Bwahaha! Sorry, just a frustrated ramble. And a silly mood about it ;) The Fates sent a tornado today, so they understood it after all, darnit. I will probably be summoned to what Oxford calls a Viva Voce, [where you have to wear Sub Fusc academic dress, but that's not the big deal]. I will have to argue my knowledge of the past year's work. Generally just an oral exam, but more intimidating because of having to stand in front of a Committee of sorts and be asked anything. The school can't tell me when or whether this will take place yet. Either December or next August!! That makes planning difficult. They won't tell me whther I am going on to the next year of the course yet, and it starts in early October! It may be because I'm borderline Honours and need to makeup one part. So the Viva could mean Honours in the end, so that could be very good. For the rest of the equation, I really wish I knew whether I'm going to Ireland in December! I won't be going over at all if the school doesn't need me to. I have an Irishman that I want to see. Nevermind the Zimbabweean ;) And I have a surgery coming up with its own hoops and hurdles to arrange with insurance, etc. That's about it ;) After today's tornado locally, I feel safe in explaining :) Oh z's and zeds, pants and whinge, etc are just symbolic of the amusing yet at times frustrating differences in English among the US, UK, Ireland and Zimbabwee English. Lots of confusion for a shared language!! Hard to grasp the subtleties like you can in local correspondence! eg "Now when you call me luv you mean....?" but obviously you don't ask folks that ;]

Woody- Great questions. I like the bark mulch paths I've created elsewhere in the garden. The texture is sufficiently different from grass so that if I'm walking across the back lawn toward the path, my feet can "identify" when I've stepped onto a path. I, too, find them a pretty good weed barrier with annual to bi-annual addition of wood chips. My possible roadblock to using this method on the east side of the garage is my husband. (Poor guy, I keep ragging on him.) He doesn't like bark mulch up against the house. I have put in paths up against the house in two beds, but there the material at ground level is brick. On the side of the garage it's siding down to the ground and at the north corner is where there is termite damage from the time of a previous owner. So my husband worries about putting lunch out for termites, nevermind that they come in underground and they'd be more interested in chomping on the house were they to return. Another note on termites -- when the guy was out this summer about the time we got back from 3-weeks away -- he recommended that we reduce the weeds to deter termites. So, there is actually a serious reason to do a better job than my dear one and I have been managing. There seem to be four basic weeds here: violets, some sort of grass, bindweed, and something low growing and fleshy that loves to break off at the crown. The narrow bed has very little in it at present -- a patch of lemon thyme, chives, and several too-large-for-the-space Emperor of China mums. One of you asked what my neighbor has going on in this side yard. They've removed everything. Got lawn people to seed and then overseeded again. They want "simple". Just grass. PrairieMoon- Sounds like we are both path dreamers. Also sounds like you like the answer you came up with for your path. I particularly like what you described beyond the gate in your situation. In mine, there is also a gravel patch bordered on 2 sides by gate and fence, and by patio and a flower bed on the other two sides. it's a small, awkward gravel patch with the same weed issues as the path. I am leaning now toward digging the gravel out to a depth of 4 to 6 inches, put down landscape fabric or newspaper, and then the path material, probably cedar wood chips or try a blend like Woody's. I seem to have friendly light conditions with most shade at the mid section, so I'll have to make up my mind about whether and how to use plant material. . I do think I'd rather have plants away from the house rather than up against it. Or maybe -- no fun -- no plant material at all. I may have to figure out a way to define the edge between neighbor's grass and my path / border. I did really think I'd be asking more questions about perennials along this path. Maybe that's my question ... How have others incorporated paths and perennials? Not talking here, of course, about access into beds, but using perennials with a path that needs to be functional. This is the only access, for instance, for the lawn mower to come from front yard to back.

There are only a handful of induction ranges out right now. Samsung, Kenmore Elite and GE Profile freestanding (with controls on back), and Kenmore Elite and Electrolux slide-in (what it sounds like you want) are the only ones I know of except Viking and Diva. We have the E'lux induction range, two months now, and like it pretty well, but to be honest, I have figured out all of the intuitive stuff without the manual just so I could continue to feed my family and have yet to really study what it can do. The induction is probably no more impressive than any induction cooktop but I do like it much better than our radiant top. DH looked at both the Kenmore and E'lux and was more impressed with the construction of the E'lux, which is why we ended up with it. Yes, it sticks out past cabinet and counter, but where it is in my kitchen, I don't notice it and it doesn't bother me. It may bother some, and I did fret about it until it went in, but it's not bad. It should fit in your space, but as jessrae said, you will have to fill in with something (appliance stores would have a stainless version, we have granite) to bridge the gap between the back of the range and the wall. florantha, I don't think the noise is a problem at all. The fan runs when I am using both convection and induction but I can hardly hear it. It continues to run for a while after the unit is off and I don't know it's running unless I stand right there and feel the air coming out. As far as the hum with induction, the only time I hear it is when I use the power boost feature to boil water quickly, and it's truly a very quiet hum. I haven't noticed a significant difference in oven size but I don't use huge pans; it's ample for most baking. If you can wait, I would. Other companies are coming out with slide-in versions and prices may be even more competitive. However, if you are ready to have one, the E'lux seems to be a good model (so far, though I know 2 months is not a good sample). There is at least one other person who has one who has done much more extensive research (and reported on it) on Appliances. Go over there and search for Electrolux induction. Also ask over there and you may get more input from others who have more experience with the various models.

I know that but it's no fun to see her drag her kids into it. I'd love to grab her, shake her or pound her head against a wall and yell "look what you are doing to your kids!!" " Don't you care????" and I know that I can't. Her relationship with her kids is her business but it doesn't make it any easier to watch. If she had called me, that's one thing. But, she involves SD by asking me through her daughter and she does that a lot. She's also got SD very excited about the wedding and SD brings it up frequently. I could be wrong, but I believe she has created a fantasy in SD's mind that everything will be wonderful when she marries BF... they'll be a family & she can go live there with them, etc. but that isn't going to happen. The craziest part of all, she HATES when SD and I get along. (more insecurity about that) but the more she ignores SD, as time goes on, SD turns to me more & more. I not only spend more time with SD, but I talk to her, I listen to her and even though she has an attitude with me, she knows she can count on me when she needs me. As she is realizing that, she has less attitude with me and we are actually becoming closer because of the way BM treats her. That only upsets BM even more, but instead of giving SD more attention, she has chosen to give less time & attention. It's really sad all the way around. I've also noticed other things she does to mimic our (DH & me) life. We ride ATV's, she went out & bought new ATV's for everyone last Christmas. We went to San Francisco for a weekend, she was going to do the same. We have an SUV, she went out and bought an SUV as soon as she moved there, even though her BF has a mini van that would accommodate all of them. She already had a new truck that her mom repossessed a few weeks ago. We've gone on a few cruises & now she's talked of wanting to take a family cruise. It's really humorous at times. She has no job, her BF's motorcycle & his kids dirt bikes were repossessed, her mom took back the truck she signed for because BM wasn't making the payments, they are about to be evicted & she can't or won't pay the $216 a month in support or any of the medical bills, but she is planning a grand wedding & all these trips. I think it's all in her head & she wants to create an illusion that she has a perfectly wonderful life. I'm not sure if she sees reality slapping her in the face... or if she just pretends it isn't happening. It will go away?