I sure didn't miss the equinox, i'd been counting the days...a long, hot, dry summer, a WAY overly ambitious garden and toooo many projects, combined with my lousy genetics had me ready for a change of seasons. But I've got the honey harvested, tomato juice done, and maybe one more batch of sauce to go, the chicken house is finished, except half the shingles and some paint...and nest boxes...and better roosts than the skid they're using now...and on and on.... My late corn did pretty well also, but i only did three rows and didn't have the energy or time to set up the electronet fence, so the coons got most of it. They got 5 of my chickens, too, despite the electronet(which claims to repel dingoes and wolves in addition to the masked marauders). Anybody have a good recipe for raccoon?? I'm thinkin shish-kebabs or maybe coonburgers? Coon pie? Still need to freeze the last of the green beans, pull up the dry beans (canellini, black, yin-yang and soy), want to make some sauerkraut... wish i could get the gardens cleaned up before snow...just once in my life... THe flocks of migrating robins are frequent visitors to my couple acres of grass, and the bluebirds, goldfinches and doves are already in their winter flock-together mode. Add power-washing the feeders to my To-Do scroll...Kerouac's got nothin on me...well, except that he got somewhere with his... Oh well...gotta take time to smell the grandbaby, only a couple more swimming days left, I'm just waiting for her to get up from her nap so we can go outside and play on this gorgeous fall afternoon. She's just like Grammy, well-insulated against the cold water, the pool is an inviting 66 degrees and nothin could keep her(or me) out of it! lynnie b

Casa Lilo CA Here I am! A day late, it's the time difference. It has been raining a lot, maybe I overdid the rain-dance? When it stops for a little bit, I am rushing outside to uncover the wood-pile and get some firewood on the deck, am rushing out to scoop Gussie's poop in her "den", clean the litter box, dump the ash-can, all those nice things that generally are done whenever I get to them. Currently it has to be when weather permits. I had a dental appointment and had to cancel it when I got that nasty cold/flu, and now my dentist is not available for the whole month; he has cancer and is in SFUC for Chemo. He is such a good guy and I feel bad, but I also feel bad because I did not get my routine cleaning - and it's important, because of the periodontal problems, and now here I am with a gum-infection and no antibiotics. I have been treating it with peroxide and it is getting better, this morning I am not hurting any more, but my face is all puffed up. I do miss my Dentist! Things are bound to improve. Some gifts I have ordered have just shipped, hope they get here in time for me to send them to their recipients. I had the weird idea that I was going to wrap send send them with a personal note written by my personal hands instead of having them forwarded by the Vendor - what was I thinking? The upside of all that rainy weather is: I can't keep a clean house when it's so dark that I can't see the dirt, neither can anyone else. Seems there is always a pony in that pile of manure, isn't there?

thanks all for the responses. yes, it is one single stalk...and it is beginning to list as if the "canopy" is getting too heavy for it to hold up. it is about 4 ft tall from the top of the pot to the top of the stalk. there are about 20-22 large leaves on top. i repotted last year into a larger pot but with this years growth i feel certain it will need a larger pot next spring. as for if it is a cutting or seedling? i simply cannot remember. plumeria is completely new to me. if memory serves (remember this was 4 yrs ago now) i was told that the color of seedlings could not be predetermined - only the cuttings. is that right? if so, i feel like i probably chose a specific color, therefore a cutting -- but i've slept since then and could be wrong on that....and cannot even remember what color i chose!!! lol. as for fertilizing, sun, etc: it is in full Texas sun - we've had 34 straight days of 100+ temps. in spring (late feb/early mar) i give all my plants compost tea twice, two weeks apart and water them with liquified seaweed once a week for a month, then i switch to regular fert. i had been using miracle grow but have since switched to peters. with regular fert, i only fertilize once every two weeks throughout the summer. i didnt fertilize anything after the temps rose and stayed so high - it seemed too much to ask of the poor plants - so i guess it has not been fertilized in about 3-4 weeks. thanks to the bi-coastal storms, our temps have fallen by nearly 20 degrees and we've had a nice slow rain for the best part of 2 days...it is now time to fertilize again i think, until it cools to dormancy. so dont behead - just repot in spring? all thoughts welcome! Jo ps. one last thought on pots - i grow mostly succulents. sux generally should be "underpotted". do plumeria require esp large pots for best growth? i have a couple of really large (ugly) black plastic pots like from the nursery. should i consider this instead of "next size up" terra cotta as i have been doing for the past 4 years? TIA!

I assumed as she did not purchase meds nor take SS to dr because she had no insurance card that she was financially worse than she actually is. My bad. The more you post the more I see exactly why you fear. Sad about the mother/daughter relationship being more like 'buddies' and Mom re-living her youth through her bud the young daughter. You're stuck in a hardspot between really caring about what happens to these children or giving in and letting them go inwhich you know deep down is not really in their best interest. What kind of mother has one in juvie and yaks naked men with a 12 yr old! Mom sounds a bit unrealistic and all about me me me. Considering the economy and the job nose dive since 2008, I certainly can't say I blame you for not ditching jobs and following this mother. For that matter, I'd not ditch my home, job and stable lifestyle period just because this lady chose to follow her latest man and move cross country. Unrealistic thinking that Dad should just pack up his family and follow her around the country. Bottomline, Mom dumped her kids for a man. If her kids were oh so important to her she'd have figured out a different solution to start with once she realized her kids were not going with her. --"I like his kids but sometimes parts of me just want to say go live with her but I don't want to take care of them when they come back out of control."-- Can't blame you on that one at all. If they go odds sounds good they will be very different kids if they end up getting sent back your way. If the lawyer thinks she'll have a hardtime getting somebody to take Mom's case, she'll likely have a even harder time winning the adjustment in custody. But that still leaves you/Dh in a tight spot with two kids being influenced in two very different lifestyles. That's hard for children and especially going into the pre-teen/teen years. They're not ready to make informed intelligent decisions yet in their youthful views all grown-up and know it all. What is your husband saying about all this? He's as torn as you I'd imagine. I'm assuming he wants his children by him, wants them to have guidelines and necessary rules yet has two kids seeing Mamma's life that is poorly influencing both their health and best interest. Why you certainly can't keep them away from Mom totally, husband might think about approaching different visitaion schedule. Summer at Mom's all in one stretch could perhaps be turned into a few smaller trips a year (giving them less inbetween time in seeing her, but her less time to do weeks worth of influencing). I'd also be monitoring SD's cellphone if I were Dad and taking it away if SD can't be trusted with it (same with any computer usage)...kids just don't realize the dangers of misuse of these items. The girls only got six more yrs to hate Dad's rules and choices 9which he makes in her best interest whether she believes that or not) and then she can go where she pleases and do what she wants. If this mother has been gone three years and has yet to follow through with her 'Im suing for custody' I'd bank on she really can't find anyone to take her case or that she is not serious but all talk. Sad part is her threatening about it keeps the kids torn with the false promise that Mamma is going to 'rescue' them. I think it's time she either puts up or shuts up and through husband's lawyer I'd find a way to communicate this.