Hi all! I'm new to the forums but I have an idea why this one doesn't get much response. It's not listed in any of the categories, it's only listed sort of alphabetically in the s's as The Single Life, it took me several visits to find it and I still have trouble remembering where it is on the list to click so I can lurk! Maybe someone should suggest to Spike? that it be made more visible, I know that there are a lot of singles on the forums. Just thought I'd pop in and say something and maybe someone else has had the same experience. My New Year's Resolution is to be proud of being single and not be so quiet. Happy New Year! Charlotte

I understand that, Lily. Eating sugar caused the stress in my life. I ate sugar in place of real food so I wouldn’t gain so much weight. I ate it when I was happy, sad, bored, tired, stressed and when my brain needed a fix. I became unhappy, cranky, tired, and totally controlled by it. Sugar and what form I would eat that day became my first thought in the morning. It really took over my life. I wanted to quit and tried every day, but just couldn’t do it. I asked God to help me and He did. The first two weeks were the worst. The cravings were intense and I drank a lot of hot water to help relieve them. After that, it was better. I started exercising after that... 25 minutes a day on my Tony Little glider helped a lot. After two months, the cravings were gone completely. Now, I never think about sugar at all. If I eat honey or syrup, it starts up again, so I don’t use those or artificial sweeteners. I wish I could express how wonderful it feels to get up in the morning sugar free. It’s like every day is fresh and new and I am happy. I hope you can find your way to that, too. Rebecca

Bostedo, thank you for describing the plastic pots that melted in the sun. I read online that polystyrene (#6) is what Styrofoam packing material is made of. My black nursery pots are marked with a 5 within the recycling symbol. My decorative plastic pots are not marked. Some of my old favorites have cracked. As for New Year resolutions we are all at different points on our garden path and I find all your goals interesting at whatever point you are on yours and would like to hear about them. As for me, due to my age and especially after experiencing the many weeks of disability due to the fractured femur this spring, I'm definitely in the 'tried and true' camp, but am enjoying this 'camping trip' as much as I have anything in the past. I'm seeing the design wisdom of repeating some of the tried and true plants around the garden as well as concentrating on ornamental trees and shrubs and using only a few favorite perennials such as phlox and a couple of cannas, and easy care annuals like gomphrena and begonias. This may be the last year for anything that needs to be taken into the greenhouse. We shall see how that goes. My current project, other than pulling weeds, is spray painting all my garden tools florescent pink so I can find them with just a glance and don't have to tromp all over the yard looking for something. Speaking of weeds, what has been even more problematic this year than the usual winter weeds are good plants coming up everywhere! This includes larkspurs, Mexican feather grass, white wine cups, even Crawford lettuce. With so many to pull my dilemma is whether to thin them or try to eliminate them entirely. Whatcha' think? Happy gardening in 2019! Again, we'd like to hear about your goals, and the new plants you intend to try. Or if you're keeping with the 'tried and true' which of those you are keeping.

I was driving a couple hours to Tupelo because one could make an appointment and he would do it the same day. They closed last year. This shop is run by a difficult woman whose husband does the service. You had to leave your machine for seven weeks. I had a credit from a class cancelled last March due to Covid. I went in before Christmas and she loudly proclaimed to the whole place that I had "dropped out". Huh? Anyway, there is a dealer in the tiny New England town where our lake house is, so my machine may be making that trek. Bernina needs to beef up their dealer network.