Thanks, everyone for your nice comments. Kathy, I am also in Northern California, the Bay Area. I have been admiring your beautiful roses and garden. Actually, I once asked you in this forum about your OLG and Eureka. However, I couldn't find those two roses anywhere. I ordered a tree rose OLG from JP this year, but it didn't turn out well. Do you or anyone from the forum know where to get Our Lady of Guadalupe in any form (bush or tree rose)? Thank you. KhaVi

Eventually we might do just that willtv, but our entire lawn needs a lot of work ("fill" and grading and more grass vs. weeds....). No point in digging up a new section of lawn to "build" a garden until all that is addressed. I have pics of one of my KIA end of summer, tomato sauce-making marathons somewhere (prob on our old desktop computer). Your pics remind me of those. The first or second year without a garden, I broke down and purchased a big bag of luscious, ripe, farm-grown tomatoes at our local farmers market so I could make garden tomato sauce to freeze. KA-CHING!!! Made one batch of the most expensive tomato sauce ever! kellienoelle--what a wonderful looking wine and conversation set-up you put together! I'll bet your friends enjoyed themselves in your beautiful new space!

So glad you all enjoyed this thread! RHome, we have a space above the island facing the cooktop....I was thinking about doing some word art there (a phrase or saying), but photos could be fun! Kate, happy anniversary! I *love* the scene you've described and agree with Caroline that this is a great movie to see with your DH/DW. I went with a girlfriend becaue DH was out of town but I am definitely going again with him! BTW, I haven't read Julie and Julia either but I can strongly recommend My Life in France. Judy, ah yes, the butter. I couldn't believe how much we used too, for the entire meal. The chicken alone is sauteed in one stick of butter, and when you make the sauce from the drippings (which of course has rich and lovely egg yolks), Julia suggests you add two to three tablepsoons of additional butter to the sauce! LOVE the fact that Julia and Paul both lived to a ripe old age. I also love some of her thoughts on food: "Eat well and drink well," says Julia Child, "everything in moderation -- and never snack." And this on butter: "If you're afraid of butter, as many people are nowadays," she said in one of her more recent television shows, "Just put in cream!" she proclaimed, with a twinkle in her eye. Apprently she believd that the secret to a long and happy lfe, along with the moderation, was red meat and gin. My kind of gal! :-) Regardless of what and how you eat, it really does make you realise that the act of sharing good food is really one of life's great pleasures. As she said..."Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal." Bon appetit to that! Eliz

Hi Seaside! In my sunny inland Southern CA garden, I have two Julia Childs—one own root that’s 2.5’x2.5’ and one on Dr. Huey that’s 4’x4’. I’ve only had them for about 3 years, and the own-root will be 4’x4’ and the Dr. Huey will be 8’x8’ if they follow Diane’s magical rules! Like Diane, my own-root blooms are a bit smaller than those on the grafted plant. The fragrance of the own root is sweeter, and the grafted is more “anise-y.” They probably have an equal number of blooms and an equally quick (and amazingly quick) repeat. Heat tolerance is second to none: I’ve seen jt blooming away in my garden during a 114 degree heatwave without a single petal wilting. IMHO, it’s a perfect rose with an ideal habit. Even grafted, I doubt it would attempt to grow to 8’x8’ in a pot (and kind of hope it doesn’t attempt this feat in my garden)! I don’t personally grow Yves Piaget, but I think it’s taller and lankier than Julia, and I’ve heard those luscious blooms don’t love super high heat. They sure are beautiful, though!