Lawns are a lot easier than you are being told. There are two extremely popular grasses in the south. One is bermuda and the other is St Augustine. Bermuda is a fine bladed grass which requires extra care every week while St Augustine grass is a coarse bladed grass. There are two kinds of bermuda: one is a hybrid which only slightly resembles the "wild" varieties, and the other is common bermuda which is started from seed. This bermuda seed is the only grass seed that makes sense in the south. If you mix the two kinds of bermuda, it will always and forever look weedy. The two different kinds of grass just look different. The hybrid looks really nice most of the time. The common looks so-so most of the time unless you really spend a lot of time and money on it. Really both require a lot of care when compared with St Augustine. Bermuda is a FULL SUN type of grass. If it is in the shade of a building, fence, or shrubbery/trees, it will thin out and look poor. Bermuda can go dormant in the winter and when it does not get regular water. St Augustine comes in many varieties. The common variety is rarely seen anymore. The others are all hybrids with different degrees of tolerance for shade, disease, and drought. St Augustine is the only grass in the south that can tolerate much shade, and it can tolerate a lot. In full sun it becomes very dense and very resistant to weeds. The Floratam variety works best in bright sun but will be a little thin in deep shade. When selecting St Augustine what matters most is what's available in your neighborhood. If you find some of a certain variety, please write back and we can explain the pros and cons for the ones you can get. One interesting thing about St Augustine is that you can care for it such that it will wipe out other grasses. All it takes is proper water, mowing, and fertilizer. The difference between proper care for bermuda and St Augustine is slight but important if you want one or the other. If you start with just a few pieces of St Augustine, with proper care it can cover a yard in 2 years. If you want instant lawn, this won't work, but if you are patient, it will work. In fact I just bought a new home with no grass and will be doing the same thing. Sorry I'm being called to dinner. There's more to say, but you might have some more questions.

Scott, Please tell me that the farm got rain! I was kept awake by ridiculous amounts of lightning and thunder here until about 3 a.m., but no rain at that time, and I was watching the radar as rain crept closer and closer to y'all. I hope it reached the farm. It did rain here after I fell asleep--about a quarter-inch. So, I'd say we got about 12" of lighting, 6" of thunder and a quarter-inch of rain. Despite the lack of sleep, I appreciate the rain if not the lighting and noise that came with it. What in the world is wrong with your pond? Is the bottom not holding water or is it that enough rain just didn't fall? One of our neighbors put in a huge pond during the drought of 2008 and I am not sure if it has held any water yet. I think he has too much sand and not enough clay. Another one across the highway put in a pond last year, and it held water in winter when it rained so much that my potatoes were rotting, but it didn't hold any this summer---maybe because rain only falls in small amounts that soak into the pond bottom, leaving no surface water in the pond. I know your pond has to be fixable. Paula, I can't believe the rain missed you. Maybe you'll get some this weekend. Leaves decompose fastest if cut/shredded and then kept wet. Otherwise, it can take them a year or two to break down. So, I always rake mine into a pile and run over it with the lawn mower, catching the cut-up leaves and grass clippings with the mower's grass catcher. If you have some grass clippings mixed in with the leaves, they'll decompose faster...and that is what you want. You want them to be a good winter mulch now, but you want them to break down and enrich the soil by next spring too. Fresh off the trees they are likely to be too dry to decompose, so water them after you put them wherever you want them for mulch. If you want to save this fall's leaves for next spring's mulch to be put on the garden after plants have emerged, chop them up, put them in black garbage bags, use a water hose to put a little water in the bag (not a lot, just want it moist not sopping wet). Then, poke air holes in the bags and pile them up behind the garage or something. By spring, you'll have bags of beautiful leaf mold to use as a composty mulch. Ezzirah, That sounds like a good plan. Hardwood mulch from native trees is a great mulch. Larry, That's a lot of rain. It is nice that you would have sent some of it to Scott if you could have. Jay, It is cooler here too the last couple of days. Only 97 degrees yesterday! With any luck at all, we won't see a 97-degree day again for at least the new few days. I think that Kansas looks simply dreadful on the drought map and cannot even imagine how devastating this summer weather is for all the farmers, ranchers, market growers and gardeners. I am afraid rain will be coming too late for the farmers and ranchers though. Can y'all grow winter wheat in Kansas like we do here in Oklahoma or does Kansas get too cold? I can see folks here in southern OK and western North Texas are plowing their fields now to get them ready to plant winter wheat. They have to be ready so they can rush out into the fields and plant the wheat when rain seems likely so it will be able to sprout and grow. Of course, the rain deficits are so high in much of Kansas that it makes you wonder if enough rain could fall to make the winter wheat grow anyway. The rainfall map since midnight looks pretty good. I'm going to link it below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Rainfall Since Midnight

One problem is that glass cutters can handle straight cuts, but curves are iffy. If your table top is round or oval, it is tough to cut, but a rectangular piece is easier to do. I also wondering if codes require the table top to be "safety' glass, e.g., glass that is internally stressed to cause it to fragment into many small pieces if struck. This stuff may be very difficult to cut in the usual way. If Walmart can not supply you with a replacement top, then make a replacement top or get a whole new table. If you make a top out of plywood, be sure to use outdoor or better yet, marine rated plywood. The other stuff will de-lainate in a short time. Finish the plywood with an outdoor rated finish. A marine varnish is good, but ti takes a longer time to dry than other finishes. Whichever finish you use, be sure to soak the edges where the end grain shows. The edge will require much more finishing liquid than large flat surface. Continue to brush the finish onto the edges as it soaks in. Stop the application when the rate of wicking slows, and lastly, apply to the large flat surface. Sealing the edge (and end grains) is critical for long life.

I have had the BEST weekend people!! I tried a whole different approach. I tried bringing up the subject of his crazy ex wife and his son's very agressive behavior but after a very nice day where we were both relaxed and content. For once, he LISTENED to me! Yay! We came up with some strategies for dealing with some of the issues that have been upsetting our family. I know it's small steps but I feel very encouraged! Plus, I made a comment before our combined birthday party for our 6 and 2 year old this weekend, that everytime we have a party, I feel very ignored by him. Like I don't exist to him and it's not because he's running around being host- because I AM! The whole party- he was so attentive to me, like asking if I needed a drink, getting me my plate of food and bringing it over, taking the baby without being asked, telling me to sit and relax, etc. I don't want to forget all that we need to work on however I feel that this weekend has refreshed us. :)