Sorry it took so long to get back here, everyone - I've been so busy and even now I'm tired from planting a new violet I received in the mail! I hope I can bring it back to full health, as it appears they didn't take the best of care of the plants in their greenhouse (leaf spot and very anemic, chlorotic foliage - obviously not the work of a violet specialist!). I'm glad to be able to grow violets on what little window sill space I have, since my other plant passions take up vastly more room and would require that I hold an actual garden here, which I cannot presently afford. Still, there's something exciting about cultivating precious violets just blocks away from the shadow of the U.S. Capitol! Rob, naturally, I'm only too happy to share my ups and downs in growing violets - and even though I'm sorry to hear you have the same virus floating around your stock, I do feel better for being able to commiserate just a bit. I had also wondered about doing heat treatments and meristem culturing on violets, but then that's well beyond my means! If you do have access to a facility, then it would be a great idea to determine if there are other priority cultivars that need a "cleaning". Perhaps some of the Parmas would benefit from this, too, although surely the French have caught on to this by now. I will be sending good vibes your way for your John Raddenburys to produce viable seed (that's a single, right?). At least it seems that violet cultivars travel internationally with relative ease (perhaps because they're so small?) - otherwise it could be like other plants such as roses, where both bureaucracies and nurseries which are unwilling to deal with foreign customers keep varieties regionally locked more often than not. Poor, poor Thierry ;-) Unfortunately I understood Rob perfectly, so it's not just an Australian thing... perhaps something terribly important was lost in the translation?? How would we ever really know if it was? :-) Violetvamp, I'm so glad to hear that your new violets are prospering for you! They'll only get better with time, and your plan to propagate and then sever in order to build the main crown sounds simply excellent to me. Keep us all updated on any exciting developments, please! Stefan

John, I wonder if you were an Italian grandma in a previous life? Many Italians in the North End of Boston where my DH grew up had second kitchens in their homes. They had tiny little sweet Nonnies (grandma) that wore aprons and pinched your cheeks. The 2nd kitchen was so the rest of the home would not overheat with all the cooking. But I believe it was for another reason, let me explain. My husband's Nonnie had a kitchen in the basement. And boy oh boy if you went down their uninvited you would get your ear pulled. It was her private space to roll out pasta, stir heated sauces, canned tomatoes, store her back patio garden grown tomatoes, onions and basil, and that basement was her retreat from the family drama. If someone showed up to dinner unannounced, no worries Nonnie had pasta in the freezer, Risotto ready to go, or a cheese that was for company. She would magically appear laided with food to make them feel welcome. Sometimes Nonnie would spend time with a sister or daughter. They would cook, laugh, cry, delight in each other's company but mostly it was for his Nonnie only. Her 2nd kitchen was her escape from the familial drama and place to enjoy her passion for cooking. Not really the heat. It was more than keeping the heat out of the city brownstone. Sometime if you were lucky Nonnie would invite you to help her but this was rare. My husband only in his 40s still remembers his nonnie rolling out Gnocchis in different containers so each one of his aunts, uncles and adult cousins could take them home. She made special meatballs for this uncle who wanted only pork and this one who wanted raisins in his and this Aunt who wanted small ones. Everyone was spoiled with food. It was her way to express her love to her family. I wish you could build a 2nd kitchen for yourself. One with giant locks, bolts and secret codes that only those truly worthy could enter. They would bring you joy while you cook and not interupt or destroy the magic you need to create amazing dishes. When we do entertain, ( i am not the chef you are) I am one of those people who pre-cooks. I know this is terrible. I make the lasagna hours before so only have to bake it, or have DH grill while my accompanyments are simple. Otherwise the interuptions and chatty kattys drive me batty. Wishing you a good solution to your layout and passion for cooking. ~boxer

Hi Bill - I've started a separate thread for us to chat about autumnal books... I think it could be really fun to chat about these and come up with a bunch of seasonal titles. Thanks for the idea! I've just read "Absolutely Typical: The Best of Social Stereotypes from the Telegraph Magazine" by Victoria Mather and Sue MaCartney-Snape. Nothing too meaningful, but it does what it says on the tin in that it skewers various caricatures of English life... Pretty en pointe if you're familiar with life in England (at least it was for me), and made me squirm as it was dead on sometimes. Thanks to Vee for the reccie! I have the second one to read for a treat later on... The epic reading of the epically long Victorian sensationalist novel, "The Moonstone" by Collins, carries on. I'm just over halfway and I love it when I do read it but it definitely needs some time allocated to get the most out of it. (It's epistolary which is one of my fav book types. Squeee.)

Nope, we were in a coastal town and within a 5 minute drive to the beach. Lots of ocean breeze, but still its hot all year round. Yes, Michigan has humidity and heat too, and yes it can be miserable to be in but it’s not in the 90’s or 100’s year round and we do reap benefits from that humidity like lots of rain (as opposed to droughts). Lawns are lush and healthy, plants and trees alike thrive here. It also never gets so hot that you can fry an egg on the hood of your car. Then there are the thunderstorms. When the humidity peaks, they come in for a quick shower to cool things down. Open the windows and that breeze with it’s smell of the rain is heaven. Say what you will Elmer, but as far as I’m concerned there is really no comparison. I’ll take Michigan’s summer of months of humidity along with it’s snow and ice in the winter over that dry relentless heat any day. I don’t miss it at all. LOL Forgot to add, I’m in one of those suburbs too, about 45 miles north of Detroit. When it comes to snow, it’s the perfect spot because we’re too low for the northern squalls and far enough north to miss the Ohio Valley Blizzards. We usually don’t get more than 6 inches at a time during the season. We live on a hill and the AWD on our SUV’s has no problem driving threw it, but the views are beautiful.