I have had soil mealies, and they are very hard to get rid of. Below are two photos of them on a Thanksgiving cactus I had. One is the mealies in the drip tray, one is the mealies in the soil. Mine look smaller than what you have in your photo, as far as I can tell. What I do for them is this. If the plant can be propagated from a cutting, I do that. It has to be a part of the plant that didn't touch the soil. Then I toss the soil and roots out. The pot I wash in lysol and let dry. I have tossed out macrame plant hangers that I made just to be sure. If it is a plant that goes dormant, I let it go dormant, remove every bit of the soil and toss it, wash the pot and the bulb, corm, root or whatever, and then store it in a bag until just before it is time to replant. The mealies can't survive a winter in the dry air. This has worked for calla lilies, and Hippiastrums. Fortunately these groups are most of the plants that I have. If it can't be propagated, I toss the plant and the soil and replace it. Or I put it outside in the 20 below zero weather, and then toss it. If it is an irreplaceable plant, you could try a systemic, but it isn't all that effective. Some people have had good luck with treating the soil with a good long soak in hot water, but that hasn't worked for me. The mealies make a sort of hydrophobic area that they hang out in, and then go right back to root munching. You can see the hydrophobic layer in the photo to the right of the red circles around the mealies. The ladies on the African violet form suggest marathon mixed in with the soil. I don't use a lot of chemicals. I took cuttings of this cactus, so I still have it.

"Dragonflykiller is obviously a crackpot. I will not be cutting down the tree." Lol!! An extremely outdated thread but I couldn't resist commenting on the OP's last thoughts 13 years ago. The though of a greengage plum knocking a cat unconscious I find very amusing :-) Just how flipping big are these plums?? Now if we were talking about monkey puzzle cones, an argument could be made for an injury from falling objects! But a plum?? Seriously??

What's she waiting for anyway? In my family and with most other families that I know the place, time, and menu for a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner is planned weeks ahead. That is so that everyone is notified/invited and all cooks know what the game plan is and what they are to provide. Also, so the hosts can set their tables for the number coming or get in extra chairs, ice, china, etc. This meal requires a little more than just throwing some extra burgers or hot dogs on the grill like you would for a casual outdoor cookout in the summer. Even if you don't do "formal" dinners, you still need to be able to plan this meal so you are not rushed and harried. Is she subtly playing a control card with this?

Someone asked if people still embroider. Yes, we do, but it is one of those fine slow skill things that most people don't teach to kids and kids don't want to learn. I was taught as a child by my mother who was taught by her great grandmother. It is something that takes time, and artistry to do well, and sadly, most do not know what is done well so a machine can do simple stitches and patterns easily enough. Anything more on sheets, is a big luxury. In our disposable society, the time to do even simple hand edging on sheets or pillowcases, or a full design on cases is simply not what anyone wants to invest in. Truly good sheets and cases are very expensive and putting that together with the skill required to do the embroidery and the time to do it, is cost prohibitive and not what most people want. Embroidery is a labor of love these days, and ends up being framed if it is done really well. I have done pillowcases that took dozens of hours to complete, but they were for gifts to those that really knew what they were seeing. It isn't easy to put a price on something that takes so much time to create. Practically speaking, hand embroidery is also not something that stands up well to modern washing machines, dryers and detergents. When sheets were washed by hand or were much more substantial an investment and they were treated delicately, it was more achievable to keep embroidered linens. If you really want this kind of thing, look at estate sales and garage sales, but know that the sizing will probably not fit a modern bed. I buy embroidered linen pieces at garage sales for a quarter because I cannot stand to see such love, effort and skill, sent to a dump, or unappreciated. For me, it is heartbreaking to see pieces that took months of work, sitting in a pile on a card table, heaped in with machine made dollar store items. Hardly anyone knows the difference or cares. Sorry! Rant over. :)