Relaxnews This year’s new ski gear is all about performance and comfort. Here’s a look at some of the latest, most innovative products heading for the slopes this season. SKI BOOTS Salomon X Pro Custom Heat If your feet are often cold in ski boots, then Salomon’s X Pro Custom Heat with heated liner are just the job. They …

  DPA Andreas Fraedrich has so many enormous golden-ball cacti that he could provide seating for a whole army of unloved older women — the thorny plants are jocularly known as “mother-in-law’s cushion.” The German also has a huge collection of other plants: queens of the night, ponytail palms, lemon and fig trees, yuccas, lantana, agave, weeping figs and rubber …

  Donauwoerth / DPA For generations of little girls, the name Kaethe Kruse has been synonymous with a childhood dream — about one day possessing a genuine Kruse doll from Germany, perhaps the most famous doll in the world. It was a dream that always had some major obstacle. For example, that the dolls were too expensive for the girls’ …