Mike, I think it's wonderful that you take your m-i-l to Hawaii every other year and see her on Mother's day in SC every year! She's lucky! Susan, I got 15 viburnum obovatums to use around Claire's lanai - I'll be taking 2 of them home, to plant on a wet site. The area I'm working is still wet. Her property is lower than the surrounding houses, so, since everybody here waters their lawns 2 or 3 times a week (underground sprinklers), this house gets all the runoff, at least in the back. I chose v. obovatum because it's evergreen, which gives them privacy in the pool all year, grows fast, is a swamp plant, and makes fruit that birds love. I got 3 rhododendron canescens 'Claire' - had to get a cultivar that has my daughter's name!, one more cornus florida var. 'Weaver' -' Weaver' and 'Madison' have HUGE flowers and grow like weeds, 2 more hammamelis virginiana/witch hazels, and 1 more viburnum rufidulum. I brought my seed tray with 25 ptelea trifoliata planted seeds - I got these last fall from one of the p. trifoliatas that grows in my garden. I didn't want to trust my husband to keep them watered while I was gone. Since ptelea trifoliata makes such a good understory tree, I thought I'd have room for a lot more of them - the giant swallowtails should appreciate it! I can't believe how much my grandson has grown! And his hair has turned dark like my daughter's - he looks just like her! Mary, I'm going to be too busy to do anything but work here - maybe next time we can get together. The ends of some of my fingers are cracking and starting to bleed, but I want to finish this job! I talked to my husband, and he said that a PVS emerged while I was gone. He released it yesterday - thank goodness the weather is warm there as well as here! I saw my first butterfly here yesterday. It was a big sulphur, too brightly yellow/orange to be a cloudless sulphur, so it was undoubtedly an orange barred sulphur, but it flew by too fast for me to be sure. MissSherry

I find this so strange, children that can't get up and get dressed themselves. My oldest daughter has been getting up on her own, getting dressed, eating breakfast, checking the calendar to see if she wants to pack or buy that day, and then making her own lunch since first grade. I do help her pick her clothes out the night before because she'll wear the same couple of outfits all the time if I don't encourage her to mix it up a little, and I check her lunch to make sure it's not just cookies and chips because she has tried to do that a couple of times...but she NEVER remembers to brush her teeth without being told...I think she's doing well enough that I can let that one slide for now. My SD will get up and gets dressed and eats, but if her head wasn't screwed on, she'd leave it behind when she left. We're talking, "Do you got your backpack? Did you put your homework in it? Do you have your gym clothes? Got your lunch?" We'll have her pack everything up the night before and put it right next to the door, but inevitably she always leaves somthing sitting right there by the door when she leaves...but we NEVER have to remind her to brush her teeth or wash her hands. She's seriously into the cleanliness thing when it comes to her body, so that's good. Oh, and I think she probably could pack her own lunch, but DH does it for her because he knows her mom does and that's what she's used to. My 4yo WANTS to do it all herself, even the stuff I don't want her to do, like pour milk into her cereal from a full gallon. She picks out her own clothes and dresses herself, but I have to tell her to go get dressed or she'll stay in jammies all day, but that's okay because I like to do that sometimes too:) She insists she can bathe herself, which she can, but she also thinks she can wash her own hair, which she can if you like to still have a bunch of soap in it when you're done. And she absolutely hates it when I brush her teeth for her, but I just don't think she's physically capable of doing it to my satisfaction yet. They're all different, so you can't treat them the same. Just got to go one step at a time with each one of them.

Wow, what a start. Benjamin Robbins, Stephen Field and Eden Phillpotts, many great quotes there and to top it off, Will Rogers. I never have seen a Will Rogers quote I did not like. Now I have to get my first cup of coffee to tackle the next page.

