Add Prosperity to the list. And Jean Mermoz had an therapeutic amputation. I've had a few that survived with just having the first sign of the evil hacked off, but they've generally been the teas. The hybrid musks and polyanthas seem to have too much multiflora and are already well involved before the witches broom symptoms become apparent. Henry, I wish I were merely mistaking herbicide damage for RRD, but that is NOT the case here. I have an unopened bottle of Roundup sitting in the garage right now. I never got around to using it this year to keep the weeds down behind the barn like I usually do. And no neighbors have either. The big change in wind patterns in the last few years at my home was the clearing of a 40 acre scrub wood to the south and west of my property. Where it was 10-20 foot scrub maples and blackberry became someone's idea of a subdivision right before the real estate crash. Where before I'd get the wind blowing almost straight over my property, clearing those bit of trees and accelerating up the hill, now I get a bit of a swoop and drop in the main currents. Maybe if houses ever get built there it will change again. But with only 3 ever constructed, and those right at the property entrance down wind and not upwind, well, I can see the results. On a more positive note, General Schablikine survived his amputation last year, and is providing some stellar fall blooms, as is Colonial White. The teas seem to have done the best with the disease pressure, despite the loss of Mrs. B.R. Cant.

Michelle, It is 3:35 p.m. and I am watching The Weather Channel and it sounds like Arkansas is really getting it already and conditions are supposed to worsen, so I guess the Fort Smith forecasters may "ignore" ya'll even more if you're not having the ice too. Yes, we can hope we're wrong, but "in my bones" I feel like it is going to be a bad one. I can tell by the number of birds coming to feed, and we have huge numbers today. I just refilled the feeders and put out deer corn an hour ago, and the birds are having a big old pre-storm feeding frenzy right now. Randy and I both use the Weather Underground a lot and I love their forecasts. If you've never used it, you can access it via www.wunderground.com. Randy, I agree about the internet accuracy, but I have to say that our local TV forecast (Channel 12, KXII, the local CBS affiliate) has improved a lot since Steve LaNore became their chief meterologist. Still, I take it with a grain of salt and merge together their forecast, various online sources, the NWS and my own "intuition" to arrive at my own idea about what I think "will" or "might" happen. I bet the Eskies had fun. If it snows, and they get to go out and play in it, I hope you'll take a photo of them to share with us. Ada, Uh-oh. That's not good news. Y'all be careful. I think the perennials will be OK as long as their roots weren't bone dry. If they were bone-dry, you might have some root death. After all my bragging about what a fine job our local electric co-op does keeping the power up, I saw we're now forecast to get about 1/2 inch of ice here. Well, if that happens, the trees won't even have to bring down the poles and power lines, because the ice on the power lines will bring everything down all by itself. Oh, I dread the power being out. Our house is all-electric, so if we lose power, we're gonna be cold. Moni, I'm glad you're hubby is going to be able to make it home safely before the icing gets worse and the roads are even more dangerous. We went out and did all our errands early. Now we're just waiting for the fire pagers to go off, because as soon as the temps hit 32, the accidents start popping up on the Interstate like dandelions pop up in our pastures in spring. I don't really understand the sudden ice storm trend the last 5 or 6 years. Our first few years here, we had some gorgeous snowstorms and that was so much fun for someone like me who grew up in snow-deprived Fort Worth. These last few years, though, it is all ice and no snow. I'd rather have snow. Well, if I had a choice, I'd rather have 6" of rain and nothing frozen, but that's not gonna happen! Dawn

