Here's some researched info that you may find interesting: From the book "Good Neighbors: Companion Planting For Gardeners" (Rodale press) Page 319 There have been studies done showing intercropping of with snap beans, peas or cabbage produces less total crop production BUT the quality of the crop produced was BETTER! When intercropped with peas alone the peas performed better than when grown alone (monoculture). There is also a note about potentially allelopathic compounds in tomato roots but no information on what this compound affects. The only other thing I can think of is that Squash and potatoes are not recommended as companions and the same for onion (alliums) and cabbage families. I have not seen research to state that you cannot plant as you are desiring so I say "relax". Louise Riotte's books "Carrots Love Tomatoes" and "Roses Love Garlic", both on companion planting are pretty good on information though they seem to be a bit short on research testing information so take them with a grain of salt.

I really like the videos at knitting help ath profsusan mentioned. I have the embarassingly titled "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting!" book at home (was the exclamation point really necessary?). Easy to find at Michael's or similar and I find the illustrations fairly easy to follow. But more than that, is there a yarn shop in your community? A lot of the time, it is easier to see some of these things in action and ask a real live person for help. Most dedicated yarn stores are staffed by experienced knitters who are willing to talk a newbie through the basics. Here is a link that might be useful: craftfetish blog

I think that the doctor's office can and will bill you for anything. We get small bills every couple of years, I guess the computers scour the doctor's billings and come up with things not paid. Are you obligated to pay? Maybe not, but they'll send it to Collections if you don't pay.

Eh. I was given one of the star shaped pans for a gift. It's packed away with the rest of the kitchen stuff I haven't unpacked since we moved, I'd forgotten about it until now. It felt like a silicon pan and I found it difficult to handle plus the stuff is gawdawful expensive. They do have a marked silpat for macarons which I keep looking at, although I know better. I'd already purchased silicone muffin pans and cake pans and the absolute worst device ever, a silicone bundt pan. I put them in a yard sale, but when people asked how well they worked, I just couldn't lie. I finally put them in the free box and no one would take them, so I threw them away. (sigh) This pan was better, but still nothing to shout about. That's why it's still packed away. I do have a silpat which I rarely use, I still prefer parchment paper, which I reuse, then flip over and reuse some more before I throw it away. I just hate drawing those stupid little circles for macarons, so mine are never really the same size, I freehand it, LOL. Anyway, it kind of reminds me of Pampered Chef. OK products, for what they are, but extremely over priced. Annie