Thank you, Edwin for invitation:) I traveled every summer with my husband on long journeys with the car. Last year we visited Austria and Italy. Malika nursery was near my way to home. Maybe next year we will change our route, and visiting the Netherlands too:) I saw many interesting things in your website... Zsholt - I live near the Baltic Sea (3km). Edvin's nursery is closer to me than the Czech Republic. Our climate is quite mild and humid. In winter there may be a short period of hard cold (25-29C). Worse is the fact that it is highly variable. Winter can be a thaw, combined with a severe cold. Ireena

Thanks for the heads up Barbara. I had seen a review of this movie in the Houston Chronicle last year sometime soon after we moved. It was being screened at one movie theater downtown, and I didn't have the energy at that time to rustle up a gardening friend who might enjoy it. (Hubby said it flat out didn't interest him.) Since my Illini were thoroughly humiliated in a first round loss in the NCAA B-ball tournament last night, guess, I can look for other things to watch on tv!

Luyza, the problem with your particular landlord may be that he feels that since he has told you that he is showing the apartment at any time, he may think that he has already given you the 24 hour warning. I'd call or email him and stress that you expect 24 hours notice before he enters your place, each and every time he is going to show the apartment. I once got a letter from a landlord that said something like, "This is your notice that from [date] until [date my lease ended] we may enter the apartment at any time to show it to prospective tenants." I asked if I could get a phone call, even just a few hours before he showed up. Nope. He walked into my apartment with a couple, while I was in the shower--I was working a weird shift and 4 pm was in fact the "morning" for me. Then he saw why I wanted advance notice. If you absolutely can't get him to give you notice of his showings, even after you quote the law to him, can you fix up your bathroom or bedroom as a safe place for the cat? Put a sign on the door, "Please keep cat inside." It's not perfect, but it might help. I know that if I started to crate my cat every morning before I left for work, it would take about three days before he started hiding so that I couldn't find him. I'm wondering what the legal ramifications would be to the landlord if your cat got out and was lost. Since the cat is your property, the landlord might be held responsible. But that's something that would probably vary from state to state. It's understand able why the landlord doesn't want to give you notice. If someone calls about the apartment, he wants to be able to show it right away. He's afraid that if the prospective tenant has to wait a day, they might find something else. But this is one of my tests for future landlords. Do they respect the privacy of their tenants? It's a strike against them if they seem to disregard warning a tenant that they are about to enter the apartment for a showing.

I must admit that I am somewhat biased in favor of Max Born's quotes. They just make sense to me.