I just thought I'd revise this thread since we are in the depths of spider mite season here . . . again! I've grown dahlias for years and the mites are my worse problem. Oh yeah, the earwigs eat holes in the leaves and then wreck the petals but the mites have even killed my plants! This is a hot, dry part of the country and the Colorado State U website TrowelGal recommended comments on the problems with mites in those conditions. Also, they say that Isotox is effective. I've been using that pesticide weekly and still the mites always show up in a major way. (Suspect that Cheryl would NOT want to risk her toads to Isotox for good reason.) I once worked in a rose greenhouse and the head grower was convinced that washing the plants did nearly as much good as spraying them with a miticide. But, it was in combination that the system worked best. Blasting the mites off the plants with water, allowing the foliage to dry, then spraying was most effective. It works fairly well for me also probably because the mites on the ground nearly always get sprayed whereas the mites under the leaves may be shielded. Contrary to what may have been said about my aim - I can hit the floor with both my hat and the bug spray. My question, is there anything else I can be doing? Unlike Lola, my experience using neem was absolutely unsatisfactory. And Cheryl, did you give up on dahlias? Look, I've battled the mites on dahlias for well over a decade and still put out hundreds of tubers each year. I don't think a self-respecting toad would come anywhere close to this arid landscape so I don't have them to worry about but, gosh, seeing those bright, beautiful blooms every year is worth an effort. Steve

Kennel cough is hard to prevent. We get the boosters every 6 mos. but they still get a little dose of it, sometimes. This time it was a stomach virus though. They are just about over it now, thank goodness, because they have to overnight at the kennel again soon. Kennel cough is sorta like the common cold.....hard to prevent, but you can reduce the symptoms and severity, with the vaccine. The best stuff is the organic cleaner, that gets almost anything out of fabrics, that pets soil, whether carpet, upholstery, etc. Still, I recommend furniture covers for the pieces where the pets typically like to lay, as they tend not to worry too much about where they throw up.

Tam, I know it's after Christmas, but I'm hoping you and your family had a wonderful and blessed Christmas and I wanted you to know how much I've enjoyed your beautiful decorations and tablesettings. You are such a talented photographer also. I have to confess.... You may see some tablesettings that look a lot like your's! I was so blown away by all of them, but the one with the sage green tablecloth and napkins I must have! It's meant to be, because I walked in TJ Maxx the day after Christmas and there were your hobnail plates just waiting for me! I already have the chargers and well as as some other things I can use. Oh, Happy Day!! I'm still looking for a Christmas goose. And the darling silverware holding stockings were 2 for $1 in blue, green, and white! Happy New Year! Can't wait to see your January table! Betty

Golddust, you wrote: "Realistically, she will be making money. A property management said she can easily rent out her (paid off) home for about $3k a month. Added with her retirement income, she will have to start paying income taxes. If she pays us for housecleaner and a gardener, she can write off that expense as renter's credit." (My emphasis in the bolded part.) I don't understand this. Renters don't get income tax credits for their rent, at least as far as I know. It's just a household expense like any other. Though it may come into play when figuring various low-income benefits offered to the elderly, like perscription costs or heating allowances for which she might be eligible. And if she is paying expenses in your household in return for board and care, then perhaps that money may be taxable income to you and your DH? I would check with your accountant before you set up the deal. Not that I think you shouldn't do it this way, but sometimes what seems equitable and appropriate on a human scale complicates things like taxes and eligibility for other benefits. We had a Plan B for my MIL (who was having progressively more serious TIAs and couldn't safely live alone another winter in a wood-heated house), but she, as always, managed things her own way by going to sleep after eating her lunch in her own own house and not waking up again. She was a gifted water dowser and I have always suspected that on a psychic level she figured out that her kids (my DH and his sisters and I) had a Plan B that was nearly in full development. Appalling shock for all of us, but as she had often said after my own Mother had died unexpectedly at home, "She Did It The Right Way", at least for her. I second the advice to keep her furniture in her rooms, and not budge from there if there's any chance that having her stuff in the common rooms will make it difficult for you to use your rooms the way you like. It could get to a be profoundly annoying burr under your saddle. Good luck! L.