Thanks Clare, that was interesting! Sequoia used to do something similar to produce mini tree roses. Mr. Moore used three pound coffee cans with holes punched around their lower side, about an inch above the bottom so that much water would collect in them before the excess flowed out the holes. The mist table they were used on was outdoors, surrounded by trees so it received periods of direct sun and dappled sun throughout the day. Long stems of Pink Clouds were disbudded, all but the one or two top buds, then the appropriate minis were grafted to them just below the top buds. Usually two grafts were made per stem so the tops would be well balanced. After grafting, they were laid on the mist table to prevent drying out, until the desired number were grafted, then all of the same variety were tied or rubber banded together and placed in the coffee can. Many stems could be grafted of as many different varieties desired as would fit, then left on that mist table where the mist would prevent them from drying out; the inch of standing water in the can bottom would also help keep them hydrated; the available sunlight and daily heat would encourage the grafts to heal and take and the stems would simultaneously root. Once rooted, they would be removed, separated and individually potted, then placed in the green house where the heat and high humidity prevented them from desiccating until they began growing in the soil. About this time, the Pink Clouds growth would be removed from the tops. Until then, their foliage feed the stems until the grafts took and roots formed. Once sufficient root development was achieved, they could be gradually moved out in to the outdoor sales area where they would finish acclimating to the "real world", and develop into a finished, retail-ready mini tree rose. This was one of several methods they used to produce all those lovely mini trees. Kim

The label says it has 512 MB of memory. I'm not sure which memory this is referring to, but if it is the RAM on the motherboard, it could use an upgrade. Windows XP likes to have 2 Gigabyte (2 GB) or more. You are using a wireless router on a DSL sevice. Make sure that your wireless router is secured so that someone else within range can't horn in and ride piggyback on your connection for free. The more computers using the connection, the slower it gets for any one computer. The next potential bottle neck is the DSL service. If this is over a phone line, it may not be a large jump in speed over a standard dial-up service. A good connection does have marked improvement in speed, but a troublesome connection looses much speed advantge. Consider taking the computer to a shop or friend and try on their lines. Another problem, if over a phone line, is a noisy line. Thw phone company can test your phone line for quality. Make sure that you tell the technicam that this line will be used for internet service. If over a phone line, another bottleneck can be the phone company. It may not have installed equipemnt capable of high speed data transfer. If you have a friend who has a high speed cable connection with a wireless router, you may want to try your computer on his connection. Have the computer checked out at a computer shop to discover if it is the computer or the DSL service to your house.

So I had another call today from a private number. Woman id'd herself and wanted to speak to Annie Deighnaugh. I said who was she with, she named a firm that didn't mean anything to me. I said what does she want and she refused to say anything other than she has personal business with Annie Deighnaugh. I refused to ID who I was and since I wouldn't she would say nothing else. I asked her to give me a general idea what it was about and she would only say "personal business with Annie Deighnaugh". She did say she wasn't trying to sell me anything. So we were at an impasse. I told her if she really knew Annie Deighnaugh, she'd have other ways of contacting her and suggested she use it. She said she would try again later, and I told her not to call again. I suspect it was a call reminding us to fill out a proxy statement. But how ridiculous. I could've been anyone and misrepresented myself as Annie Deighnaugh, so why on earth would that make a difference? How could they possibly trust that I was who I said I was? And if it was about a proxy vote, why couldn't she say that? It's just getting super bizarro!

The clothes our high school son claimed aren't in his closet yet... he doesn't get the "new" ones until HE weeds through his old clothes. LOL He had already claimed a bunch of his brother's sweatshirts this winter. I still need to schedule a trip to the Salvation Army this week. There's a big hefty bag sitting in my bedroom!