I have a database in the computer with all my perennials/bulbs/shrubs recorded in it. Each winter I make sure that it is fully updated and then in spring I make a hard copy that I usually keep in my vehicle to have with me all summer. In my database I record... name, common (eg. bellflower) name, 'real'...(eg, campanula for the bellflower) sun and/or shade height/width color of flower description of plant location in yard year acquired hybridizer year registered by hybridizer what I paid and if in a trade what it would be worth who I got it from awards it has received bloom time zone requirements parentage dates I took a picture of it date the best picture of it was taken so as to quickly find the picture if someone wants to see a picture of it. size of leaf (for hostas) size of flower (needed for my daylilies) pruning group (for clematis) There are now over 2000 different perennials in our yard. I spend time each morning taking pictures of what is newly blooming in the yard. This is recorded into a binder and then transferred into the computer. In the winter I will take the time to label each of the pictures and transfer one good one of each perennial into my Photobucket album. With hostas I like to take a picture of the individual leaf, its flowers and a clump picture. Each perennial also gets a homemade copper tag made up for it which is placed immediately behind the plant. Since I have traded all across Canada, sell/trade privately in our area and have a table at the local farmer's market with my perennials, it is very important for me to know the name of each perennial and what it should be worth. I could never go by memory with my plants. Hats off to those who can. Brenda

No offense, but FlyLady drives me bonkers. I want to de-clutter my life and the website is so cluttered I cannot stand to look at it! I used Mrs. Meyers Clean Home. I checked it out from the public library and took two weeks to go through it and see what worked for me. I have developed a list from a combo of the lists she provides in the book which really works for me. I have daily, weekly and monthly chores on a list which I print out each week. Each day, I complete the daily chores plus one monthly chore and things are much more manageable. The best thing is you are not overwhelmed because when it is Laundry Day and you are finished the laundry, you can enjoy the time you have and say I will worry about dusting the living room on Living Room Day. Here is a link that might be useful: Mrs Meyers Clean Home Book

Earlier this month my DH went to China for a couple of weeks so we broke down and finally got him a Kindle. Well, it was more like I dragged him kicking and screaming into getting a Kindle. (No, I don't have one but I'd gotten one for my elderly mother and drilled her in how to use it so I knew pretty much all about them.) My husband went from being a reluctant Kindle owner to an avid Kindle owner. He travels a LOT and he was always packing piles of paperbacks in his luggage. Sometimes he'd run out and wind up buying more paperbacks and carting them home. (One reason we quite literally have thousands of them.) He loved just having the Kindle to pack when going to China. He loved that he had 90 books loaded into it. (All but one of them free.) He's in Washington state now and didn't even look at packing paperbacks, just stuck his Kindle in his carryon. As far as the ipad goes, yes it does a lot more than a Kindle does BUT, I wouldn't recommend it for reading for long periods of time. The display screen of a Kindle really does look like a printed page....a printed page taht you can adjust the text size. An ipad or any tablet thing like that will be backlit and while that might make it easier for you to read in a roomw ith no lights, it'll also tire your eyes more....just like reading a computer screen all day.

Cindy, you may be surprised to know that I am not totally au fait with Her Majesty's handbag habits, but I should think the reason why she carries one around with her while 'at home' is probably because her house is so big. Not easy to pop upstairs if she has forgotten her hanky, and she would never wipe her nose on her sleeve like some of her more earthy subjects. Not so long ago while 'doing' the State Opening of Parliament, with all the usual Pomp and Circumstance, the Queen entered the House of Lords, moved up through the Chamber past the ermine clad (and smelling strongly of moth-balls) Peers of the Realm, and took her seat on the throne. She was handed her speech by the Lord Chancellor and felt inside the Handbag for the Royal Spectacles. They were not there. Horror. Her speech had to be read by Prince Philip . . . which he did quite well considering he hadn't practiced. That night the screams coming from the absent-minded Lady-in-Waiting as she hung by her finger nails from a hook in the lowest dungeon in the Tower of London, could be heard throughout the length and breadth of the Kingdom. BTW if any of our American friends would like to join the elite group who sit in the House of Lords just send a well-filled envelope to 10 Downing Street indicating if you want to be a Life Peer, a Knight of the Realm or maybe a Noble Baroness. Do not hand it to the policeman outside or you may go straight to jail without a chance to pass GO.