We have a local pediatrician that does di-chro jewelry. He wears pins and stuff everyday at work and has given lots of it to his nurses and receptionists, who also wear it frequently. He gets lots of questions about the jewelry, and people always want to know where he gets it (most of what he wears is very whimsical). Several years ago he began to have an open house at his own home in early December to sell his jewelry (he and his daughter make it all). They invited their co-workers and friends and just served cookies, crackers, cheese, and punch. They told everyone to bring friends. Every year it has grown and last year they probably had a few hundred people go through their doors. I love his stuff and do lots of gift buying there every year, buying about 20 pieces per year. They now have picture frames, serving utensils, sculptures, and lots of jewelry priced mostly from $10-100, but some a little more. People get there early, waiting outside, to get first pick of everything. Most everyone there purchases at least $100 or more. I get compliments on his jewelry all year long and tell people where it comes from and they ask how they can get invited to this "exclusive" party. I just tell them to call his clinic and they will give them the date and time.

I am curious about a skincare line called Paula's Choice. Has anyone heard of them? I learned about them through a website with discussion boards called makeupalley.com and they sound interesting. I purchased samples and am giving them a try. They are much less expensive than what I see at Sephora, Ulta, and the department stores. By the way, there is an interesting encyclopedia rating beauty products on the Paula's Choice website called the beautypedia. It has almost every product line you can think of with ratings. Here is a link that might be useful: Beautypedia Brand Ratings

I suspect squirrels...they are one of the most destructive varmits around. Couple of years ago squirrels chewed threw the soffit on the back side of the house. When we discovered the hole they had made I had it repaired. 2 days later I noticed some debris all over my roof. Couldn't believe what I found. Apparently after we fixed the hole in the soffit, we trapped the squirrels in the attic.. They ended up going up along one of the plastic bathroom vent pipes and literally chewed thier way out thru the vent, roofing plywood and even thru the shingles to get out. Had a roofer come out and replace the shingles and he replaced the plastic vent pipe with a lead one. Then only to find out 3 or 4 days later squirrels chewed their way back in literally chewing thier way thru the lead vent.. It was about this time I was having my heat pumps replaced when my hvac man saw what the squirrels had done. He couldn't believe it, calling them bionic squirrels.. anyway he made a new "bathroom vent" out of copper.. Squirrels tried to chew thier way back in ( you could see where they had gnawed on it on top ) but finally gave up and went elswhere. Squirrels and woodpeckers can be very destructive. Roland

I don't think the salty water will be good for the plants buti could be wrong.....