Thank you, Laura... such wonderful sentiments! :-) Our weather has been crazy, too... but we half expected it. Last year, we were already laying out soaker hoses and starting to water...and this year, we've gotten so much rain that we're completely saturated! We're just now able to get in and cut grass, and talk about tall! It's hard on the mowers, I'm sure, but what can you do?! If it's grass, it has to be kept mowed at least semi-regularly... and if it's garden beds, they must be kept weeded or the grasses, thistles and other nasties take over! So, we're darned if we do and darned if we don't! Mother's Day was nice... calls from my kids, and the husband made a nice dinner... while I spent the day relaxing, for the most part. There are certain chores that must be done regardless of what day it is, like cleaning and feeding dogs and other animals, but that's no big deal... I have it down to a science! ;-) I finally got the old guy to help me get photos off my camera, so I thought I'd share a few this morning... Here's a mama and her twins... My very best mouser... I call her Vixen! The next generation of excellent mousers... one of Vixen's 3 little ones... Walking from the shade garden area toward the new rose arbor... A young Peony Tree in the dappled shade garden... notice the rambler rose runners everywhere on the ground! Closeup of the flower from the Peony Tree... Another Peony Tree in the front yard... north side... And this is a Trillium that opened white and is turning a pale pink shade. It's among a patch of purple flowered hybrid Trillium I planted several years ago... you can see the mottled leaves of the hybrid... I didn't plant the white one, though... And finally, the first of the Irises are starting! I hope you enjoyed a walk around the yards with me... stick around as all the roses begin blooming and other perennials begin to color the gardens a wonderful rainbow of scented color! Thanks, Al... I can finally view Youtube, but the monitor I'm using has no sound on board... for a girl with a technological genius as a husband, I'm always the last to get upgraded! Would you believe I'm still using Windows XP?! I desperately need an upgrade to Windows 7, which should be coming shortly... when he has time to upgrade me. :-) It's kind of like being the plumber with the leaky toilet handle that sticks, or the barber that doesn't have time to cut his own hair... when you're in the business, you're last in line! :-) It looks to be another gorgeous day... sunny and hot with strong humidity... I may spend some time weeding and edging today, instead of killing myself cutting grass! Hope everyone has a lovely day! And... Happy Gardening!

The moles are eating grubs, worms & other bugs in your yard and flower beds. We use the "Organic caster oil spray" that you can get from "Gardensalive.com" or you my find it at a large nursery in you area. The only thing with it is you have to reapply after it rains. We also use the smoke bombs you place into the holes. Traps have not been successful for us & our dog wouldn't even look at a mole! Maybe our cats would but they are to lazy & havn't learned how to dig into the ground for food. Good luck mole hunting, it can be really tuff getting rid of them.

those pictures actually made me laugh, Brenda. They are so cute!! How sweet that they get along so well.

She's jealous. I wouldn't do too much about it, since I believe it is best to let animals work out things for themselves, as long as it doesn't come to fighting. If you get on Mickey too much, she will associate that with the puppy and that won't make matters any better. Also, I wouldn't show the puppy a whole lot of attention right in front of Mickey. But, if Mickey is bad, I would use a firm NO...to let her know she's in the wrong. I don't have cable...so I don't watch The Dog Whisperer...so maybe someone else has better ideas. I've never had animals that at least didn't come to some kind of understanding between themselves. Well, I do have a couple of horses that hate each other...both mares...and the one that is low gal on the totem pole had to learn to live with it.