Hi Julianna! Nice to meet you! -Let÷s hope Jenny jumps on the bandwagon then! Well, one thing is the balcony plants... most of the ones I had where hardly irreplaceable... Granted, I doá¹Â÷t really see a hole in my economy for a new Rose Zephyrine Drouhin at the moment, but I can ALWAYS get a new one, and until then, there are so many annuals that I can sow (which is, what I÷m doing this year). It is much worse with the house plants. Some of those, I had had since I moved away from home 20 years ago. Others where heirlooms from my grandparents. When that disaster happened, I was working double shifts, and didn÷t really check what was going on, until too late. Everything simply died right above the root, then "melted" into a nasty mush and got covered with black fungus. I÷ve never seen anything like it... that fungus worked lightening fast.... Two orchids and two other plants that where dormant at the time, survived... everything else died! All due to a crassula, that jumped into my cart at the supermarket. From bringing home the plant, to throwing everything out, took a week! I÷ve never seen anything like it before! In the future, everything I bring home, will spend a week, out on the stairs, before making it into the flat or onto my balcony! The only downside to that, is, that I once had a plant stolen from out there, but I÷ll rather have that happen, than killing everything inside!

Ornithogalums??? Oh vetivert, you are bad, but Ornithogalum is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of spring chores and getting to work outside, usually in late Feb. Now I realize my question could have and should have been phrased a lot better. How about this? If the Bulb Forum members would submit their (own) pics of plants and blooms grown from bulbs for a new forum picture, what should it be? . Should it be open to anything grown from bulbs? Should it maybe exclude such things that have more 'specific' forums of their own, such as Lily, Tropical, and House Plant? Should it be an individual bloom, or as you suggested, maybe a still life flower arrangement of numerous delectable blooms grown from bulbs? Please 'scuse me for just having tunnel vision and tunnel thoughts of just Daffodils. At any rate, the folks who are having their spring now, can hopefully be trying to get some great pics. Ok...so when does anyone think we could/should start taking picture submissions? Should we wait until late 2010 so glads could be included by those in the US who grow them? Should we wait a full year (or nearly) so the members down under have an opportunity to have another summer blooming season, like for glads? hmmm...what is fairest? I guess before proceeding, I should check with the 'Powers that be' to see for sure if they would be willing to get the pic changed and updated with a pretty pic of our choosing. I hope lots of folks will give their input and in time, post their pics for entry. In doing a search here on the forum, it seems that Tulips and Daffs are the 2 things most often posted about. I imagine though that tulips are most frequently asked about, due to them having problems, or emerging early, or for not blooming a second season when they are thought to be perennials like daffodils. Here is a spring 2009 pic of a bouquet of Daffodil Show rejects. Hopefully in 2010, I can put together a much better arrangement and pic. Sue...hoping/planning to start daff planting today...maybe

On another site I'm on, we can "close" the post. We can click a link that adds the word "CLOSED" to the beginning of the title, informing folks that the offer is no longer available. I know a lot of folks just don't take the time to read all the posts on a thread. BC

Jennmonkey, the $30 comment was in the context of the story - that she was always asking for more. I didn't say anything like the rest of what you mention. I don't know where you got it from or why you used it to defend Lori. Lori didn't even say anything like that. I said it to the woman because I paid her $25 for the run, but she was asking for more. There is nothing in this story about the size of jobs. Nor is what Lori indicated that I am wasting money and time when I can do them myself. It came from nowhere except her own intention. NyceFarm, you and Uxorial asked the same thing, which is a good question. Because I never saw her at work or saw a paystub, all I can say is I have called her in the wee hours of the morning only because I knew she was at work. At her house, her husband answers the phone if I call after 11pm to let me know he hates calls at that hour LOL. I wouldn't dare call their house at 1 or 2 in the morning. A couple times she came around 3 or 4am to pick up that morning's deliveries. That's the time she got off work on those nights and came here so as not to have to make the trip again. I'm only 3 or 4 miles off her route, whereas she lives quite a ways away. It was better for her to come at that hour than to come back this way at 8am. Also, she directed me to a website for certification last year. She needed me to download some forms because she didn't have a computer. I realize none of that is proof though. So, I guess the answer is I really don't know, but I can't see all the charades either. LindaKathy, nope she didn't pay cash. She paid by debit card. I expected she would stop at the place and pay, but she preferred not having to stop. I wouldn't ask anyone to use their credit card, but that she did was fine with me. She called with the confimation number and brought the balance of the money the next day, less the $150. This was three weeks ago. Is that you were asking? Kathleen, that makes a lot of sense. As far as being tired, she fell alseep on my sofa or laid down in the boys' room several times after getting off work. One morning, she got off at 7 and was supposed to come here to pickup an order. It was to be delivered at that funeral home two miles from her house. She didn't show up and called around 8 to tell me she fell asleep in the nursing home's parking lot. I could understand that happening, knowing how often I work through the night. However, I don't want to give the impression that she was working so much for me. As I mentioned, business was way down the last year, so I didn't have to call her all that steadily.