You all have been so great and such a comfort. Thanks for all your good thoughts and sunflowers. Since I haven't been at work and don't have a 'puter at home, I have been posting from the Hope Lodge when I'm here. Have the pre-op exam tomorrow and will (hopefully) get the surgery date then. I'll try to go to work a few hours next week and will check back then. Have the tree up and some decorating done. Radiation went very well until the last two days of it, then the side-effects really settled in. After having 51 years of a VERY VERY full head of hair, I can now wash it with a washcloth! Wasn't prepared for that since even with brain radiation, you don't always lose your hair. But I was given a nice wig and it has an upside - the clerk at the store I usually shop at didn't know who I was, the manager at Hope Lodge didn't know who I was, and one of the guests here thought I was my daughter! Should have shaved my head and gotten a wig years ago. To all the "old-timers" and the newcomers, happy holidays!!!

the yellow clematis: clematis tangutica. i had one in a big vessel on the balcony but had to plant it out since the vessel still was not big enough after the plant reached the age of 3 years. it is well usable for your zone, blooms a lot and has fluffy seedheads and a lush growing habit. but i think it would not reach more than 3 meters in height. so if your trellis is higher maybe you should think about planting a combination. for the "body" of the vine i would use a white flowering wisteria (blooms in may) und planted a meter apart the clematis tangutica (blooms from july till september). and if you cut back the clematis after the first frost or early in spring (cut all down to the height of your knees) you will have no problems with them two plants because they may well scramble together and rests of the cut-back clematis won't bother the wisteria.

I tried the Prep H and it didn't work at all for me. I did some internet research - and there are lots of opinions the Prep H. Some say if you get the kind that has been manufactured in Canada it works, but what is available in the US has been reformulated and doesn't work. I would have to agree with that. I use a cold wash cloth on my eyes to help reduce the puffy - but I haven't found anything that really covers the dark circles well. Some of the better concealers work pretty good. I was watching an infomercial (now you know why I have dark puffy circles - I don't sleep well, LOL) and they had a scar makeup that looked like it did a great job of concealing the dark circles. But I can't remember the name of the product. I must have fallen asleep somewhere along the line :)

What a glorious harvest that you have! That's a huge tomato ... do the extra large ones like that taste as good as the regular-sized ones? Pictures just a tiny bit hung over the right edge ... but when I slid the slider across ... I got an ad ... so I only did it once. Last year I took a dozen or so ears of corn to the churches on one Sunday, and figured that there'd be a great harvest the next week. There were dozens of ears ... strewn on the ground ... with a bit chewed on each. I made the mistake of counting - 12 dozen! Corn out in tassel, this year ... should ask the landlord if he has a gun that I can borrow to cramp the coons' syle. Beans something of a disappointment - got a few two weeks ago, some last weekend, but noticed that there were few flowers, and not many ripening now. Last year I had large pickings for about three weeks. Maybe the lack of rain (after an overabundance in the spring) may be the main reason. Looks like a good crop of tomatoes coming. I may be fairly well preserved in body ... but not in the canning line ... but I freeze some beans, peas, etc. Oh - the peas were a disappointment - planted a fairly large number, but only about a half dozen plants deigned to make an appearance. Good wishes for a bountiful winter. ole joyful P.S. Jes wonderin' ... how many babboon's a$$es you son may have seen, for comparison purposes?? o j