Update......3/16/2010. I am gonna use the first tile guy that came out (friend of my plumber). Nice guy, very attentive to my questions, etc. The second tile guy that came out said he guaranteed I will have no porblem tiling on the sleepers over concrete. RED FLag!? He said he would email me a quote......he never did. oh well. When I order the tile yesterday, I told the ladies at the tile shop who my tile contractor was....they spoke very highly of him....calling him a perfectionist....hopefully that bodes well for me and my bathroom. So here are the new specs..... Bathroom floor: Mud Bed [including bonding agent on concrete and wire mesh to strengthen the mud bed] tile se on diagonal Radiant heat floor set in mudbed Thinset Tile Shower: Swanstone Shower pan [34x48] Durock walls Thinset/tape seams Mapei liquid waterproofer (either HPG or AquaDefense) One recessed niche tile to ceiling Look ok? TWO Questions: 1. Any preference for either Mapei waterproofing products? The HPG or AquaDefense? 2. Question on vapor barrier for foundation wall One wall of the bathroom is on the poured foundation wall. Do I need a plastic between the cement wall and the insualtion and studs? thanks. mike

ladytexan- "dreamgarden - I don't know from derivatives, etc., but I'm probably with you on that one." Here is the 'story' on derivatives. You can read more about them at my new post titled: "What Is a Banking Meltdown And Why Is it Possible?" I've been following Martin Weiss for quite awhile. A lot of what he has written has come to pass. I've taken some flak here for 'fear mongering' but I don't care, it is MY money to lose. If I hadn't listened to what he said last year when the first sub-prime rumblings began, I would have lost thousands of dollars. One doesn't even have to pay for his investment newsletter. Its free. I have gotten far more value out of it, than any financial planner ever gave me (and charged a pretty penny for). Check out his credentials. He's been around the 'financial block' so to speak. "What are derivatives? Think of them as bets and debts by the super-rich and the world's largest companies. What's the market for derivatives like? Think of it as a giant international casino: * In the main hall, they bet on the interest-rate roulette. * In the side rooms, they bet on foreign-currency blackjack, commodity craps or stock-market poker. * And in virtually every sector, the bets are financed with generous amounts of borrowed money. But unlike ordinary markets that you and I are familiar with, this giant casino is not just about betting on a price that goes up or down. It's about betting on virtually every quirk and intricacy of nearly every investment under the sun. Some of the bets are high risk; some are not. Some are for hedging against losses; some, for outright speculation. But everywhere, the dangers are undeniable: Danger #1 The Sheer Enormity of the Derivatives Market In its latest survey, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) calculates that the total "notional" value of all derivatives outstanding in the world is a mind-boggling $415 trillion. That's over eight times the GDP of the entire world economy … twenty times the total value of all U.S. stocks … and fifty times all the Treasury debts of the United States Government. The fear: That any unexpected disruption in this $415-trillion market could throw the world's financial markets into turmoil … bankrupt hundreds of hedge funds … wipe out the profits of big-name financial institutions … sabotage the investments of pension funds … and scramble the portfolios of millions of average investors. Danger #2 The Unbridled Growth In 1998, the last time the derivatives market nearly blew up, there were "only" $80 trillion in derivatives outstanding worldwide, according to the BIS. That was already huge. But as I explained a moment ago, now the total derivatives outstanding has jumped to $415 trillion, or over FIVE times more! And just from 2005 to 2006, it surged by a whopping 39.5%, about TEN times faster than the growth in the global economy. Danger #3 Enormous Risks If the risks were spread among thousands of institutions, each with plenty of capital to back up its bets, this derivatives balloon might not be such a threat. But the U.S. Government's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reports that, in the United States … Just FIVE banks control 97.1% of the derivatives in the entire U.S. banking system. Worse, among these five banks, none " not ONE âÂ" has the capital to cover its net credit risk, the primary measure the OCC uses to evaluate the risks these banks are taking in their derivatives trading. Links that might be useful: Financial System in Jeopardy (by Martin Weiss) 8/13/2007 www.moneyandmarkets.com/press.asp?rls_id=892&cat_id=6 Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. 05-24-04 www.moneyandmarkets.com/financial-wmd-8784 Distortions, Deceptions and Outright Lies by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. 04-07-08 www.moneyandmarkets.com/issues.aspx? Distortions-Deceptions-and-Outright-Lies-1640