Thank you all for your postings. I didn't respond all these days because I found it difficult to visit this thread. I still do. Wow! All these friends bothered to respond and many went into the trouble to go searching for a suitable rose. Thank you all for that and for your kind words. I like to think Boubis had a good life. His end was so difficult, for me also, and that's one thing that makes me sadder. I'm consoled by the fact that I have his son Aris and his son's mother Irma living with me. But any dog, just like any human, is irreplaceable and Boubis was so special. Goldens are special, I have lost three already including him, but he was kind of special special to me. He was a most sensitive and attached pet although he did act like a moaning minnie sometimes, but then so do I. I thought about adopting a shelter dog even before the idea was mentioned in this thread but for the time being I'm not getting another dog. Yes, we certainly have a stray problem over here. Golden Celebration, R. canina now why didn't I think of those? I do own a GC and I should certainly have R. caninas as rootstock. Faithful Friend and 'golden' now this seems like purpose made doesn't it? I'll take my time and I'll let you know what I'll do. Again, thank you all for your support, it was something that helped me a lot. What I'll do is I'll go to my files and find a couple more pictures of him and I'll post them here along with pics of Aris and Irma. I hope you won't mind. Thanks, Nik

Wow, Candy ... do you make those in 'life size!' I'd love to be a doll & relax on that! ~~giggle What a wonderful gift for your friend ...your creative genes flowing ...& teaching her to sew & saw ... or is that 'seesaw?' Beautiful colors, ingenious idea & your friend's gr'd should be ecstatic when she sees this! TFS! Jeanne S.

I prepare food for my parents that is easy to reheat and easy to eat also. Does she have any swallowing issues? Sometimes that can linger for a while after a stroke and softer foods are safer as well as easy for her to work with. I think Gardenlad has expressed some good ideas in a nice way about her being as independent as she is capable of. I do make a lot of chicken and package it up in slices or small pieces for them in a sauce. My Dad's arthritis makes it hard for him to cut the meat and my Mom has trouble with a knife too. So, I try to make it fork or spoon friendly, like your friend requires. Here are some other favorites of ours. I have a ton of ground meat recipes - its easy for them and we like it too. Various meatloaves by the dozen, LOL, Ginger's Porcupine Meatballs, meatloaf patties, meatloaf muffins, Ann T's Salisbury Steak, Greek Meatballs, Chili, Gaucho pie. I make pork tenderloin in several different ways, she can cut it with a fork or you could cut it into small pieces. Keilbasi pieces with sauerkraut and potatoes all cooked together. Sausage Marzetti is a big favorite - pork sausage meat with noodles. Octoberfest stirfry - sausage slices and chopped cabbage cooked in beer and beef broth. TUSCAN CHICKEN (cut the chicken into smaller pieces) Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 6 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons butter 2 shallots, chopped 6 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup dry white wine 2 cups beef broth (yes, beef broth) Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, half the chicken pieces, and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove from pan. Add remaining oil, another single turn of the pan, remaining chicken pieces and garlic. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove. Add vinegar to the pan. Let it cook off. Add butter, shallots, and rosemary to the pan and cook 2 minutes, add flour and cook 1 minute more. Whisk in wine, reduce 1 minute. Whisk in broth and bring liquids up to a bubble. Return chicken to the pan and simmer over moderate heat 7 to 8 minutes to finish cooking chicken through. There are innumerable chicken recipes - as long as it has something to keep it moist, chicken can be cut into small pieces and I think would be perfect. There are also tons of pasta dishes - I would stay away from long spaghetti type pastas but use farfalle or something easy to stab with a fork. Thick soups are easy to eat - pea soup, lentil soup, and if she's pretty adept with her left hand, other thin soups would be okay too, I suppose. I hate to bombard you with tons of recipes that you wouldn't want, so if you would like some recipes, please let me know and I'll be happy to post them for you. I wish your friend all the best, she has been through so much, how wonderful that she can still keep a smile on her face.

This has always been a political analogy. There is no friend with a credit card. And yes, welcome to the US. Where some people care more about who wins the next election than the well-being of the entire country. Where many, many people vote not on the issues but because of their hatred of certain parties. Where our elected officials fight like stubborn pre-schoolers while we're left helpless with nothing to do but watch. It's just way too over simplistic to just say "well stop spending" because that doesn't solve the problem right now, which is that in exactly 2 days we could have a crisis. People who depend on social security checks might not get them. Loss of our credit rating means car loans, mortgages, all interest rates will shoot up. Our dollar will fall even lower than it is now. All the people who depend on social security, that they paid into, will risk defaulting on their own mortgages and bills because they don't get their check on time. This painful recession will be nothing compared to what will happen if the US can't pay it's bills and loses it's top credit rating. Anyone who relies on social security, on medicare, on medicaid, on disability, on military pensions, on any kind of government assistance will not be able to rely on that income anymore. Everyone is saying "Don't spend more!" but where do you think these checks come from? And trust me, social security will NOT be the first thing the US pays if it has to pick and choose bills. Figuring out the debt, raising taxes, cutting spending...that's all fine and well but those things take time. We don't have time. I hope everyone who relies on this money has a back up plan.