FW, how was your weigh in? Don't beat yourself up - just kick the dust off your feet and keep going forward! Wasn't it one of you ladies who recommended the little oreo crisps in the 100 calorie packages? Well I tried them and they're good! I also picked up a couple of boxes of the WW snack bars in two different chocolate flavors and was surprised at how good they are - the peanut caramel snack bars are 2 points and definitely just like a candy bar. Except they cost more. :( LL, Have really only been in Ojai when my son was there playing basketball a few times and we had time to kill in between games - very touristy. The Ojai Valley Inn and Spa is supposed to be great if you and some girlfriends ever want to get away for some quality spa time... some frineds of mine have been there and they love it. You can do an actual spa program for a week, or just go for a day or a weekend of pampering. Maybe you can switch over to the flex plan for one week! Is that allowed? I love teas, if they come with a glass of champagne and those cute little finger sandwiches. Will you be wearing a hat? FW what do you do for work? I actually eat more at work because I'm sitting at my desk with the opportunity to snack all the time. And I always kept snacks since I'm so afraid I might get hungry, and then, gasp, starve! So this past week and 1 day I've been rediscovering what hungry feels like and I've been amazed to find it hasn't killed me yet! Have a great day ladies, and thanks for sharing!

I personally only use pots for things that don't overwinter well outside. Like Mariesii Variegata. Made the mistake of planting and re-siting it four different times, and the darn thing got completely killed by the 27.7 freeze. I have it out of the ground bare-rooted hoping it shoots something out, otherwise it's getting composted. Of your three there, I'd keep Paris in a pot. They don't get very big anyway, so most Citylines can live in 5-10 gallons and never have to leave. Any white macs are better in pots. Outdoors they're completely inferior to the arborescens varieties. Do whatever suits you though! I like to stick pots anywhere where there's bare soil or mulch to brighten up an area. Some photos I posted here last year highlighted this!

Late December of 2017 through early January of 2018 saw record cold in Maine and other parts of the Norteast. The nearest National Weather Service station is about 5 miles away and their records are as follows: 12-25 +3, 12-26 0, 12-27 -9, 12-28 -4, 12-29 -16, 12-30 -16, 12-31 -13, 1-1 -18, 1-2 -11, 1-3 -8, 1-4 +1, 1-5 0. With temperatures like these lasting for an extended period, I anticipated heavy losses, especially among the species. I was happily mistaken. Among the big leaf species, fictolacteum was the most severely damaged but is currently putting out new growth. Sutchuense and calophytum - both between 3 and 4 feet tall - were not at all damaged. Neither was asterochnum although this smaller plant was beneath a good depth of snow. All of these were protected with teepee style frameworks covered with landscape fabric. This is necessary even in mild winters to protect the large leaves from wind damage. Snow depth during this period was 10 to 12 inches, so the above the snow line growth was fully exposed to the cold. Other species, some with wind barriers and some without, that came through the winter with no or minimal damage included insigne, bathyphyllum, pseudochrysanthum, adenopodum, adenogynum, roxieanum v. orenestes, balfourianum, paradoxum, taliense, russatum, wasonii, souliei I don't really have any ready explanation for how species rated as hardy to 0 or -10 withstood prolonged temperatures far below that range. Certainly the snow cover, even though it was not deep enough to cover all the foliage of most of them, was a factor. The fact that this cold arrived relatively late after plants were fully dormant is another factor. Last summer was extremely dry and October was exceptionally warm. This meant that watering and natural rainfall continued later than usual. The hardiness ratings may be overly conservative although it's never wise to generalize after a single experience. There were fatalities: thayerianum, pseudotrichum and fortunei (which has never done well for me). Hybrids mirrored my experience with the species. The ultra hardy David Leach ones did fine as expected. Others, like several of the Hachmann hybrids, were fully exposed to the cold but suffered very little damage and bloomed well. Low growing hybrids, many of them originating in the UK or on West coast, were fine beneath the snow.

I think you can get other seasons on various streaming services that I don't have. But Netflix will have a couple of seasons at any time, which is enough for me. About Pearl Islands, Sandra got a lot of haters later on (she won twice) but she's a darned good player. And Pearl Islands had the BEST challenges, the pirate-themed ones, like firing muskets and making the loved one walk the plank. That's an outstanding season. And yes, Rupert!