I don't know this one - the melody is familiar but not the lyrics. How charming! I love to watch the old version of The Secret Garden about February when I am just so tired of winter. And reading the book is even better - it's an annual read for me. The descriptions of the emerging life and the joy in that garden always make me feel incredibly happy. I love the lyrics on this - who needs latin names, there are times when the old fashioned ones just fit don't they? Smile.

the primary limitation to growing coconuts is primarily heat, not just cold. I would be very surprised if a coconut could survive living on Catalina, but even less so on the Channel Islands... stays pretty cool on both those islands, though Catalina does get somewhat hot sometimes. I am pretty sure any coconut would eventual wither and die due to lack of heat unless planted right against a building with some light-absorbing coloration/matieral facing southwest... THEN it might eke along for a few years. Coconuts have done fairly well inland in the southern deserts, though they still sometimes croak for some reason or other (possibly there it is the occasional cold following by insufficient warmth). Coconuts are frequently successfully grown in Central Florida where frosts and even freezes are common...just not severe enough to actually kill the palm... but these frosts/freezes are following immediately by heat and that is what saves them. Sans heat, they could not survive.

Hmmm. I haven't seen the French cooking show either, but as has been mentioned, I don't see why it can't be hosted by nearly anyone. There's a Chinese cooking show hosted by an oriental lady who is very charming but has a distinct British accent and I am always surprised when I hear her for some reason. It's fine with me, but still surprising. Not all nationalities are necessarily limited to their own cuisine either. Julia Child certainly isn't French but she loved French food and taught more than one generation about cooking it. Ming Tsai grew up in Dayton, Ohio, worked in his families restaurant, went to Yale and got an Engineering Degree, finally to Le Cordon Bleu. Is he of Chinese descent? Yes, certainly. Is he Chinese? Nope, he's American. Can he cook? Oh yeah! Is Rick Bayless Mexican? Well, he's 4th generation Oklahoman but lived in Mexico for a while and loves Mexican food. Well, you get my drift. If you love it and are good at it, show me how to cook it, it's all good with me. I'd prefer to avoid the cleavage, but that's a personal opinion. (grin) Annie

I don't think 3" wide is all that much space to sacrifice, but perhaps it is something to consider once the full height is considered. What I was considering was how much miscellaneous prep stuff we have in the (equivalent to this) drawer already (combined households) and how much I want the knife block off the countertop and I want my knives on the prep island. I don't think it would be difficult to find the right knife. Handles vary some and placement gets routine. Safety: I could drop a knife at any point, but I still use them. Currently we do not have any little kids around (youngest is 10), but the next generation should be considered, I guess. Although...I grew up in a household with a much more exposed knife holder and so did my siblings and all of our children and grandchildren and somehow none have suffered a tragedy as a result. Funny how I find knives in a drawer much riskier and more likely for someone to reach in and slide a hand along a blade because someone didn't seat it properly in the knife holder. I tell myself that's illogical, but it's a fear I have.