Well, I can't help much with pansies. I seem to have terrible luck with them. As for fall, being in New England, the thought of fall conjures up red barns (hey, your house will be perfect for this, lol!) hay bales, red/orange/yellow leaves, pumpkins and other decorative gourds, mums, and asters. I guess it is common, but I do love mums in the fall. (I actually planted some hardy ones last spring and they are doing well, other than the fact that despite cutting them back they seem to set buds on a daily basis, and I don't think I will be able to hold them off till fall. I may have to buy some and stick them in in October!) I love the displays that have something like a hay bale on the ground, with some old corn stalks standing next to it, planted nearby with mums/asters, with a pumpkin or two or some gourds thrown in the mix. Sometimes a scarecrow looks nice - a real, home-made one, not one of the cutesy ones you buy at craft stores. Nothing necessarily wrong with those, I just prefer the real ones. Again, being in a different zone, these suggestions may be a bit off, but here are some ideas: mums, asters, pansies, fall-blooming crocus and colchiums, kale, japanese anemones, monkshood, montauk daisy, tricyrtis, and ornamental grasses. Being a bit warmer than I am, perhaps solidago, helenium, and helianthus will last a bit longer for you. I find that many websites will give ideas for fall flowers, but to me, those always seem to be late summer bloomers, and not for fall. Even of the ones I listed above, the only ones that will really last well into fall here are the mums, asters, pansies, kale, crocus and of course, grasses. Donna, I can't believe you can't grow the Blue Knoll down south! Are you sure? I wonder if you were to keep it in some shade until fall....? Such a pretty flower, it seems too sad that you can't grow it! The fall-blooming crocus look pretty much like the spring bloomers. I've never had a problem with dying foliage, but then again I have almost 50 oak trees, so I have a LOT of leaves, which probably hides it, lol. To be honest, I don't remember it hanging around at all - most likely the cold weather does it in quickly and it gets raked up with the leaves. Perhaps farther south it is an issue, but I would think really no worse than spring bulb foliage, no? I will say that one slight problem I have with the fall crocus is the color. I tend to prefer the oranges, reds/burgundies, and yellows in fall, with perhaps some purples thrown in. So I usually buy the purple crocus. I always have a stand of cosmos in my garden, and they always, without fail, come into full spectacular glory in the fall - just when the pinks seem to clash (IMO) with the changing leaves. I have to go stand right in front of them to look at them and admire them, lol - from a distance I see too many orange leaves in the background and it bothers me! :) Dee Here is a link that might be useful: fall crocus pictures

Karen, you certainly can put my ladder pics in your Inspiration Album, I'd be honored. I found my cat late last night. He was in the basement in a corner, he's gone. I cried horribly. I know he wasn't there before cause I searched like crazy down there for him. I purposely opened the basement hatchway door both Sat and Sun during the day in case he came back. Maybe he did and crawled in so I would at least be able to find him. Or maybe he was down there the whole time and too weak to meow out to me and then got in the corner last night so I would find him. Thanks to all for the kind words about my furry little friend, I'll miss him dearly. Sal

The best news,just as we all hoped! Dexascan is a piece of cake - I used to do them when I worked in the Rheumatology office. Bone-building drugs may be prescribed, but they work slowly, so 6 weeks one way or the other won't make a huge difference. There are lots of reasons you can have osteopenia or osteoporosis - drug therapies, both chemo and steroids, being too thin (being under 127 pounds is a marker for risk), family history, early menopause, low calcium and Vitamin D, and the list goes on. For now, take care of yourself, be a good girl and do what the docs tell you to do. We'll all be here, thinking of you and cheering you on until those crutches are tucked away in the closet.

Yes, I will keep all of you posted. Patti, Mom and I did celebrate. We had a glass of wine then went to Farmer Brown's for dinner. Mom bought, because I'd helped her with her art show today. She didn't have to, but... I've been wanting/meaning to get a $75.00 gift cert. for my daughter and her DH (Nathan's parents) to Farmer Browns. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on Jan. 15th, and I just forgot to pick it up. But I thought by golly they deserve to all go out and eat. Jeff, the DH/Dad is so good about winterizing my trailer every fall, and I don't have to pay someone to do it. Thanks again, Leslie