We just saw The Queen. I think we're about done with the Oscars although we might still see Notes on a Scandel and both Little Miss Sunshine and Water are coming from Netflix. The Queen had very good acting but I didn't think the story was that interesting. But I've always considered royalty to be rather useless and expensive so I didn't care that much about the queen or her struggles. Diane described Pan's Labyrinth quite well. It is mostly a war story with some fantasy elements. The grisly part is mostly the fights between the army and the rebels which does include the aftermath of the torture of one of the rebels (although thankfully it does not show the actual torture). I feel sorry for my mother right now. She likes to watch the movies on our top ten lists for the year but she hates violence. And pretty much the only non-violent movie on my top ten is Shortbus which has a lot of graphic sex. So I can't exactly recommend that one to her either. I think she'd really like Volver though and all the violence in that is off-screen so I think that one is okay at least.

I am looking for books on "SEED SAVING" I have this book to trade, there are two links listed below my description Thanks for looking! Blue Skies! Trish BRAND NEW HARDCOVER BOOK "STOKE'S BACKYARD BIRD BOOK" It is a compilation of the following four books~ Stokes bird gardening book, Stoke's Bird Feeder Book, Stokes Complete birdhouse book, Stokes Hummingbird Book. Two links for this book are below..(does NOT include bird call CD) http://www.gardenguides.com/books/stokesbirdgardeningbook.htm http://www.rodalestore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId\=10002&storeId\=10051&productId\=14132&langId\=\-1&nav\_wt\=search

Hi Sharon, Just wanted to add another welcome to New England. My mom lived in Peabody until last year, and I used to live in Peabody, but that was another lifetime ago. It's a nice town. Now I live a little further south and west of you. You will get snow. My mom always used to get snow whenever we did, just a little less, because of your proximity to the coast. I grew up here, but I did buy the Northeast Gardening book by Sunset. I guess it's an ok book, I don't know why I bought it. A compulsion to buy books, I guess. :-) There is nothing like actual experience, and I have gardened and lived here all my life, so I can't really say if the info in there will be useful to someone from Calif. But just wanted to let you know that there is a Sunset gardening book for the Northeast, and it's a big thick book. Besides all the other stuff people have mentioned, I would recommend that you get a good book about New England wildflowers, if that interests you. (I have one, but unfortunately I can't put my hands on it right this second, so I can't tell you the title, but I'll keep looking for it) There are a lot of wildflowers and spring ephemerals that show up briefly in the spring along with the early bulbs that help make spring a joy after all the cold and snow. You don't want to pull one thinking it's a weed. Some ARE weeds, but others like bloodroot and jack-in-the-pulpit, are great to have. If I were you I would wait to order bulbs and see what you may already have in the spring. All the foliage from daffs and tulips and crocuses has died back, so like others have said, you may not know what else you have. Oh BTW, the fall foliage is a real treat. Just wait a few weeks. You don't have to go anywhere special to see it. Just drive or walk anywhere and you will see some gorgeous fall colors. Keep coming here to GW too, it will keep you sane in the winter. Alison

No, I have not heard of them. However, I'm usually happy with "proven winners" and those look like great hosta. They are on myhostas.be and on the hostalibrary, for better photos. Myhostas.be doesn't say anything. They are listed by name, not shadowland. bkay