so long, Sedum

Mine look like that in the winter, Fran.

ah, right, thanks, Kat!! i can't remember as far back as last year to know if htey went like this then. I'll keep my fingers crossed and try some tlc. Thanks for the reassurance x

Cut them right back and you should see new shoots soon...:)

thanks, lulu!

I'm always a bit wary of cutting back - suppose I do it at the wrong time, or too enthusiastically? but about time I cut my ornamental grasses (want to save the plumes) so I'll cut the Sedum as well - maybe check the plant guides and go through the entire garden!

by the way, how's your publishing going? did you look at the other lulu??

If you root around the surface Fran - there will be some sign of life - all my sedum in pots are showing shoots now.

I did a quick look at the other Lulu...will reinvestigate.
Am writing bits and thinking about poss book outlines. Blurb is quite expensive if I use colour photos. I like having pictures though..

understood, Lulu. There are "novel writing" software packages one can buy - I have one, and if i ever find it again I'll have a go with it! Also "poetry book" software which I'm thinking of checking out - been trying to get a book out for about 20 years, but I simply can't see small print, so I can't set the damn thing up for printing. Want to self-publish, so I can print out only as many as are wanted at the time, rather than going to a proper printer and having 500 books (minimum order) stuck at the back of a cupbaord!

If you send me the drafts, maybe I can help?
A proper print/publish does work out cheaper though. I don't think the price goes down the more books printed using online publishing...will have to check that one out!

I did think of online publishing; there are "print on demand" e-book sites, bu they need a print-ready copy to set from - they can set from a printed book - but the book still has to be set up first, which puts the ball back to square one.

One site I found looked kosher - you get a royalty for each copy sold, and a page to kee check, and xx copies for yourself, with posters etc for the book launch - but by the time I'd converted and edited their small-print pdf info file they'd been taken over by someone else, so back to square one there also.

My main reason for wanting to print at home is that I could then do a large-print version for other people likeme, who can't read standard print - we don't get to read much poetry for that raeson alone.

The main problem with poetry is getting the verses to break cleanly across pages, rather than halfway through a verse - and gettng each line on a single line! novels are easier, they just flow and it doesn't much matter where the page breaks come in.

I could set up the large print one easily, it's the wee 'un that's causing probs. I'm trying to find out if there's some sort of formula by which a book can be set in (say) 24 front on A4 and retain the same layout when reduced to (say) font 12 on A5 - of course the margins and line spacing would have to be different for each paper size.

*s* I suppose it'd be a lot easier just to hand the whole thing over to a local printer and let them do it all - one I asked said they'd do the setting up as well, but they quoted me something around £1600 for the obligatory 500 minimum order. I could then use one of those to get an e-book, but what do I do with the 499 other copies??

lol I'm probably making a mountain out of this when there's a much easier way out, but at the moment I'm stuck halfway up Everest!

LOL! Good tip with poetry......write it all and never mind the spacing until the end. Then you can use the space bar and move lines up or down, then save!
It is an art all in itself.
Keep going with it Fran, you'll find a way I'm sure..

PS, love the way we've gone from sedums to books!

natural progession *s* from Lulu to Lulu!

Natural mess sedums in winter Fran...I just leave mine to it...

thanks Crissue - I did cut them back, very tentatively (had four whole days to do it while my PC was down), and saw the new growth coming up, so fingers crossed