When I was a teenager, my mother thought chipmunks were cute. My Aunt next door cut down on the amount of cats & Mom was feeding them (the tree rats). The next thing we knew, there were chipmunks EVERYWHERE. Dozens of them, digging up all the bulbs & everything we planted. Emptying all the bird feeders. Running & playing & most of all multiplying. My Uncles were poisoning, trapping & shooting them until they finally got down to a manageable number. In later years, I had a Sheltie who thought it was her job to be on chipmunk patrol & she took it very seriously & kept them away. My Newf isn't that excited over such a small mouthfull but we have an Eskie who likes organic dog toys (mice & such are organic cat toys). Linda

I realize I'm not in NE, but I do have cotoneaster, and a similar climate here in Cleveland. My husband is originally from Boston, so we're all Patriots fans now and he is still a huge Red Sox fan if that helps. I've never seen any berries on my cotoneaster. I agree, mine seem to have come back stronger since I pruned to the ground this year. Mine stay pretty close to the ground, and have small coral flowers. They don't do much in winter and do trap leaves, so I plan to prune after the first leaf fall in Autumn. Then I can clean the bed nicely before the snows hit. I know the bed will look empty around my big Spruce, but who will know under our 6-8 inches of snow from Nov - April? Does anyone know if pruning them way back in the late fall will be a major problem or seriously harm them. I think I pruned them some in the fall before and they're still here. I suppose I can try it anyway, I'm not married to the idea of keeping them so I don't have much to lose.

I am canceling my service with Comcast. I have the $4.99 charge to cover me in case I need to have a service call. Well in April I did have a service call as one of my two phone lines was not working. The technician who came out broke my phone and did not tell me that he broke it. I found that out much later -- it should have been a hint when he did not want me to hold the phone. Then he or Comcast put a $70.00 charge on my account. When I called Comcast, I told them about this, they admitted that it should not have been there and they told me that they would credit my account on the next bill, but that I was expected to pay it and they would issue a credit. I need to check the statutes but I don't think you can collect on disputed charges, especially when you are aware that YOU made the mistake. For the $70.00 that should not have been billed, they interrupted the service. I refuse to pay it and have notified my local jurisdiction and the FCC. If you are looking for a cable or internet or phone provider, don't walk past Comcast, run as fast and as far as you can.

Susanilz5, I could have written your original post! That's exactly how I have been feeling! 10 years ago, I would not even use taupe inside my house because it looked gray! Every light tile I brought home I didn't like because there always seemed to be a gray undertone. I didn't use white fixtures in my bathroom because I thought they looked gray instead of white! I picked out some paint chips today in the gray family, showed them to my sister and she got a funny look on her face and said, "They're too gray! That's not you!" I told her "Gray is the new beige." I actually put a post on the kitchen forum about using a gray/blue/green with my oak cabinets and only got one response--SW's anew gray (which I haven't checked out yet). However, my dilemma would be transitioning from a gray room into my other warm colored rooms and how to make that work. I'm not sure I'm capable, but I think I could get by using it in a bathroom or bedroom because they are destination rooms and not rooms connected to multiple rooms like a kitchen or family room might be. Good luck! I'll be anxious to see your results.