Regrouping for a counterstrike... ;-) I love it...That's how I'd felt about mine too!! Fortunately DH hated the old, overgrown, mildewy, prickly caragana even more than me...otherwise I'd likely be digging it out with a shovel too...DH took the chainsaw to it last fall... The Update... All the caragana is now gone in the front (left the stuff in the back for now...it makes an OK 6' barrier.) We had gotten an old poplar taken down last year (it was rotting about 15' up) and had a massive stump left...so we figured we have the backhoe dig it up/knock it over while they were making a mess in the area...well...they dug down about five feet all the way around it (still in LOVELY black topsoil...thought I'd make you jealous some more... ;-) cut the major side roots and still couldn't get it to break off...LOL!! What a mess!! I have a huge trench the width of the property (we're on three lots) from the caragana - complete with caragana stumps and roots (we decided to do the cleanup to save $$) and a five foot deep 'moat' around the base of a mangled ten foot tall (plus the 5 feet below ground level) popplar stump!! I think I'll call it 'shabby chic' and leave it that way...makes quite a statement...LOL!! Seriously though...It's a major bit of work out of the way...and the operator was so good he didn't even disturb (or bury) my delphs that were only a 1/2 foot from the caragana stumps! I'm so glad to see that project off the list!! ...Now we just have to decide what type of fence to put in...I thought we were doing a latice fence...but DH says he'd really like a nice little picket fence. (He's even volunteered to spend his days off cutting all the little dears.) I guess I'll have to keep him. ;-) Verena Glen...if globe caraganas are anything near as insanely determined as the regular kind, not only will you have a healthy plant in the new location...the roots in the old one will come back just to spite you...(a new way to propagate) and they's begin building their forces...plotting against you...he thinks he'll cuts us down does he...we'll shows him...we'll shows him who's boss...we wills...

My original message regarding my SD (wet hair & other issues) was prompted by cawfe's comment "And don't give me that line ... well how do I know what your saying is truth... some of the stuff that has happend to me is unbelievable but it happend ... like not feeding her children because she didn't have any clean dishes!!! And I know she had food because I was sending them with care packages so they could eat because she whined so much to them about paying support she couldn't feed them." and I was just stating what happened THIS weekend with my SD's mom. (in agreement with cawfe's statement that it happens) and I believe that there ARE bio mom's that "don't seem to care". It is my OPINION that my SD's mom doesn't put her children first. It is backed up by her actions. (ie. abandoning her children for some guy she just met) I agree with you Kathline, that we can't control what the other parent does. But when the results directly affect me, then I am entitled to MY feelings. My heart aches when I am the one holding and comforting HER child because SHE left. I am the one taking time off from work because SHE didn't take precautions DH suggested and that was my point. She can feed her what she likes (and the ice cream for breakfast was only brought up because she came home that day sick and throwing up from it and missed two days from school), she can let her sleep how she likes (ie. on the floor or where ever she finds room) but when she puts her in a bed with two boys that are 9 & 11, DH had a problem with that. As for the wet hair, I don't know if it made SD get sick, but DH told BM that he was concerned about it and she dismissed it. Then SD comes home sick and missed another day at school. (and I really don't need to hear that missing school is not a big deal, she is struggling with it this year and I miss a day at work when I have to stay home to take care of her, so it does matter to me) I once again got sucked into a feud with TOS because she can't let anyone have an opinion or make a comment without chiming in and I should have just ignored her. I think she likes to stir things up because it's a game to her. and cawfe, I agree with that. But it isn't a contest. We are supposed to be here to share our opinions and points of view. If my opinion doesn't make sense or isn't what someone else would do, it can be disregarded without telling me how horrible a person I am for feeling that way. I listen to other's opinions and sometimes, I see things differently and if my opinion changes, I have been told "well which is it?" as if we can't change our thoughts. I didn't come here out of frustration, but to occasionally vent and share my opinion on being a step parent. I took a cooperative parenting class that helped me tremendously in learning how to deal with my SD's mom. There isn't anything we can do about the things she does that are upsetting to her daughter. We deal with those things on a weekly basis. So, for venting, I used to write blogs but SD's mom would read my blog and blow up at DH because I wrote about how I felt. And I came here because this is supposed to be a forum for step families and then I find it is not a safe place to share either. Since coming here, yes my SD's mom has done things that are frustrating, but nothing compares to the frustration of feeling like I have to defend or explain myself to a old, set in her ways, divorced person that has no idea what if feels like to be a step parent. I agree with plasticgarden, that the negativity rubs off and I was a very happy person that enjoys life to the fullest before coming here, and now I have stooped to bickering with someone, who's opinion means nothing to me. I'm ashamed and apologize to everyone here. Like I said, I came here to meet other step parents that are going through the process of blending two families. I even hoped this place would be a fun place but it isn't. So, I wish everyone here well and hope that your families succeed. My favorite quote "You've gotta love your children, more than you hate each other."

I blanched them and froze them one year and thought they were tasteless crud so I am trying this way. Do you freeze yours uncooked? I did see lots of big flat baskets of beans drying on the sidewalks of China when I was in school there.. I tied the first and last ones and then just strung the rest. those were the directions I saw online. They mentioned doing cooking them in two bathes of water when cooking during the winter to make sure the dirt is all off of them. I will try freezing them raw next. I am getting oodles and oodles of string beans. My husband is so sick of string beans and Man I am cooking them good. Next , I will make the greek dish of Fasololakia. Any good pickle recipes for spicy beans? Easy ones. I am a lazy person.

Raven -- I'm so sorry! I had a friend (of 41 years) visit from California for over a week and she left Wednesday. She was my first houseguest here, so the weeks before her visit, I was busy preparing the guest room. I didn't come to the forums during her visit. I'm beginning to work on the landscape. I planted my herb garden (pots and planters on the deck) yesterday. Today, I had a crew here creating a new garden bed out front to help provide privacy; they also cleaned up some areas for me.