This is a wonderful post, thank you. Just want to be clear, though, because Friday, I noticed my clematis 'Silmakivi' (Gr. III, which had just begun to bloom the day before!) was suddenly limp and droopy...wilted. I just put it into the ground last summer (perhaps late spring, don't recall). So, based on this thread, this could be due to its vine (which is gigantic already, about 3'!) is overwhelming the still-young root structure, and I should cut off the wilted vine? There's a very small one at the base; may I let that one be? Thanks so much for your help. None of my mother's clematis ever did this that I can recall. Also, should I pinch back all the flower buds as well when the vine comes back? Thanks so much, all! I really appreciate your help. (Love 'Silmakivi', too, it's lovely.)

I have to emphasise in the strongest terms that I am not intending to preach, proselytise or convert. I'm just saying what I have learnt and practised for the past 20 years (plus some) and I have come to accept as undeniably true. Everything, without exception, is completely impermanent. Now, I know that sounds obvious to the point of "Well, D'UH!", but it's one thing to know it as obvious, and quite another to accept it with a calm heart and an appreciative understanding. I am dying. I am conscious, every single day, that every single day that goes by, is one day closer to my final demise. Every breath, is one breath less. We begin this life by taking a gulp of air, and we end it, by breathing out for a final time... I am dying. So are you. As you read this post, your life is continuing to pass, and the minutes ticking by, you will never see again. And life is utterly, totally, completely and absolutely unpredictable. I worked with a lovely lady (Let's call her Jane) who was employed during the Christmas period to provide additional staff cover. She was in fact a fully-qualified nurse, with many years' experience under her belt, but she had MS, and was on some pretty heavy meds to counteract the most noxious and debilitating effects. She had stopped nursing, but was able to function relatively well in a non-stressful (by comparison!) working environment. As many will know, currently, there is no cure for MS. It can be managed, but it's a condition that will both never go away, or get better. People's health deteriorates until eventually, it all breaks down, and the person eventually dies of associated untreatable problems. Jane was on her way home one evening after work, when a truck flew out of a side turning, smashed into her car and killed her outright. We all envision ourselves dying calmly and gently at home, surrounded by our loved ones. The people in the WTC Twin towers thought that too... That's how unpredictable death is. There is a personage, a "God", a manifestation, in TIbetan Buddhism, called Yama, and he is the Guardian and Administrator of the Afterlife. He is basically, the terrific and imposing manifestation of Death, and he's pretty awesome and Intimidating. Basically, that's how death is viewed by many... I Meditate on Yama and his role, his task, every day. I like to call it, "Taking Tea with Yama. " Sometimes, he is so tiny, I can tuck him into my Jeans change pocket and he's barely noticeable. At other times he is so present and imposing, so grand and colossal, that his magnificence blocks the sun... But he is always with me. he never leaves my side, his presence is constant and uninterrupted. And one day, he will place his hand lightly on my shoulder, bid me 'come', and I will not be able to refuse him. Time is relative. A Mayfly lives for a day, while a bowhead whale can hit 200 years. But the one thing they have in common, is that they are born, and they die. The intervening period is what counts. And that's what counts for us. We never know, can never predict and can never estimate with any accuracy, how long we will walk this world. Our beginning was beyond our control. Our end is unknowable. The important, is to live for today, and go to bed each night, thinking, "Today I did good". But just as we have no choice but to let go of yesterday, and let it pass us by on the calendar, so we must embrace all the things we love; the people, the creatures, the homes, furnishings, cars, plants, gardens, jewels and clothing - and know that it all has a beginning, a middle and an end. Instead of being fearful and mournful (although that is natural) we must also learn to rejoice, be glad, and release. Let go, and remember gladly. We shall join them all too soon.... Buddhism has taught me so much in these past years. But this lesson has perhaps been the most beneficial, most salutary - and most difficult one - to embrace.

You gotta draw it on graph paper, and then cut out pieces the size of an apartment couch, etc., and move them around. My first idea is couch facing windows with a cafe table behind the couch, and TV in the corner. You could also try couch floating with it's back to the fridge wall and bedroom hallway, and a TV on the bottom wall with a dropleaf table there too (chairs on left and top sides). It might be more flexible to try arranging 2-3 small armchairs instead of a couch, as easier to allow walkways and still have a conversational arrangement possible...

I'm thinking of getting a wall-mounted shop vac so I can quickly vacuum it maybe once a week to pick up dust/debris. But yea -- at least the dirt is contained in the mudroom (we don't wear shoes in the house -- they get kicked off in the mudroom and house slippers put on), but I have to vacuum a lot in there obviously. Dog tracks in a lot from the garage, too.