"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 An extremely outdated thread but I couldn't resist commenting on the OP's last thoughts 13 years ago.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??

Aren't they pretty? I believe that they are the nymphs of a truebug common to Rose of Sharon and family, Niesthrea louisianica. They eat the seeds, primarily, and are not considered much of a pest.

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. :)

Mom would buy gifts all year on sale and stash them in her closet. Often she'd forget what all she bought, and hubby would end up with 9 golf shirts! He loves golf shirts, and she could shop for him easily. Socks, t-shirts, she kept us well supplied. She used the biggest gift bags she could find, and cram them full. I miss her. The step-family gets together, and I've never once been invited (that's okay though!) since she died. I don't get it, but that's the way it is. We avoid malls at any time, and especially at this time of year. Even Costco, I need to buy some things, but that can wait until after Christmas. I dislike shopping, period. We're both enjoying Christmas music this year, which is very unlike us. :-)