wow! that is severe pruning even more than the Serena way...it's like one/third of its original size, hee-hee! Something which I have done before...but man, I never thought you'd prune it down that much! I thought I was the only one doing that major of a lopping off... But it does like very aerated and well spaced and since your Platinum is growing so vigorously I am sure it will still end up being quite the giant...especially with all the goodies that you keep feeding your roses with. My roses are bushy monsters right now so you would definitely be hacking them down, but I just let them overgrow themselves and only hack the top parts off... I figure 1st year roses I'll just let them become one massive forest...They're so dense right now, I'd have no idea where to begin! boy, I'm such a chicken-lazy one... I hate to lose that wonderful bushiness and have let my roses become fat, wide and massive...

I have seen clocks similar to yours listed from $200 to $800 and beyond depending on quality, rarity, condition, or uniquiness. Your clock appears to be in very good condition and runs placing it above the $200 mark. The older collectibles of course, carries a higher price than later models. Keep researching your clock. It may turn out to be a very nice piece. Open the clock and look carefully for any sign of a date. Is there a serial number on the clock works? If so, this can be used to date the mechanism. Is there any kind of serial number inside the clock case? Is there a label or repairman's note pasted iside (with a date). Very often, clock faces were made by job shops (supplers) to a clock maker. Your clock face has roman numerals all pointing toward the center of the face, thus the numeral, VI, is upside down. This places the face before a transition date. At some point in history, clock makers began turing over the bottom half of the roman numerals so that numerals from 4 through 8 or 9 were right side up. Do some searching for this date as it may provide a clue to age. However, modern pieces can have a face emulating an old style numeral orientation.

Awwww. I loved the Golden Girls. Rue (Blanche) was such a tramp and so hilarious. That show was right on the edge....and way back then. What a shame. I haven't heard anything. Was she ill?

I bought this book because I've read and liked several of Mantel's other novels, as well as her memoir, Giving Up the Ghost. I haven't read Beyond Black yet, though. I don't why this time Mantel's effort was overlooked by the Booker people. I think she's had books on the Booker longlists in various years, and I thought she had been shortlisted, but apparently not (I looked it up) -- I must have been thinking of some other prize. Some of Mantel's early work reminds me strongly of Muriel Spark's writing, particularly An Experiment in Love seems very similar to The Girls of Slender Means. Then Mantel wrote the gargantuan historical novel A Place of Greater Safety about the French Revolution and The Giant, O'Brien, another historical. She has developed greater scope really than I thought she ever would. Be sure to let us know what you think of Beyond Black when you finish. I don't know when I'll get around to reading it, but I'm sure I will.