I grew a number of heirlooms last year...and honestly, I was really disappointed. Maybe last year was just a bad year for tomatoes? I found them to be quite acidic tasting, they didn't keep AT ALL after picking, and I had terrible cracking problems. I had to throw out so many tomatoes because they quickly turned to mush and got moldy after cracking. The rest I mostly made into tomato sauces. They were fine for that. Off the top of my head, I think I grew Cherokee Purple, Indian Stripe, Black Krim...and a few others that I can't remember. I got loads of tomatoes, but there were just so many that were ruined. It seemed like they didn't get fully ripe, but they were still starting to crack and rot on the plant. Maybe a blight of some kind? We did not have a hot summer, maybe that was part of it. I also grew Black Cherry...it didn't do well. I started it at the same time as everything else but it took FOREVER to ripen. I have grown something called Chocolate Cherry in the past, it didn't produce a lot but the flavour was divine. Normally I grow varieties like Sweet Million, Manitoba, Celebrity, etc. They've been reliable for me. I will probably still try the purple heirlooms again, I'm assuming either my conditions were wrong or it was just a bad tomato year in my area. But last year was basically a bust for me! I don't think I'll ever plant ALL my tomatoes as heirlooms again, though. Just in case I have a complete failure again. I'll probably split my tomato plants between my old reliables and some new-to-me heirlooms.

Very hard to pick a favorite. It really depends on the intended site. So, here are the categories and plants I'd like to nominate: Best indoor palm: Rhapis palm (first prize); Kentia (second prize) Best outdoor tropical: Cuban royal Best cold hardy: Trachycarpus fortunei (palmate); Butia capitata (pinnate) Best arid climate grower: Phoenix (pinnate category), Washintonia (palmate cat.) Best indoor/outdoor containerized palm for a tropical effect: Queen palm (These guys make any yard a island oasis!!) Plus, they are quite cold hardy. But, if I had to select only one, it would be the Trachycarpus. There is something about palms in the snow that is magical.

loribee, I finally got a chance to snap and upload some living room photos. Here is the after, which I just love: In the second photo, the Pier One table has the small lamp and Jerusalem Pottery on it. That, and the sofa pillows and rug are the only purchase I made. (sorry I didn't straighten up the throw pillows before taking the picture,) I am not going to "stick" something on the wall over the table. I am going to look over the next year or 2 and try to find something, maybe on vacation next year. Good news is the old boiler thermostat was there. Last year we put in new AC, and they moved all the controls upstairs. So I finally got to yank off and patch the wall where that was. It drove me crazy trying to hide it with something. I couldn't find any good pictures of the before. But before the TV was where the Pier One table is now. So the sofa was between the 2 french doors (and it was too long to look good there). And the leather club chairs and ottomon were on the front window wall. Very awkward to watch TV, because you were not facing it, and had to turn your head. It was hard to see the fireplace, and the room was lined up like a bowling alley. And it had a very large very burgundy rug that just sucked up the light from the north-facing room with 1 window. I honestly can't believe that this looks and feels and functions so much better just by making these small changes. And in case anyones is wondering, the cabinet holding the TV is a sideboard. We removed the lower drawer, drilled a hole through the back for cords, and put the cable box and internet through there.

Lydia, thank you for letting us know. I'm glad you enjoyed your reread of GWTW. It's a helluva a story, in my opinion, in so many respects. My apologies for not responding to your post just previous to the last one. I didn't finish Bridget Jones's Diary. I couldn't stand her whinging -- what was it, ten years ago? -- so I doubt I would tolerate her any better now. I have no idea if future readers will think she's "so 1990s/2000s", or whatever dismissive phrase they invent. But I think you're right in noting the similarities between Bridget and her ilk and the snarkiness of the characters in Georgy Girl. Whatever is trendy in a contemporary novel is bound to be old hat to successive generations of readers -- even when they like vintage styles. Something you, or someone, said above (or elsethread) struck me: (paraphrasing, since I can't locate it to quote directly) readers like historical novels written in their own times better than preceding generations' contemporary novels because the sensibilities have been redone to suit what the writers and readers want those times and the characters to have been.The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that's right. Let me guess about Summer of '42: Are the readers nowadays hostile about the young boy losing his virginity to the older woman? I can see how that would be a 'modern' take. It sure didn't seem to be awful to Raucher's character in 1942...Hermie, I think was his name. And I don't think it was considered obscene back in the early 1970s when the book came out, but we have become sensitized to the 'issue' of cougars since. (Even the term cougar is ugh-worthy!)