Henry, your statement "Is the pruning and cutting shears warning relevant to PNRSV in roses?" Response -- found in this paper: http://pub.jki.bund.de/index.php/JKA/article/download/605/1515 Pertinent statements from above paper quoted below: "PNRSV and ApMV transmission by seed, pollen, on cutting implements and by root grafting from infected plants to healthy plants has been reported and the results showed that root grafting is involved in the natural spread of the virus in roses (Golino et al., 2005)." Note "...and the results showed that root grafting is involved in the natural spread of the virus in roses." This means that claims of transmission via "cutting implements" were dismissed because of root grafting. Root grafting would require that roses are planted very close together, and results in contact more intimate than occurs via pruning equipment. Also: "Because the only proven means of transmission of RMD in roses is through vegetative propagation of infected buds, scion or root stocks, the use of clean and virus-tested production material is essential to improve productivity in gardens." When you pull up references that say what you want to say and post them in isolation, you are neglecting to acknowledge that those statements were later further evaluated and discounted. The paper I cited is from 2010. Any rebuttal of the above must therefore be more recent to be taken seriously. :-/ ~Christopher

I remember when the afro was popular and I asked my Mom if I could have one and she said no. I was in the 7th grade and thought how mean. Well when I was a freshman(14) in high school, I asked again and she told me that I could do it IF I was responsible about it and kept it neat and always looked presentable. I remember it as one of my first big decisions and I was so proud of the fact that she had enough faith in me that I would do the right thing and I did. Fast forward a gazillion years later and my D son asked if he could grow his hair out so that he could wear it braided. At the time he was 14 and I remembered the encounters with my Mom and I said the same thing to him. My hubby immediately said no and we had a family meeting and we made it clear that if he didn't take care of his hair AND save up the money to pay for getting it braided himself, then it would be cut off. Well my son is now almost 22 with hair below his shoulders and he is very responsible about taking care of his hair. Actually he is almost obsessed about it :-) That was one of the first real mature decisions for him, just like it was for me. I think depending on the maturity level of the kid, 14 is not too young to start experimenting with hair. As long as it is made clear to the kid what the potential ramifications are, then I think it is fine. I think we as adults have to remember what it is like to be that age and struggle with individuality vs what's popular and how hard it can be for teenagers. It is just hair and it will grow back. I have had every imaginable hairstyle under the sun,afro, long, short, asymmetrical, mullet and braids. Each style represented me during a particular period and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to do different things. We have to support, be honest but let them discover who they are. Oh yeah one other thing, as soon as my son started growing facial hair, he loved it and I hated it. He would let it grow long and I would beg for him to please shave and my hubby gently reminded ME about letting him express his individuality :-) To me he looked like Grizzly Adams but to my son it made him look older. Ughh.... So the running joke between us was that I would call him Grizzly but if he wanted to look like a mountaim man, that was his choice. Again fast forward a few years and he has a very nice goatee that is now well manicured and he looks great. I remembered my own experience and let him be and he eventually grew out of the Grizzly Adams look. Thank goodness!

PFD=prepared for dyeing..... very interesting....I new fabric for me to look at:) If you roll your fabric on tubes and but them in a plastic sleeve or bag you can even hide them under your dresser if you have legs & behind your sofa (that's a really good place) & right inside the corner of the closet. The fabric stays nice on rolls - do I need to tell you all my secrets?????

Well, I cooked 1/4 of the steak for dinner tonight. I took note of everyone’s suggestions. Unfortunately, I had an ant attack in the kitchen late in the afternoon. Once I got that taken care of, I wasn’t in much of a mood to do anything particularly creative. I ended up cutting the portion into thick strips. Patted them dry with paper towels and seared them in a hot pan. Added a sprinkling or salt, and that was dinner. Actually, it was very good. I enjoyed the meat. A bit chewy but very flavorful. I’ve still got 3 portions left, so possibly tomorrow evening I can be a bit more inventive. Thanks for the good suggestions.