Jean Toomer Quotes American - Author December 26, 1894 - March 30, 1967 We learn t he rope of life by untying its knots. Jean Toomer Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own. Jean Toomer People mistake their limitations for high standards. Jean Toomer The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing. Jean Toomer Talk about it only enough to do it. Dream about it only enough to feel it. Think about it only enough to understand it. Contemplate it only enough to be it. Jean Toomer No eyes that have seen beauty ever lose their sight. Jean Toomer I am not less poet; I am more conscious of all that I am, am not, and might become. Jean Toomer Fear is a noose that binds until it strangles. Jean Toomer Men try to run life according to their wishes; life runs itself according to necessity. Jean Toomer Most novices picture themselves as masters - and are content with the picture. This is why there are so few masters. Jean Toomer Alejo Carpentier Quotes Cuban - Novelist December 26, 1904 - April 24, 1980 The concept of the marvelous begins to take form when it arises from an unexpected alteration of reality, the miracle. Alejo Carpentier Even the pallid daughters of Albion forget for a moment their Pre-Raphaelite poses by burying themselves in the sonorous sortilege of the Antilles. Alejo Carpentier I studied harmony and composition in a very spontaneous manner. Alejo Carpentier I gladly accepted the commission but was uncertain about what the end result would be. On the one hand, Cuban music was conquering the world; being heard everywhere, and our small island was already producing one of the popular musical genres of the 20th century. Alejo Carpentier Those who have always had faith in its final success can do no less than rejoice as if it was our own triumph after five years of daily struggle to impose Cuban music on the European continent. Alejo Carpentier From the beginning, the sensation of the marvelous presupposes faith. Alejo Carpentier I had breathed in the atmosphere created by Henri Christophe, the monarch of incredible aims, much more surprising than all the kings invented by the surrealists. Alejo Carpentier Elizabeth David Quotes British - Writer December 26, 1913 - May 22, 1992 Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle. Elizabeth David Writing doesn't come easily to me. It gets more and more difficult. Elizabeth David I'm very interested in my new kitchen equipment shop. I've started it with two friends. Elizabeth David I don't copy recipes without trying them out. I don't reprint without trying them again. Elizabeth David An awful lot of people think it's easy to lift recipes out. Elizabeth David Steve Allen Quotes American - Entertainer December 26, 1921 - October 30, 2000 Asthma doesn't seem to bother me any more unless I'm around cigars or dogs. The thing that would bother me most would be a dog smoking a cigar. Steve Allen Ours is a government of checks and balances. The Mafia and crooked businessmen make out checks, and the politicians and other compromised officials improve their bank balances. Steve Allen One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imaginations. Steve Allen Totalitarianism is patriotism institutionalized. Steve Allen If the Old Testament were a reliable guide in the matter of capital punishment, half the people in the United States would have to be killed tomorrow. Steve Allen If there is a God, the phrase that must disgust him is - holy war. Steve Allen The hair is real - it's the head that's a fake. Steve Allen Humor is a social lubricant that helps us get over some of the bad spots. Steve Allen In a rational society we would want our presidents to be teachers. In our actual society we insist they be cheerleaders. Steve Allen Dark energy is perhaps the biggest mystery in physics. Steve Allen I used to be a heavy gambler. But now I just make mental bets. That's how I lost my mind. Steve Allen Richard Artschwager Quotes American - Artist December 26, 1923 - February 9, 2013 My most important quality or property is curiosity. And that had its beginning in what I was going to do with my life. Richard Artschwager There isn't any art until some creature sees and consumes it. And has a reaction. Richard Artschwager I would wake up at night and think, 'What the hell have I gotten myself into? You don't want to do that!' But you gotta do something, and with art, there's freedom - which is actually very seldom practiced by artists. Richard Artschwager The drawing is already partly there - it's in the paper. And the paper is talking before you do. Richard Artschwager Alan King Quotes American - Comedian December 26, 1927 - May 9, 2004 There's nobody to believe in anymore, nobody to trust. Alan King When I get up in the morning, I have to decide what I'm going to have for dinner or I can't get through the day. Alan King I learned to cook in self-defense. My wife doesn't know what a kitchen is. In the first month of our marriage, she broiled lamb chops 26 nights in a row. Then I took over. I used to mind her not caring about food, but no more - as long as I can eat what I want. Alan King Museums are good things, places to look and absorb and learn. Alan King I can't stay friends with anyone who doesn't have a passion for something; and, generally speaking, artistic people, creative people carry it right into the kitchen, too. They have a zest for life; the excitement of living. All of the great eaters I've known are also men of great wit. Alan King My mother's sister was killed in a trolley car accident, so I was raised as one of eight with my sister and six male cousins. Alan King I don't mind being 65, but nobody is gonna tell me to come in at 5:30 to have the early bird special. Alan King When I was in the hospital they gave me apple juice every morning, even after I told them I didn't like it. I had to get even. One morning, I poured the apple juice into the specimen tube. The nurse held it up and said, 'It's a little cloudy.' I took the tube from her and said, 'Let me run it through again,' and drank it. The nurse fainted. Alan King Banks have a new image. Now you have 'a friend,' your friendly banker. If