Those bowls are gorgeous, Lars. I'll have to show them to DH so he gets inspired. He's learning to turn bowls on his lathe. For his first project he started out with a big chunk of wood...it's now about 3" in diameter, lol.

I mailed my swap package today! I was going to wait a bit to mail but with our home still under heavy construction, I just could not take the chance of the package having some kind of accident. Package should arrive on Saturday if all goes well. Michelle

I'm so sad for you, Shey. You are NOT a failure; I'm amazed you keep trying in the face of such a lack of support. It is not failing to not be able to achieve the unachievable...would you consider yourself a failure if you tried to fly by jumping off the roof, and didn't fly? You should also show your BF this post, it is so articulate and sums up the disconnect between your attitudes well. But I was thinking of some answers you could give to BF's accusations as well. I've regrouped them a little as some pretty well fall into the same territory. You don't hug the kids enough, you're not affectionate with them. Why don't you treat my kids like I treat yours!?! You were really quiet with them today, what's wrong with you? - Because they don't care to be hugged by me, talk to me or even to spend time with me. This is evidenced by the fact that they never initiate conversation with me, ask me not to be at their events, and ask to be alone with you. I would love to be more affectionate with them but since they don't like it I try not to irritate them by offering unwanted hugs or chit chat. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells in my own home, but I do it because I know you want to stay close to your children. But they're picky eaters you know that, I don't want them to go hungry! -Well, I don't want them to go hungry either. If you have a better idea of what they'd like to eat, why don't you cook while they are here? I'm trying my best to make meals they will like, but clearly it's not working. Let's try a different tack. I'm going to have 'family time' with the kids separate as that is what they have asked for... You always wait for me to suggest something, don't you want to see us? Let's spend less time together because they need me. -I would dearly love for us all to spend time together but if your children prefer not to then I am content that they should spend time alone with you, since I don't want to upset them. It's hard to suggest things to do when I know they would prefer I was out of the picture altogether. Well, I can't do anything about what she says or does can i! -No, you can't, but it would be nice if you were more sympathetic to how it makes me feel so that I felt you were on my side. They're struggling with their mother, what am I supposed to do, lose my kids?!? -Of course not, but I feel this issue is driving a wedge between us that is going deeper and deeper. I feel you think I've failed somehow and I don't know what else I could do to encourage your children to like me. What would you suggest? If this situation doesn't improve, I feel it's going to eventually turn into our discussing whether our relationship is worth continuing with. I am very unhappy with things as they are and would dearly love for things to improve but for this to happen we both need to be on the same side and working together toward the same goal.

From my reading, it sounds like the liriope leaves grow to about a foot but the flower adds about another foot. That said, I haven't counted it out! It's one thing to have somewhat toxic plants in like a garden bed, but I'd like to avoid it where the dog will step all the time. Actually, to this point, I have all kinds of plants in the yard and almost all are edible for both dogs and humans. Deliberately so. Certainly in the backyard. I think the phlox or thyme is maybe too short. Since I need the plant to stay taller than the bricks in the event of some sinking. Another plant that sounds like it "might" work for my border, on paper, is sea thrift. But I figured if it worked so well in my area, I'd see it planted more often. I've found all kinds of beautiful SunSparkler sedums on Proven Winners website with pink or red flowers. Again, "on paper" sounds like it would work. Just don't want to destroy my pavers with those roots! The pavers have like this plastic edging nailed into the ground. It winds up getting exposed over time as the sand smothers the grass at the edge. Then the ground there starts to sink and you can see the plastic, which is supposed to be covered by soil and grass, but the ground continually erodes around it. So every summer is a cycle of adding another layer of soil and resodding. Obviously there is some kind of grading issue, but truly remedying that seems like a herculean undertaking. At this point it is easier to just cover up the problem with a hardier plant.