never toss out metal poles or flat panels...you can make a lot of things with them...arbors, trellis. But check to see if you can get a replacement top...cheaper than the whole thing. Maybe you can upgrade to material. Check with a local tent maker or canvas dealer...if it goes back up and is straight enough to reuse it will be really worth it. I lost 2-3 umbrellas to this CA wind. It just makes you sick in the pit of your belly.

What style is your house, and what direction is your hedge? The old fashioned 'Annabelle' hydrangea is very hardy, the blooms turn from green to white to brown. 'Pee Wee' oakleaf hydrangeas have four seasons of interest, with their peely bark, but require a little more water. Clethra alnifolia 'Hummingbird' is a great plant, and has a pretty fragrance when in bloom. But these all have white blooms. For really long bloom time, and COLOR, nothing beats the Knockout roses, they're also tolerate some shade. I have the single pink ones in a west-facing bed, which gets full sun until the afternoon when they're shaded by the house, and then they get the setting sun.

That was an interesting link, taddy. Thanks! The recycling in my area has never requested that we separate glass. Steve, when you mentioned the "neck/no-neck" thing, it reminded me of how amazed I was when my mom told me that her recycling program would only take wide-mouth glass jars - or was it that they would NOT take wide-mouth glass jars? But either way, I couldn't believe that they would distinguish between these. Maybe I'm naive and don't know enough about the process, but it seems to me that a jar is a jar! Oh well, the good news is that now her program takes all jars. In looking through that link, I was intrigued by how many different things could "contaminate" the process. I was never aware of that. Now I wonder that programs never asked us to remove labels from cans and especially jars. We have a local "garbage museum" that my kids have visited several times on school trips. Maybe I should make a visit and learn more about the process! :) Dee

Happy SuperBowl Sunday!!!! Big day here in New England!!!!! I am making ribs and chicken wings. I'm just hoping if the game gets too intense DH doesn't have a stroke!!! Last game he watched clutching his chest. LOL Marci, you are so cute. I love the bunny bunny!! ((((Patti and Dave)))), I am so sorry that you got turned down again. I don't know of anyone so deserving as the both of you. I admire your willingness to keep at it and I think your attitude is awesome! Please don't stay away so long! Amy, you too are a professional artist, so please be nice to yourself. All artists have a different interpertation of things and you submitted yours. If someone feels they need to be critical of your work, then maybe they need to take a step back and look at their own. I think you are brave to put yourself out there and you should be proud of that. Please let us know how it goes. NHSuzie, congratulations on the cover!! Way to go. Bummer about the trips. Doesn't it figure? Is there anyway a date for either trip can be changed? I saw the previews for the Oprah show but did not get to watch it. Was it about how being overweight destroys your organs? I wish I had seen it. My mom was here for the weekend. Yesterday we went to see "Somethings Got To Give". I loved it and will rent it again when it is out on DVD. Really cute and Diane Keaton looks great. A real natural, you can tell that she has had no plastic surgery or cosmetic procedures and I admire that. Marci, sometimes those book fairs are so over priced anyway you probably would do better getting those books from Amazon or you must get a teachers discount from Borders and Barnes and Noble. BJ, did you buy Hanging on to Max for your daughter? MIL is home from the hospital and doing much better. It will be a slow recovery and I hope she can stay down long enough. She is a real cleaning freak. DH was slow at work last week so he thought it would be a good time to trim out the new windows and paint the living room. Now I am not complaining that he wanted to do it but I came home from work on Friday and the entire living room was in the dining room. Yikes. The LR is now painted so I must put it back together. I was planning on doing this major cleaning job the week of February school vacation, but I don't think I can wait another 2 weeks. Now he starts a big job tomorrow and won't be available to finish what he started. Ugh! Enjoy the day. GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Besh