I'm a bit of a gambler with my bulbs. I had a nice tulip bed, but decided to do something else there. While they were blooming, I used plastic knives that I stuck in the soil with the color (I always forget names). Then I started working the new bed. I dug and dug and let it rest. Then a couple of weeks later, I dug some more. After a total of six weeks of mess, I recently replanted the bulbs. I used some bonemeal and worked in lots of organic matter. I covered and mulched. I could not imagine any difference between saving the bulbs for autumn and planting them in deep good soil. I have confidence that it will work. If it doesn't, then my friendly garden store will welcome my money next year. Jim

Some of the things are improving a little now that I have been away from the home for a while. It is amazing how much "family stress" can aggrivate conditions. They are still there but some of the stress factors are gone. Arbitration (binding) was yest morning. Now I just have to wait to see what division decisions he makes. Hate knowing I will leave behind the plants that gave me all that harvest since they haven't been cared for and I have been told some were mowed over so they probably won't survive. Ah but I shall do as I did for it....plant what people give me and manage it organically. It will take a long time before the clay soil provides as did the sandy loam I fortified with the compost down here. Putting down new beds in clay soil or for that fact even trying to break clay soil to drop in a seed will be so different from before. But for bird feeding I can plant sunflowers and that will save on bird seed money. Then just rotate what I plant each year until I can no longer get outside. I still will utilize body saving practices as: pipe for planting sticks (pruned or windfall limbs) as walking sticks buckets to sit on crawling (dragging along the walking stick for getting up) making sure plants are zone hardy make sure plants are soil & companion amlicable rely on birds for bug patrol I will (hopefully) have more space in which to garden now but recognize the percentage of land available & garden size I make it has to conform to my ability to handle the clay. Much more back breaking than what I started with before.

lenam - I saw leg warmers in stores this last fall. I just about fainted. I had them in about a dozen colors, including the rainbow stripes, back in the 80s... they were about the only thing that got me to school wearing a skirt during the winter, since I lived in Maine and NH and from fourth grade on walked a minimum of a mile each way (high school was two miles), short of wearing sweatpants under your skirt like a lot of girls did. harriethomeowner - hey, I wore knee-highs under MY wedding dress! Durn thing was practically body armor (the bodice literally stood up by itself and the floor-length skirt and petticoat made something like six layers of fabric) and was hotter than Hades even in October. (It was borrowed, and beggars can't be choosers. The original owner wore it in July - I think I would have died of heat prostration!) I figured I wasn't going to be doing the can-can, so what the heck, I wasn't going to roast in full pantyhose. Not to mention it was tough enough to go to the bathroom in that pile of meringue, but wriggling back into pantyhose while keeping a handmade silk gown out of the toilet? Not gonna happen. Thigh-highs are a NO WAY for me - since I'm plump I get the "burst sausage" effect at the top, way nasty. So knee-highs it was. Didn't wear a bra either - didn't need it with that bodice! My grandmother was horrified. "Almost every single dress for a woman is some sleeveless or strappy or bare thing." Sorry, but I say "Piffle" on that. I don't wear sleeveless/strappy/bare things to "nice" occasions for the most part because some people find my tattoos offensive, but I have several dresses in my closet with sleeves ranging from mid-bicep to wrist-length, not counting dressy blouse-and-skirt or sweater-and-skirt - including short-sleeved lightweight sweaters for summer - combinations, jacket dresses, and a skirted suit that I basically only wear to funerals. :-) (I'd probably have more if I had reason to wear them, if we go shopping DH loves to go all Carson Kressly on me and always tries to put me in dresses.) Coldwater Creek is usually my go-to place for dressy stuff - while they have sleeveless dresses, they also typically have plenty with sleeves. I absolutely covet this dress, but I can't afford it, I'm not sure the 16 would fit, and have nowhere to wear it anyway. Last time I had to shop for a dress for a wedding (last summer) I ended up at Fashion Bug which is where I usually go for things I'm not going to wear much because it's generally very inexpensive, where there were plenty of dresses with sleeves - short sleeves (mid-bicep), yes, but it was also August. Since the wedding was outdoors and expected to go well into the evening, I picked up an openwork lacy sweater to wear with it when it got chilly and the bugs came out. Goes great over a fancy tank top and skirt. The Chadwicks catalog has cute things that don't cost the earth, while if you have a lot more to spend Talbots has some special occasion dresses that are pretty drop-dead. IMO jacket dresses are very attractive if they fit well and are in a nice fabric, and there are usually very pretty ones out there. Penneys has a pretty good selection. That's just scratching the surface.

For your shoes I would suggest getting something with a kitten heel instead of flats. Kitten heels are only 1 or 1 1/2 inches and have a scuptured elegant look to the heel. They should be fairly comfortable for all evening wear, no worse than wearing 1 1/2 wide heeled shoes. Flats do not give a woman a graceful walk but more of a 'waddle'. Wearing flats to a formal event may make one feel "dumpy" while walking. Go with a more pointed toe for a dressier looking shoe, rather than a rounded bump toe shoe which looks more casual. Nice black 1" kitten heel pumps in black velvet: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/6972303.html I Googled *kitten heels* and found tons of nice styles with 1 or 1 1/4 inch heels in all prices ranges: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009K8ACQ/nextag-apparel0c-20/ref=nosim Since your skirt is going to be french blue satin, you can get satin shoes dyed to match at any bridal shop. They will have a selection of both heels, flats and kitten heels to chose from. Avoid getting the Mary Jane style flats or heels, as the look is too 'adolescent'. A matte finish top and a shiney skirt is going to attract attention to your hips and not every woman can look good in a shiney skirt, expecially if the skirt is a lighter color than the top. Go with and all over color if you can. One color from head to toe will make you look taller and leaner. What was wrong with the light colored top that is shown with the light colored skirt? It looks like it matches perfectly. If you need long sleeves maybe a black taffeta bolero jacket that exposes most of the embroidered top and covers the arms? Don't forget to pay atttention to your hosiery. Around the holidays you can find nude hose with a shimmer sheer look. Small details like this will look more elegant. Don't wear black hose with a long skirt. Black hose should only be worn with short skirts. And do not wear closed toe hosiery with open toe sandels. Get the open toe hosiery. As far as make-up if you do chose to go to have it done at a salon counter have it done once before hand to make sure you and the cosmetologist are on the same wavelength or at least talk to them ahead of time so that you both know what look you want. If you are going to get your hair done at a salon for the event, have the stylist put in a sparkley hair accessory rather than wear the rhinestone pin attached to the sweater. Maybe the sweater pin can be converted to a hair accessory or you can find one at the department stores? The stylist will know how to anchor a hair pin or barrett so that it stays put.