I apologizes if I have been a little rude, may be, I should have written "I have to dissent" Instead of " I must", but the fact is, that I know badly one language, my own (Italian) and I know a few words of another one (English) besides I forgot to say that, when I read The da Vinci Code, I, like Cindy, enjoied it , but it was clear to me that....ok Cindy has already said the same thing I want to say it was a page turner for me. I think it was towards the end when things got too convuluted that I screamed 'enough'. I was surprised that it took such a hold. And very surprised how many people read this as non fiction. Anyway I want also back Woodnynph2 advice about Tim Parks, he is a really good judge of Italian behaviour, I've only read his non fiction books, because his novels are a little too intelectual for my poor education grelobe p.s. of course one Brown's book...is enough Here is a link that might be useful: Tim Parks non fiction books and other

Straw, you are spot on in identifying the veges. We generally do add potatoes also to the mix as they bake very well. Yogurt goes well with beef. It ensures better marination of the spices and almost dries up during baking but in the process, keeps the beef tender and gives it a nice flavour. However, few people may not like it with the veges though. Olive oil also assists in saving the meat and veges from drying / burning and give a very nice flavour to veges. Shirmp marination in our recipes usually doesn't contain yogurt though there is no harm in using. However, mostly lemon juice or vinegar go well with shrimps. We usually prefer a perforated baking dish which allows excess water to drain down. But then one has to keep another tray at the lower level inside the oven as water will keep dripping down from the perforated tray and make the oven dirty.

Jess: Really like the links you gave on making baby-powder recipe. THANK YOU. I have Calendula flowers in my garden (it's a perennial): "1/2 cup arrowroot powder & 1 tsp chamomile or calendula flowers, powdered in the blender or food processor or a few drops of chamomile essential oil." Chronic sinus can also be from allergies to cat-dander. When I first met my husband, he had 4 cats, I constantly sneezed from the cat's hair. He gave away 3, and kept only one cat. I washed his cat weekly, to decrease the dander, so I won't sneeze so much. Now we have zero cat, bad-allergy. However, probiotics like L. Rhamnosus GG (in Culturelle and Solgar Advanced Multi-billion Dophilus) ... that strain of bacteria is proven to slash pneumonia in half, so it helps with membrane in sinus & lung. I gave my 13-year-old daughter Culturelle, Hyperbotics, Solgar, plus Kefir for that past 5 days. I meant to decrease her oily secretions so she has less facial pimples .. and that ended up lessened underarm odor. She's allergic to chemical deodorant, so she uses Milk-of-Magnesia ... magnesium hydroxide has a drying effect, but doesn't last long. Last night I sniffed her shirt before putting in laundry... Wow !! Barely noticable odor, same with my clothes, I can easily wear the same clothes & undies twice, since the probiotics suppress the bad-odor-causing bacteria. That's the logic for daily consumption of Kefir and pickled veggies: less body odor. There's studies that show babies born through C-section has more allergies than babies born through birth-canal. Below excerpt is written by a microbiologist: "For example, during pregnancy, the composition of bacteria in a woman’s vagina changes so that there is a higher concentration of Lactobacillus, a kind of bacteria that aids in the digestion of milk. While he or she might eventually get colonized, a baby born by cesarean section will miss out on immediately acquiring these beneficial bacteria. Dutch researchers recently published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing that infants with colic have more bacteria that are known to produce gas, whereas anti-inflammatory bacteria that live in the vaginal canal are more common in colic-free infants. Health problems that are more common in children born by C-section, such as obesity, asthma, allergies, type 1 diabetes, food allergies, eczema, and celiac disease. While there is still much we don’t know, alterations to the gut microbiome might connect these conditions to what some have dubbed the "cesarean epidemic" in our country and around the globe." http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/06/02/babies-born-by-cesarean-section-may-not-gain-benefits-of-vaginal-microbiome.html

Straw wrote: "Khalid: the advantage of rocks or pebbles is SLOW-RELEASE, so it's safer. If I don't like red-lava-rock leaving red iron-stains on the leaves, I just take them off... but I can't undo the damage of gypsum that drop the pH level with its 17% sulfur, or lime that shoot up the pH too fast. Taking off rocks or pebbles takes 1 min, compare that to hours scraping off cow manure .. the damage was done too fast & could not reverse that cow-manure-disaster. The advantage of pebbles/gravel is it's naturally released whenever acidic rain hits it ... so the release is controlled gently by Nature, rather than us foolishly dumping all at once. I take magnesium oxide daily with lemon juice, only 1/2 teaspoon is enough to have a MAJOR laxative effect in human. One Amazon customer complained of explosive diarrhea since he took 1 teaspoon. Rose is smaller than a human, so 1/4 teaspoon, or just a touch is enough to UP the pH-level ... it's very alkaline. Calcium is just the opposite: it's constipating, tense up muscle & contract heart ... versus magnesium is laxative, relaxes muscle, used as IV to treat heart diseases. Taste-wise, Magnesium oxide have zero salt, versus salty & bitter Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). When I gave Angel Face rose too much gypsum (calcium sulfate), its leaves crinkled & curled up .. plus it lost the scent. Same with Bayes Blueberry: the foliage became ugly & dull. Too much calcium tense up and contract muscle in humans, which explains why leaves tense up .. and pucker up instead of flat & relaxed like normal leaves. OLDER leaves crinkled & curled up is typical of magnesium deficiency. YOUNGER leaves crinkled & curled up with yellow blotches is boron deficiency. Both are induced by too much calcium. Too much calcium also drives down potassium, resulting in less blooms & faded color. Calcium can be from gypsum (calcium sulfate), or lime (calcium carbonate), or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) which is added by municipals to treat tap-water .. this form of calcium shoots up the pH of tap water, causing magnesium and boron deficiency. Too much calcium drives down potassium, thus roses become stingy with tap-water high in hydrated lime. Too much calcium also cause balling of blooms: petals bunch-up, rather than relax and open-up. Below is a picture of boron deficiency, manifested as crinkled & curl-up YOUNGEST leaves, too much calcium induces boron deficiency." God bless you Straw....you are a gem. So....... I don't have to go to a chemical store to buy MgO2. I can buy it from a pharmacy I guess but they are selling it in the form of capsules mostly and that is expensive to as it comes with a brand name. But I will get it today because day after tomorrow morning I will be leaving Islamabad for 22 days. So I must do it before I leave. BTW, also need to keep some Monopotassium Phosphate in my stock. Just in case I see a potassium deficiency in any rose (which I don't expect anytime soon). Thanks a ton Straw.