Sorry for spelling Halloween wrong I feel like a goofball. I think that if times were better it would not have gone over so well but with people pinching pennies it was more welcome to some, my best friend who makes good money told me I was strange lol. But in the same conversation she told me she was sure that there was a real homeless couple that came to her house for candy. And if the economy does't get better glib I bet I will be able to get rid of all 100 pounds, Oh, ericwi brussels sprouts are a hard sell at anytime you should have offered cheese with them lol.. Well I have bunches of cherry tomatoes and peppers ready I guess its salsa time. :o)Deanna

I would not be too concerned about the tachycardia (rapid heart beat) which is probably all associated with your daughter's condition and being pregnant. Hopefully the amniotic fluid has increased with their treatment. If not and your wee grandchild needs to be induced, then that will be a great thing, not too premature. Tammy I wish your daughter all the very, very best - I am sure it will work out for you all and that you have a wonderful Christmas. I think too when the baby is born, your other daughter will be delighted for her sister and hopefully will look forward to an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth in the near future. She will be well monitored and of course the baby will be, especially because of previous history. Hopefully, your daughter realizing this will give her the strenght and encouragement to try again. My prayers are with you all and I know I will share your anxiousness until the wee love has been born. Hugs, Pauline. PS now look at that beautiful little boy above of Sis's - what a darling and what gorgeous photography.

To answer some of her questions: When Ann sees this, or maybe someone else knows, but ..... is there a specific timeline on this disease? We go from a microscopic mite penetrating the rose, to the symptoms we see. Once the mite gets inside the rose, what does it do to destroy it to the extent that the rose takes on these frightening canes? I've seen a healthy roses be planted downwind of a field of RRD sick multiflora and the healthy roses within three weeks started making aberrant growth on some (but not all canes). That was a condition of almost highest conceivable disease pressure...hot temperatures, well watered target plants. A second time was at the opening of a local big box store. Potted up blooming roses were placed in front of the store at the May 1 opening. RRD in multiflora about 0.2 miles away. In early June, those roses that were unsold were moved and I saw them about the second week of June, about 15 of 40 had undeniable RRD symptoms. (The store manager tossed them when I talked to him. I called the state dept of agriculture, told them about it and they checked the producer/grower of the roses and their greenhouses were clean and there was no RRD in multiflora nearby to the green houses.) These two are really fast infection times, but the conditions were right for things to go wrong. This isn't the only disease spread by mites in this Family. Fortunately, most of the diseases are limited to a particular genus. For some of the diseases, they have been identified as viruses spread by the mites. The disease is of aberrant excessive growth and it messes up the plants' ability to convert sugars to starches, it messes up the plants ability to make flowers with reproductive parts. Deer love the fresh growth with most plants are shutting down. When does the mite die? Does it reproduce and infect other roses or do they travel in a colony. The mites are extraordinarily solitary creatures. Females gravid with fertilized eggs can be moved by whisps of wind. There is a low level population of these mites in nature; their population spikes seem to be tied to the freshness of the RRD infected plants. Accession time, the amount of time a mite that's fed on an RRD infected plant then needs to feed on another uninfected rose to transmit the 'virus' is not known for RRD. A similar disease of peaches, spread by a different eriophoid mite, was shown to have an accession time of about 15 minutes.

Everyone has heard my Cleo stories. She's Hyper with a capital H. She's also definitely a hunting dog. (She's a rescue from Animal Services.) This morning as I was watering, I found Honeybells and Bridegroom upside-down and June Fever sideways. I assume she chased a squirrel up the bleachers again. I don't think bleachers was the best idea I ever had. This is my last year for that one. It works well for Paula, though. I'm glad it's August. bk