Hi D1, I think you photo shopped your lawn to make it look that green. That's what I'm thinkin'. Your lawn looks great! I am posting an image showing the dimensions I need. Unfortunately the images get washed out during the upload. Looking at the back of your house starting from the right side these are the dimensions I need. A. From the right side of the house/foundation to the right edge of the slab. B. The width of the slab. C. The dimension from the left edge of the slab to the left side of the house/foundation D. From the right edge of the slab to the right edge of the door. E. The width of the door measured from the edge where "D" ends and "F" begins. F. From the left edge of the door to the left edge of the slab. G. From the house to the edge of the slab near the pines. H. From the house to the property line. A, C, and H. can be close (within and inch or two, "H" can be a foot or two) but the others should be exact or at least within 1/4". The photos show there is daylight available at the sides of the property and some locations to put a rain garden. If you can get me those dimensions I can draw the structure. The little red "dots" in the image below are camera locations. The ones on the corners of the slab should be taken with the camera sitting on the slab looking towards the the lawn just catching the corner of the house so I can use the siding to measure . I was showing 3 others on the left side from about 50'± away. Hopefully your neighbor wouldn't mind if you took a few shots from their yard. Do not use any tele or wide angle setting when taking the pictures as they distort the edges too much. Keep the camera as low and level as possible or a slight tilt up if any. Distance is key. The more area you can fit into a single shot without a wide-angle setting the better. I think the least expensive solution is going to be flashing the entire wall although you may be able to find someone who will come in and cut the sod and remove some top soil for free. So glad you posted some close-ups of the stair as in the other photos it appeared to be on the ground, which it is not, and the sheathing is exposed to the elements with only a thin coat of paint protecting it. Did you like the stair idea I posted above? I am going to specify cedar and Philippine "mahogany" so that it is easier to paint if you choose (just the cedar). Pressure treated lumber will warp split and check like crazy in that location. Guessing from the dual leaders on the corners of the house I am assuming you have a hip roof and not gable ends so I am going to call out gutter drains in those corners sending them to daylight behind the pines. Because lawn drainage is not a major concern in those locations you can use the corrugated pipe already going across the lawn and the same or a rigid pipe on the other side. I will be in and out all day today and tomorrow but will have time to get this done on Tuesday if you can get me the dimensions I need. The photos would be nice but are less important although a good shot showing both sides of the pines (in the same picture, distant) and where your property line ends back there would be a great help. Thanks, Jey

You're being evasive about how you apply water. If you don't have a sprinkler, then what do you do? Do you just turn on the hose and let it run out? I have an oscillator sprinkler at the end of my hose. If you don't have an oscillator, I suggest you get one - a turbo oscillator. That's the kind without the mechanical linkage gizmo. Those things bind up and get stuck - sometimes that happens right out of the box. The turbos last for years. The only issue with them is they apply water so slowly that it takes hours and hours to get an inch. Mine takes 8 hours. Some take 5 hours. It depends on water pressure, hose size, temperature. up or down hill, and a few other things. You'll have to time how long it takes your setup. Oscillators apply water more evenly than anything else. If you live in the Great Plains, then wind is a factor for oscillators, but if not, then give them a try. I've used every sprinkler at least once. The invention of the Turbo on the oscillator finally made them work.

Yes, I added the maximum amount of peppers/onions allowed for a half recipe (1-1/2 cups for 11 lbs tomatoes). I added salt and oregano, and then added some more hoping to improve the taste. This was the first time I cooked with the peels though. Whether or not that was what affected the flavor, I think I'll go ahead and blanch and peel first from now on, just in case that was it. I wasn't trying to get it to taste like commercial tomato juice--those always taste too salty to me anyway. The leftover juice from canning roma crushed tomatoes tasted really good...and without ANY seasoning or salt added. But what I really thought was good was the leftover juice from the mexican tomato sauce. Wow. Those being so good was the reason I decided to make juice in the first place! At this point, I'm just going to make spaghetti sauce. I wanted to make that recipe anyway, and it won't be any extra work to do it. I'll just have a bigger batch than I would have planned on. I'm thinking it might have been the variety of tomatoes, although this is only our second summer with the garden, and we have different varieties this year than last, so I don't have much to compare it with. I really appreciate the help and advice. Jill

Ashley, Thank you. I need all the prayers I can get right now. My DIL is too much.. like having a room full of crazy BM's! I am wondering if she has multiple personalities. On Saturday, she accused me of wanting to take DGS so I can have a baby of my own... and when I point blank asked her if she wants him back full time, she said no. She says she can't have a baby full time "at this point" in her life. I mean she flipped from me stealing the baby to saying she can't possibly handle him full time. I was at work and while I was with a customer, she walked out taking DGS with her. By the agreement, she is supposed to have Saturday & Sunday. Well, Sunday she didn't call or bring him back. On Monday, I talked to my son and he told me what she said to him... everything was twisted. He is upset & does not need to be bothered with worrying about this. He has a job to do over there, he should not have to have her telling him to tell me anything. She can tell me herself, but she tells him & he is frustrated because he is over there and can't do anything. So, Tuesday she calls my daughter to ask for diapers. My daughter takes her diapers & DGS had been taken back to the doctor. I called the doctor's office & was told DGS has an ear infection, but is otherwise okay. So, Tuesday evening, I ask her if she is going to stick to the agreement... she says no, he is staying with her. So, I tell her that I still want a drug test & I had talked to my attorney about guardianship. She told me to bring it on and she would pass a drug test. I told her if she takes a drug test and passes, I will drop everything and she can keep DGS full time. (lol, even though she ranted for ten minutes on Saturday on how that was impossible!) She didn't answer me. Then today (Wed) she sent me a text at 5pm, telling me my son wanted us to talk. (my son told me on Monday that he told her to have a talk with me) but I did not write back. Less than an hour later, she called me at work & said she had DGS outside & I need to get him. I wasn't shocked but I was in the middle of working... it's a very busy weekend coming up & normally I leave work at 5, it was 6 & I had planned to stay til about 8. I hesitated and she says "well you do want him don't you.. this is what you want, right?" And, I could not say no to taking him. She said she was going to go ahead & stick to our prior agreement. I went outside & there he was... dried boogers on his face, gunk dried on his eye, his little eyes were red and he looked pathetic. She handed him to me without a word & huffed back to her car. She was visibly angry, like I just forced her to give up her child. I took him inside & then noticed he had a fever. I called her and asked when he had last taken medicine. In a very friendly tone, tells me oops I forgot to give you his medicine, I'll be right there. She came inside & this time (mind you, this was about fifteen minutes after she huffed off) she was being sweet & bubbly.. like we were besties. She said she took a video of him taking a few steps and she couldn't wait to show me but she forgot it at home. It was WEIRD. Like a totally different person. So, I cleaned up and brought DGS home, gave him fever reducer & a bottle. He took a nap and woke up in the evening... we played, he ate, and he went back to sleep. I may finally sleep easier knowing he is here. But, I know she only did this because she wanted to go somewhere tonight. I have to take it one day at a time, because the next time I see or hear from her, I don't know what I'll get.