Facebook is a wonderfully addicting place to hang out! It's a "social networking" site, which means that you create a network with all of your friends/relatives and as you (and they) post little updates and pictures, everyone in your network see them too. It's a fun way to keep in touch with people, especially if they live far away. I play Scrabble on Facebook with a lady from the Rose Forum. I love it! There's a search word game too that I spend way too much time playing. Lisa

The first seems to be Dolichothele/Mammillaria longimamma and the 2nd one most certainly is Cereus peruvianus. Jordi

I have a "Prairie Rose" or Carolina Rose. It has a great lemony fragrance and fills my yard with it's scent. Own root roses (OGR) look much like that. Even David Austin loved them and used them (for their fragrance, hardiness and disease resistance) and crossed them with other roses to create his awesome English roses. I have several OGR. All are very, very heady fragrant and only bloom in Spring. (but worth the wait for what they bring to the garden IMHO). They are stoleniferous (spread by root stolens), but not so fast that you can't shovel prune them. Mine are just beginning to bud and bloom now. They will be in full bloom in May and bloom from 4-6 weeks. Blooms are small as are the leaves, compared to other roses. The light fragrance, large leaves and the leaf rust tells me that it is probably NOT an OGR. I think she may be a Climbing Old Blush. She prefers some shade to conserve moisture. Her blooms have double petals and is blousy, and she has pointed leaves, all like yours. Check out the link below. Make sure you read all the info at the bottom of the page, too. ~Annie Here is a link that might be useful: Climbing Old Blush - pictures and information

Hi Plllog! "That is, I know it's possible, but might not be in your budget." See, there's the crux of it. This little beverage center idea of mine was not in the original budget. (Nor, alas, were new drywall in the livingroom and halls, the gorgeous walnut top on my used cabinet island, the matching gorgeous top that will soon be on the new media cabinet and the near full gut of the bathroom.) And we're still determined to get through remodeling our ugly duckling without taking out a loan or dipping into savings. Conventional wisdom says: Wait until the coffers are full again but that's so hard to do. First off, I'm a cheapskate. Even if the goose who laid the golden egg waddled up onto my deck and built a nest, I'm not sure I would willingly pay someone to mess up the walls I just paid to fix. Second, I'm not quite cheap enough. My new kitchen is starting to look pretty good but, gosh, it would look so much better if the microwave and coffee maker didn't take up so much room on that one counter. I'm willing to spend a little bit more to change that, especially since I'm going to have a piece of countertop leftover that should be just the right size. Still, it's nice to know that it's possible. Maybe when the coffers ARE full again I'll put a tile counter outside on my deck to shade the golden goose should she happen to wander by ;) Thanks for your help!