I had hoped for more writers too. I have been encouraged by my son, mostly, and I think that perhaps you have to be older and have that 'encouragement' to do it. My son, is (ooohh) 52, and is just curious to learn how we got to where we had been before he arrived on the scene and my remembrances of our "gypsy" life during his childhood. We 21st century old folks have lived during such huge changes in our society and in our environment...and even in our values....that we really owe our children a glimpse of how we rose to the occasion of those milestones. Just a thought! Nanny BTW....some old movies that are shown today, show many scenes that our parents aspired to, rather than the fact of life. Not always, but when I see some of them I realize that some of the ideas that my mother tried to make me believe were things that movies told her to aspire to in a subliminal way. Today's entertainment is much more realistic, or is it? I really love the writings of John Steinbeck as he told the truth about the pain of the depression and of the lives, sometimes of desperation, that many people lived. And, yes, I wonder as I see men and women "pan-handling" on the streets of our small community being homeless...are they feeling that same kind of desperation? TMI, sorry.

Thanks, alisande. I keep plugging away on some of my childhood memories. Ex: Bird sh*t & Idiots on FB. I'm subbing in a computerr lab again the next two days so I may be able to post another soon. Thanks for the reminder. Ron

Eric, I wish we had room for a nice screening hedge but the south side of the house is too near the property line. I just hope whoever buys the house doesn't put those tall growing evergreens along the fence. There is not much room between the line and the edge of their driveway. Konrad, we don't like it either. There were some people over there the other day with a truck and a lot of conversation- on the garage side. It made me realize how it will sound with a family living there. Our property assessment actually went down this year! It had been inflated for the past two years and finally something got done about it.

Thanks, All. Night Embers was extremely hard to photograph. It's actually a very dark red, almost black in dim light. I kept snapping pics and the flash kept going off, making the flower look like someone tossed it on the grill (deep red, brushed w/charcoal.) I finally waited until late afternoon when it was back lit with sunlight, and turned the flash off. I have over 200 cultivars and want MORE! (I'm addicted). Kt, Yes, all cultivars will grow in Texas. Blueberry Cream is listed for zones 3-10 and is Semi-evergreen. Canadian Border Patrol lists as zones 5-10, and is Evergreen. Night Embers - zones 4-10, and is Semi-evergreen. Julie