big planting holes and heavily amending the the soil we return to them has shown itself to be a necessity. We water plants the first year after they're planted, and little or none after that. We have one hose for the big garden and water by hand. Plants grow VERY SLOWLY here. This is part of the attitude adjustment I mentioned. However, if I dug them a good hole to start and the plants are tolerably adapted to their conditions, they hang on through all kinds of adverse conditions, not keeling over when the summer drought hits. They develop good root systems, I believe. We have deep clay they can dig themselves down into, the ground is moisture retentive, and we have 40" of average annual rainfall. All this makes dry gardening feasible. (N.b. I believe there are plants that grow in thin soil in dry climates: not everything requires clay and good annual rainfall.) More attitude adjustment: I accept that my roses aren't going to bloom to speak of in summer, nor will much else. By the end of summer the sunny garden in fact looks like a bomb hit it. Total devastation. I stay indoors and forget the garden, rather like northern gardeners in winter, or I stay under the wisteria pergola, where I have my sansevierias and other potted plants to admire. Last summer we got busy clearing a strip of woodland of ivy and brush, and the shade down there was very enjoyable. Just a pleasant spot to be in is worth having, whether or not anything is in bloom. And good foliage and interesting plant form can be present and enjoyable even in a drought. I love the seasonal aspect of the garden, looking forward to cyclamen and the persimmon in fall, admiring dormant buds and sarcococca flowers in winter, getting thrilled by the first sweet violets at the end of February. As always, I have more to say, but I ran out of steam. Coming up: trees. I want to hear others' thoughts. Melissa

There's a lot of words to describe this, but the first one that comes to mind is ...... CLEVER! Kathleen, you've got such a creative way about you. I just love this. Xs and Os from shells and the blue Tic-Tac-Toe out of painter's tape: Super, just super! I want those salad plates, by the way. You know, we gals out west are getting pretty sick of your Christmas Tree Shop finds. Every time I see something cute, the poster will identify it as a CTS purchase. Those plates are too, too summery. Love the colored tiles all around the edges. Thanks for joining in when you have such a busy schedule.

DH has had talks with her but on the day to day stuff... most of it he doesn't see, but when he's right there... I don't think he is paying attention at all, kinda like with the bread. He's oblivious to when she is being rude & later when I mention it to him, he'll agree that she shouldn't do this or that but he didn't really notice. Very rarely, he'll say it's not that big a deal. DH & I had a long, drawn out conversation/almost argument last week because a few weeks ago... before Thanksgiving time, I noticed my netbook that I keep in my car for work had a damaged screen. It looked as if something smashed it & the screen had a splotch on it. It wasn't cracked, just a portion of the screen was discolored. Well, sometimes SD rides in the front seat next to where I keep it (between the seats, under the console) I couldn't imagine how else it was damaged, except SD stepped on it, sat on it or pressed really hard on it... but she would have to take it out of the console because it's not where she could accidentally touch it. I was angry but I figured if she did it on purpose, telling her I was angry would only satisfy her so I gave it to my DD & bought a new one. In December I put a DVD system in the backseat. There are two screens on the headrests for each side. Last weekend, I was cleaning my car & right in the center of the screen that is on the side where SD sits is a huge thumb/palm? print. It looks like someone pressed into the middle of the screen. Nobody rides in the car except me, SD & DGS2 in his car seat. He can't reach either of the screens. Also, the last time I detailed my car, there was ink scribbled on the leather door panel where SD sits. Again, I said nothing because it is obvious to me that SD is doing stuff on purpose to my car & whenever I have confronted her, she denies doing anything. She gets this I'm so innocent look & how dare I accuse her of anything. Crap! I'd rather her tell me she hates me & is glad she did it but no matter what, she denies it, then tells everyone how awful I am for accusing her of something she didn't do. I have no proof it's her but common sense & I don't want her to see me get upset because I feel like that's what she wants. So, finally this last time I went to DH & told him I don't want her in my car anymore... he wanted me to have a talk with her but like I said, how do you talk to someone that says she didn't do it, doesn't have a clue how it happened, etc. So, he got upset with me & started trying to make excuses for her. Finally he admitted he doesn't know what to do about her but he works in another town & rides the bus to my office so she has to ride home with me. So, I know DH needs to address the problem & yes, he is a mild mannered good guy that just wants to do the right thing & live in peace. He wants to go to work, pay the bills, come home to his family & enjoy the evening. I don't think he thinks about, nor is he worried about what she will be like when she's a teen, maybe because he's a guy & has no clue about girls/daughters... or he hopes things will just fall into place. I don't think he realizes how serious her problems are or he just has no clue about how to fix them. As the on site female, I tried to give my input but as we can see, that has been rejected & backfired. At the moment, I'm looking forward to summer when she'll be with her mom & only here for weekends. I plan to be gone and/or busy with DGS or work. I feel guilty for feeling that way but I can't stand how it is. Just this morning, I get up & go to the baby's room which is next to hers. She was in the livingroom & heard me coming, ran back to her room. I get the baby up & bring him to my room so I can finish getting ready while he watches his favorite show. DH goes into the kitchen, SD comes out & is talking to him. I get done getting ready & come down the hall, her bedroom door closes because she hurried back to her room. Last night, I was cooking dinner & playing Wii with DH. SD is watching us. I leave the room to check on dinner & she starts talking to him. I come back & she doesn't talk. I leave again, same thing. It's just very annoying!