Hi! I gave the larch the season and after a crappy Calgary winter she was not a happy gal. She was removed and a new very healthy one was put in another spot in my yard. She is thriving!!! I find these like quite a bit of water. In fact the root system acts like a sponge. I have actually come to the conclusion that it was starting to die prior to planting, after being able to find a better specimen. The plant as Ken mentioned was buried too deeply in the pot and spent quite some time that way, I believe. I think it had no chance. I made a newbie mistake and after all these messages I dug quite aways down to find the correct crown, and as you can tell from one of my pics I had already exposed a few inches of trunk when I initially planted but not enough at all. The root system needs to be very close to the surface, in fact the new one has roots that grow a bit above ground almost or right at the surface. It was not a healthy purchase and should have been left to die at the nursery. On another note, I had a small weeping birch that died near that spot. I have also had reed grass die there. It is cursed lol! Now it houses a Christmas Flamingo in the winter and that's it. One day I will try to figure out why it is a death zone. This all was 5 years ago that's hard to believe that much time has passed! We have since moved on to our back yard and I havent lost a plant yet from the excellent advice you all have shared! And for any newbies out there reading this, from perennials to trees if you pick a properly planted and cared for plant to start, you will have a lot more success!

If you do have it, the cooking is easy. One or two days before 1. Set the table the day before. Get all serving pieces and utensils ready, for each dish. Put them out. Napkins, glasses, stemware and decor if applicable, daughter's stuff. salt/pepper/condiments. Guests won't feel deprived if they dont have pickles(unless it's that strange person....) 2. Clear an area to serve dessert, even if plating in the kitchen. Keep dessert area near the coffee/tea area. Serving pieces and plates ready. Have coffee/tea making stuff ready, near the dessert area. Have sugar and creamer bowls ready for service. Use lemons? have a plate/knife, have it out. Dessert teaspoons/forks? put them out here. 3. Disposables are fine in my book. Fifty years ago I used sterling, china and crystal. Then silverplate. Then various potteries and stoneware with stainless utensils. Wood, chrome, stainless, etc serving pieces. Now I use disposables for appet and desserts, and I don't give a hoot. (70 yrs old now) And I love tablescaping. I have a ton of stuff. Very personal here. If you only have energy or desire for disposables, don't be affected by critical snobs. I love good stuff, but I love good people more-and I surely care more about the people. 4. I roast a turkey breast and dark meat pieces. Everyone's favorites. Use the time guides on the packaged turkey and/or in reliable books or reliable on line sources. 5. I don't stuff the turkey anymore but do stuffing in a casserole/or baking pan. No toxins from turkey juices-which can be simulated, taste-wise, by butter, stock, water and spices. Not the toxins! Packaged stuffing stuff is great. If you add celery/onions/nuts/family faves/ cut the celery/onions, etc the day before-which is two days before tg? Wrap in cheap fold over sandwich bags, double wrapped to contain smells. The single most important roadblock to a successful tg day, is an inadequately defrosted turkey. This has been mentioned often before. Depending on size, at least, three,four or five days of defrosting. You can't do anything with a partially frozen turkey. Keep it simple, less sides. Not 4 cranberry recipes to keep everyone happy. Guests will love 7 starches, but will respect 3 plant dishes. What do you want, love or respect. Well, that's pretty drastic, No, hunnybun, no need to choose between love and respect. I am getting crazed. To be continued.

I woke up with the thought of getting a tapered valance that is a little longer on the sides. I was thinking of getting a medium silver/gray color to go with the rug. I think a purple one would be too matchy-matchy and it would be hard to get the exact shade. I would be worried that stenciling a drape would be too matchy-matchy as well, and I'd have the challenge of finding a drape in the same color. The 2 walls I did with the stencil are strong and I want to leave that as the statement. If I did it in the same shade as the shade, it may compound the color being off (and the company I bought from does not have matching stuff to coordinate other than more shades). If I can find one that is more tailored/flat across the front, that would keep the look neat. Pleats would be ok, but not gathers. I think I'd do it without a visible rod so that it comes around the sides into the wall and helps keep the light from the upper part coming in. We have a tall chest that is helping to block most of the side by our bed from dh's eyes in the a.m.. It may be a decent idea (or not, lol), but I am not sure where to look for something so specific like that. Getting it in a different color gives me more leeway on the exact shade of gray and not have to try to match the "white". I took a pic last night, so this may help show it differently. I will need to steam out the wrinkles, so it will be smoother once I locate the steamer ;) Looking at the pic, it seems like it looks a little flat as it is, so maybe adding a valance will make it look better. I think we made a mistake in getting too much window as it dominates the wall. A single window would have been fine enough for me. I am not sure if we needed this much square footage of window to meet code. It limits what can be done on that wall and I prefer a bedroom to be more cozy than bright. My hindsight is much clearer now, lol. BTW - does anyone know where to get a bedskirt that can be put on after the bed was set up? Our bed has water tubes inside the mattress and they weigh a ton. Dh filled them all last night and I forgot to make sure the bedskirt was in place first. It is actually ok as we need a white or gray bedskirt and would not want to use the one from our sage green set. That would limit changing the bedding out as easily.

Bev... 1. Shut down your computer and restart...if that doesn't work go to #2 2. Open PSP > File > Workspace > Load....if this doesn't work try #3 3. File > Preferences > ReSet Preferences If that doesn't take care of the problem, I will give you a web site where you can post the problem.....you may have to reinstall PSP. Let us know... Joy