I planted a sunshine mimosa in early spring last year to cover an area between a large hedge and my pool about 4 foot wide and twenty feet long. That one plant has filled in the entire area in one year! No special irrigating and a full sun location. It gets light foot traffic from me to water a flower bed next to it, but bounces right back. Most mimosa's leaves will close when touched, but will open back up. I do get grass and broad leafed leaves growing through it, but plan on applying a herbicide Labor Day weekend. For a good upright plant that stays controlled consider a canna lily. Although they don't bloom in the winter, they come back each spring and are nice until the winter. Mexican heather attracts the bees, are a purple color and are compact. Happy gardening!

Thanks, Mike and Joe. Have an appointment to take the car to a local garage that serviced a previous Jaguar for us once it was out of waranty. They can check the power steering fluid and perhaps see a reason it would have become contaminated; replace if necessary. The 'servicing' for the fuel injection seems to be a vacuuming operation. I think we'll let this garage do the battery replacement (and re-set all the electrical gizmos). I think we should go to a tire center for rotation and realignment. Joe -- The dealership did the checklist (brakes, etc.) and changed the oil and replaced filters. I thought the charge was really low: $56. The four things they cited were all about $100 over what I thought was reasonable -- which I put down to the high labor rates for their mechanics. If this dealership were 'right around the corner', we'd might not be questioning this. The one that IS nearby has refused to service this car because we didn't buy it there. (You'd have to know the owner!)

OK, you may all 'stand down'. The vaginitis was 'a normal sluffing of the vaginal wall' that happens to old ladies like me. It had actually stopped overnight, but I wanted to see the GYN anyway, to be certain. (This was not 'yeast', ladies. No odor, no lumpy texture; just clear-to-yellow, but a lot of it Sunday/Monday.) When I came hom, my DH met me at the door with news that the pulmonary doctor had called to say 'nevermind' about the high IgG test results. She would have been concerned if it had been *low*. She might order a do-over in the future -- or not. We are also feeling better after putting Eliot down. It was 'the right thing'...just hard, and 'a change'. (Now I have to vacuum the crumbs under the kitchen table!) Being able to turn to my KT friends helped A LOT! Thanks for holding my hand. (Rob333, thanks for being in my corner! LOL)

Salmon mousse actually is pretty foolproof if you have a good recipe and a source for good (but not too good to put in a mousse) salmon. It's also not all that good. It was a staple at Jewish brunches as an elevated alternative to the inevitable tuna salad. It's probably old enough to be "retro" now. :) I also associate it with funerals. It's parve so no one has to worry about the time and whether it's meat or milk. It's definitely make ahead compared to soufflé, but the soufflé is a much nicer dish, IMHO. Soufflé tips: Put a quarter teaspoon of the salt in the egg whites as you're whipping them. It helps them structurally and makes it less likely to fall. If you're having difficulties and are under the gun, and don't care about "cheating", add a little baking powder and a little fine flour (some people just throw in a big spoon of Bisquick, but don't do that. You can taste it and it's not nice). If you have good eggs and a stable oven, you don't need the cheats, though putting some of the salt you were going to use anyway in the egg whites really does help. You must cover the salmon mousse to go in the fridge. It will pick up odors and flavors like you wouldn't believe. The salad sounds a bit summery. You could do the same salad by steaming the veg before marinating them. I've made it that way often. It's still a cold salad, but with tooth rather than crunch. I can't figure out how to describe why it seems less cold with the different texture, but it does. Oh! Bonus: It'll be easier for the elders to chew if it's steamed. Both the soufflé and the mousse cry out for bread. If you don't want to do Islay's suggestion of the croissants croque monsieur style, you could still serve croissants. Maybe warm them slightly. Or any kind of crusty bread in thick slices. Maybe fancy crackers, even. Breadsticks are meant to be crunched separately from the meal, and don't go so well. Actually, riffing off IC, another way to go would be to serve croques madame as your main. That's Frenchy, and brunchy, and you actually can make the eggs ahead if you're careful, as well as all the other fixings, assemble just before you expect the company, and pop them in the oven. Just before serving, pop the eggs on top and leave in the oven just long enough to warm them up. No more than half a minute. Or make the eggs the normal way, while the sandwiches are in the oven. I keep thinking you need fresh fruit, but that might not be a big thing there in the Winter. But poached pears or grilled melon maybe? The desserts all sound fine and plentiful. Hm... maybe with that many you're having a bigger party than I imagined. If it's more than about 10 people, do the mousse. Really.