Violetta, I love your random post showing your sproutings. I wouldn't worry too much about the reddish colored leaves on one of your Palettes. The first leaves a clematis throws up in the spring may be adversely affected by alternating periods of cool and warm weather. Let the plant mature before attempting to decide whether it is a mislabeled clematis or not. Like you, the warm weather here is prematurely causing some of my clematis to begin pushing up new growth. I have several that are already 4 to 6 inches up and we are still about a month away from our last average frost day (April 15th). I have gone back and forth about whether to pinch the tops out since doing so is just going to encourage more growth. I finally bit the bullet yesterday and did pinch back a couple of the taller ones since if I wait, I know I will be hesitant to do it later if we don't get any more frosts this year. I guess it is a wait and see game from here on out! Once again thanks for showing pictures of your spring growth.

Well, sorry that didn't turn out to be the one. I posted on a thread 3 or 4 days ago, where the person was feeling guilty because her contractor had his saws stolen right out of his truck in front of her house. She got a lot of responses from most people telling her that although feeling bad about it was natural, she wasn't the one who failed to secure the truck. I posted too, and now, I cannot find the thread. I've wandered back through the pages, I've search my user name, I've searched for keywords. Anybody seen this thread? Red

The ground screw is not required to be green by the NEC, but it must be a machine screw in a threaded hole, not a self tapping screw. The first 'electrician' is in a world of hurt and knows it. I would not allow him to set foot on the property, and would report him to the AHJ immediately. Not allowing him to 'fix' his poor work may have some repercussions under local law. A few minutes with an attorney would be well spent at this point, especially if he has already mentioned the 'lien' words to you. He may lose his license (more likely a fine) for not pulling a required permit, especially if you [pursue the complaint against him. Talk with the AHJ. You may need to pull a permit yourself to get an inspector to review the work.

pseudo, What BM is doing to her kids is abuse, in my opinion. But, my opinion means squat. I'm not sure what your entire situation is, but have you and DH taken a 'defensive' stance? It sounds as if everything you do is defending yourselves and that no matter how ridiculous BM's complaints are, she is being taken seriously.... maybe because you are defending yourselves? When she says her son is bi polar... I'd respond by asking her why she thinks that. Then, suggest a professional evaluate him. I might even add my opinion to the professional, "he seems like a normal 10 year old to me. I'd hate to think of him being labeled as bi polar if he really isn't. I'd hate to see him on medication if he really doesn't need to be." and let the professional make the determination. It's just my opinion, but it's a bad parent that pushes to get their kid diagnosed and on medication for something, unless there are obvious signs that others besides mom notice. Thinking Munchausen by proxy? (Is mom getting something out of kid having mental health problem?) When mom wants to split up the kids by taking them on alternate weekends, I might ask if she thinks it's important for her kids to spend time with her together? It might create more rivalry if they alternate weekends. Imagine one kid comes back saying we did ______. and the other kid feels like he missed out on that fun. It can become a competition and about who has more fun with mom or who mom likes better. That rivalry can happen when they are together, but might be worse when they are split up. My SD is constantly worried that her mom is doing things with BF's kids when she's not there, or that she talks to her sister more than her. I'd point out that it's not about mom & her convenience, it's about the kids & what's best for them, even if it means mom is inconvenienced. If you are not defensive but making it about the kids, not about mom or you/DH, then you might get better results. Mom wants to be seen as the victim and your complaint of her is only going to fuel her image as a victim. But, if you are not complaining about what mom is doing, but complain about things that hurt/affect the kids... how can DSS or mom argue with that. Let me give you an example: In our situation, BM says she'll call SD back, then doesn't. Instead of DH calling BM (or someone else) and saying how terrible BM is for not calling SD, he would say to BM (or someone else) how upset SD gets when her mom promises to call but doesn't. She looks at the clock (when BM says I'll call you back in 30 minutes) and mopes around. Sometimes she calls BM back & gets her voice mail. If DH were to call BM and be critical of her not calling (or answering her phone), BM would feel attacked (& think DH is telling her what to do) and someone else might see him criticizing mom as him attacking mom. But, when it's presented from how it makes SD feel, it's not attacking mom, it's worrying about SD, which gets a different reaction. (mom still gets defensive & makes excuses but she can't argue that SD isn't sad when SD is sad by it.)