I've become much more disenchanted with selecting rose varieties than ever before - I'm not sure why, maybe because I'm still limited to my own window ledge and haven't been home to my old garden in a few years, but I don't think I'll be ordering much this season. I'm dismayed at the closing of Sequoia and may try to get a few rare things from them before the end. It always seems that the most promising varieties are quite out of reach, so for now, I think I'll concentrate my efforts on breeding more than acquiring and see if I can't make the rose I'm craving but simply cannot buy. At work, I'll continue adding to the collection of wonderful Chinese rose species and cultivars; this is one of my little pet projects to increase public (and institutional) awareness of these amazing and largely well-adapted plants. Marianne (if you read this), do you really feel that both helenae cultivars are equal in hardiness, and that your zones 4-5 are warmer than ours? From reading which roses do well where in Scandinavia, I was under the impression that a zone 4-5 hardy rose where you live is roughly equivalent to one at my home in Minnesota, also zone 4-5. I was also fairly sure I understood that 'Lykkefund' is less hardy than 'Hybrida', which hopefully is soon on its way to Ashdown from Europe courtesy of a certain GW member! Stefan

Lars : It is a shame you can't make good Waffles without Cream. Here is a recipe for Waffles you will love. Give them a try and let me know !!! LOUÂS Pancakes and Waffles Recipe Light, Crispy but Tender. 2 ½ cups milk ( IÂve been using powdered milk) 2 eggs ( separated ) . 1/3 cup of veg. Oil 2 tablespoon of vanilla Pinch of salt ½ cup Sugar 1 cup of Wheat Flour 4 teaspoons Baking Powder All Purpose flour --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mix Pancake Batter: Put the first 6 ingredients ( except egg whites ) in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Put in the Wheat flour, Baking pwd. and some All Purpose flour. Beat until smooth. Add enough flour to thicken slightly, (were it leaves ripples while mixing ) not thin and loose. Beat the egg whites with a teaspoon of sugar, until peaked. Add ½ the egg whites to the batter and fold in easy. Beat the other ½ of the whites until very stiff and fold these in also. After the pancakes are cooked, I put plastic in between for freezing. For Waffles: Thicken a little more, to where you have to move it around with a spoon, when it is put on the waffle iron . Then do the egg white thing as in the pancake batter. When baked I cool them fast on a rack and put them in a plastic bag, and right in the freezer. If you overcook a little, dampen slightly with water, before you put them in the toaster oven. As for the waffle iron , I have a very old round one with adjustable heat Range. You will have to adjust to your Waffle Baker. It makes a waffle about ½ inch + thickness. For me this is just right, for the amount of butter and syrup that you can put on top. I found one to match at Macy's it is a Cusineart. I donÂt use the Belgium Waffle Maker ; except when IÂm adding Ice cream and fruit topping , because itÂs too much waffle for the amount of syrup and butter. But may be good for you.! If I want a Belgium Waffle, I just make a double decker and put fruit or whatever filling in between. Then you have more cooked surface area , on the Waffles.

Finished up (gobbled up really) the rest of the Michael Dirda essays in his book "Reading" which I just loved and recommend for any serious book lover. The essays are engaging, intelligent and challenging all at the same time. I am not familiar with a lot of his work so most of this is new to me, but I am finding it delightful. Just had to order another one of his books to continue this delightful reading experience... Then read "The Sheltering Sky" by Paul Bowles (see other thread for that), and then read my way through a book of quotations taken from children's books from long ago and quite recent. It was interesting to see just how en pointe some of the quotes could be when applied to adult life and its various issues. It was called "What the Dormouse Said" and was edited by Amy Gash. A good thrift shop find. Now onto "Tepper isn't Going Out" by Calvin Trillan - an ordinary guy in NYC decides to sit in his car and read while waiting for his meter to run out. NYCers take it to be a sign of something and it builds from there. Nothing too outstanding, but not bad.

I don't buy it was an accident. It goes on for a very long time, and his fingers move from her breast to her back for a hug, and then right back into the breast for almost a squeeze. They are moving constantly. He had no problem finding the shoulder of this woman, who looks to be similar height. If it were an accident, I would have expected to see an immediate correction. Breasts have a very distinct feel, especially with fingers digging in so tightly. Link to the video: https://twitter.com/Trevornoah/status/1035676294548140032