Jem! Thank you. I was already thinking of sharing this before reading your post. Conversation with my 16-year old today: "How come you agreed to this?" he asks. Raised eyebrow. "I know why people celebrate Mothers' Day. Why are you agreeing to do it?" he amplifies. "Because of the size of babies' noses," I reply without thinking. He raises his eyebrows. I can tell he's already starting to regret the conversation and I have to stand by my remark now lol. "Well," I explain. "They're really very small, babies' noses; very easy to pinch and it will probably only take a few minutes. Next time your mother p*sses you off, think about that for a moment." It's conversations like this that I enjoy most about motherhood. Thank your mothers today! lol Pagan

Yes, Permanent Wave is indeed unique in its leaf display, and bloom. It becomes quite showy and large with age. It was a seedling that Mom gave away to a close friend, Jim Langhammer of Royal Oak (thanks Jim for all the garden memories!) who several years later brought it back to her and said it was worthy of registration and a neat name, even though it was all green. She was not a fan of all green hosta unless they had uniqueness. After receiving the plant back into her garden, she wracked her brain (and mine!)for a suitable name. Mom was getting her Saturday hair fixed and as she sat under the hair dryer at the hair salon, her eyes fell on a poster for selling some "Permanent Wave", and thus the name was found. John Kulpa of course is a fantastic hosta hybridizer in his own right - but Whirlwind was a chance find in the trade. There has been a writeup on it and its progeny recently in the AHS Hosta Journal. Thanks, John for the great plants! Bruce

Thank you. BTW, we live in So.Ohio, so the Imperial Glass pieces are even more special. The factory closed the same year my first child was born. Imperial Glass, Bellaire, OH I don't collect EAPG, but I once found one of the 'Candlewick' candle holders at a Goodwill store.

Way back when I was in home ec class in high school. You know the dark ages! Lol We made the simplest cute and useful aprons. I hate losing it in the flood. I will have to make another one. It was basically 2 large rectangles edged on all edges. And a long strip of the fabric deep enough for a pocket. That strip was the same width as the rectangle and was sewn on the front rectangle across the bottom, leaving the top open, like a giant pocket. Then stitch 2 lines from top of pocket to the bottom spaced apart from each other evenly to turn the giant pocket into 3 equally sized pockets. Then stitch the 2 rectangles right side together at the top edges only about 2 inches each. That creates a boat neckline so that you can slip it over your head. Now you have an apron with a boat neckline and a row of 3 pockets along the front bottom. All you need now is a tie. Sew a ribbon or a piece of the fabric, with the edges sewn, to each edge of the front rectangle at waist height. Done. It literally takes less time to make it than it did for me to type this. This style is called a cobbler apron. Similar to this one.