the banks are so friendly, how come they chain down the pens? Alan King That's the great thing about New Year's, you get to be a year older. For me, that wasn't such a joke, because my birthday was always around this time. When I was a kid, my father used to tell me that everybody was celebrating my birthday. That's what the trees are all about. Alan King It's not easy being a father, but I've been allowed a comeback. Alan King I made it, Ma - Carnegie Hall. And I didn't have to practice. Alan King Marriage is nature's way of keeping us from fighting with strangers. Alan King You do live longer with bran, but you spend the last fifteen years on the toilet. Alan King The world is full of little dictators trying to run your life. Alan King Did you hear the one about the elderly Jew on his deathbed who sent for a priest, after declaring to his astonished relatives that 'I want to convert.' Asked why he would become a Catholic, after living all his life as a Jew, he answered: 'Better one of them should die than one of us.' Alan King And humor has always been a weapon. You want to get even on somebody? You want to attack somebody? Make fun of them. Alan King A summary of every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat! Alan King My mother kept the house clean and we ate good. I didn't know we were poor until I started giving interviews. Alan King My father was a dreamer - my hero. He was a smart, tough guy from Poland, a cutter of lady's handbags, an old socialist-unionist who always considered himself a failure. His big line was: 'Don't end up like me.' Alan King We get the worrywart, the hypochondriac, the money-grubbing miser, the intractable negotiator... Some would say certain of these refer to the stereotypical, or 'stage' Jew. But objectively speaking, the only crime in humor is an unfunny joke. Alan King If you want to read about love and marriage, you've got to buy two separate books. Alan King Modesty is not one of my virtues. Alan King Comedy is a reflection. We create nothing. We set no styles, no standards. We're reflections. It's a distorted mirror in the fun house. We watch society. As society behaves, then we have the ability to make fun of it. Alan King You only live once, except for Shirley MacLaine. Alan King My brother is the youngest member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. And I wouldn't let him cut my nails. Alan King I think one of the big things about comedy is the ability for the audience to identify. Alan King As a parent, I'd - I'd be a better father. Alan King Let's face it: It's difficult enough to be funny without worrying about what is going to offend whom. Alan King If you stop and think about it, nearly all great humor is at the expense of someone or something. Alan King Milton took vaudeville, which, if you look up 'vaudeville' in the dictionary, right alongside of it, it says 'Milton Berle' - and he made it just a tremendous party. Alan King Right when I started in show... Milton Berle was my first idol. When I was a kid, I went to see Milton at Lowe's State, and I never laughed so much, and I said, 'That's who I want to be; that's what I want to be.' Alan King I'm only... I'm only unhappy when the reviews are bad, but give me a good review and I'm a... I'm just screaming all over the place with joy. Alan King There's a charm, there's a rhythm, there's a soul to Jewish humor. When I first saw Richard Pryor perform, I told him, 'You're doing a Jewish act.' Alan King The ability to absorb a book and make someone else's words and story your own was exactly was I was doing on stage. Alan King When I read Dickens for the first time, I thought he was Jewish, because he wrote about oppression and bigotry, all the things that my father talked about. Alan King My son says I never tell stories about anyone who's living. Alan King Age, style, where you come from, where you were born, it's different every time, which, to me, is refreshing because it says that there isn't any one thing, one formula or kind of character that makes a great comedian. Everybody has had a different approach. Alan King Comedy is an amazing calling. Once you get that first laugh, it's hard to turn away. Then, of course, you're hooked and you have to learn how to survive in the business. Alan King I had a sympathetic role in 'thirtysomething,' and in two weeks I'm going to do the role again. But in the movies, I just love the heavies. It's much more fun. Villains are a ball. People have been laughing at me for 50 years, so I love to sit in the back of the theater and listen to them hate me. Alan King One thing I've never said in my whole life is, 'Let's have dinner at a Japanese restaurant.' Alan King Everything my mother made had to cook for 80 hours, and when she made matzoh balls she didn't know fluffy. Everything sank. Alan King Smoked salmon is for dinner. Belly lox is for breakfast. Don't get that mixed up. Alan King I won't eat in a place that has suits of armor. Alan King I just never saw my mother in any other room but the kitchen. There were always pots going. Alan King My wife is a very attractive woman, and she's always worried about her diet. But she doesn't pay attention to me, and I don't pay attention to her. She's a vegetarian, and it drives me crazy. Alan King My father helped me leave. He said, 'It's all out there, it's not here.' Alan King I was a high school throw-out. Alan King Ed Sullivan brought me to TV first in 1952, then Garry Moore's program gave me a lot of confidence and freedom. Alan King Larry David finds a way to make jokes about the Holocaust. It would never have occurred to me. And it was funny. Alan King As you get older, as you become more sensitive, feel more, it becomes harder to make jokes. You censor yourself. Alan King Performing is just standing up there and doing something. Performance takes on an edge to it. It has a more dramatic context. Alan King If you keep yourself alive and current, funny is funny. Alan King My favorite way to spend Saturday is in and out of bed, watching sports on TV and eating. Alan King When I was a kid, I used to send away for those ventriloquist kits on the back of comic books. Alan King