LOL morpheus. Yeah see grass, this can happen to you if you don't shape up and grow some roots. I don't see why you can't grow this if you're in the mood to mow and water a lot. Tak2w, after my last update the grass starting to look like it was dying on the side bordering the street. As if heat from the street was baking the grass. And I got all panicky and didn't know what to do but long story short is the grass looks like it's rebounding after some more careful watering. It's important to note though that even with a lot of brown spots it still is nicer looking the the neighboring bermuda at this point. The quality ratings I've seen all show a big dip in May and June then it picks up again in June which I don't understand but I'm hopeful that it's not the beginning of the end. I just sprinkled a little seed in some of the spots just to see if it will help with the appearance any. I also have some colonial bent that I ordered and will be experimenting with that too.

I don't have frost/cold issues here in San Diego, but my approach would be to leave the bananas on the "tree" as long as possible, period. On "tree" time is good time. On nights where freezing weather was expected (or maybe even high 30's) I would bag the fruit and put a small light bulb inside the bag as a heat source to keep the fruit from freezing, and allow it to stay on the stalk longer. I would prop the stalk so that it would supported and less likely to snap or fold. And I would continue to peel off any rotting or mushy parts of the pseudostem. When all of this becomes untenable, then I would cut them off and let the ripen indoors. I have a bunch of Mona Lisa (fhia-2) that had their stalk folded after about two month hanging, and I just left them as is, and they are now ripening normally. I had a bunch of Kru which had the pseudostem snapped off in November, only 4 weeks after bloomng had finished, and I cut the banana bunch off and left it laying on the ground (for a photo-op the day after they snapped, and then was too lazy to throw them away) and by Feb 1, they were ripe, and quite acceptable. So, the moral of my story is, NEVER give up on your bananas. Nurse them along, coddle them, stick with them, and usually you end up with a reward.

Plenty of time then! So you're due about 6 days after the last market day you plan on? Can DH help at that one (you don't want to be doing any heavy lifting)? You don't say how far away the hospital is but I assume it's not much farther than city hall, so that's close too. Even if I was only 40km (? don't remember) or so from hospital it took a while to get there (2 kids different hospitals), 45 min or so, and that was a lot for me with 3-hr labor. In fact, when I got to hospital with DD, birthing center wasn't open yet, ER said I wasn't in labor and I insisted I wasn't going back home, so they monitored me for about an hour and when I was "reactive" the midwife was in so she escorted me down. I opened the birthing center that day, she basically had enough time to turn on the lights, get scrubbed up and that was it. No time for my special music, almond oil massage, etc. - I don't think DH even had the camera turned on (not that I wanted pix til afterwards LOL). Glad I didn't give birth in the ER!

OK, you guys are awesome. I couldn't even read the posts until now because I would start to cry again. Isn't that silly? I usually have more perspective than this. I think my extended family (parents, siblings, etc.) has been more upset over how long this has taken than me. They seem to get mad at me that I haven't gotten madder before now, it has been driving them crazy and they don't even live here. :) But that is why I feel guilty about it. My job usually gives me perspective. I tear up a little sometimes when I am sitting with a dying patient, when I am hugging the family after pronouncing a patient that has just died and telling them their loved one is really gone, or talking to someone that just received a very grave diagnosis. I try to wait until the ride home to cry when I loose a patient I have come to know over weeks, months, or even years. But I don't usually cry over kitchens. My awesome brother who helps everyone, used to go to get a Christmas tree with me every year and bring a gas powered chain saw to cut it down. One year while I was looking for the "perfect" tree, he cut down Christmas trees for all the elderly and single women trying to do it themselves that he could find. When I called to him that I had it, "the" tree, he pulled the chain and pulled the chain. He was out of gas! He borrowed a hand saw and cut MY tree down by hand. But he still went back with me the next year. :) So when I needed a tree in my front yard cut down, he offered to do it. That day he said, you know I am going to do my best, but I usually only do my own because there is no gaurantee this tree won't land on your house. My brother rarely does less than a good job on anything, but darn it, didn't that tree land on the house. I stood and couldn't do anything becuase I was laughing so hard. When I could talk again I said, well you get what you pay for sometimes! Anyway, the moral of my story is that despite having good intentions and a good heart and doing your best, sometimes s**t happens. No matter how hard you try, no one promises life will be easy or fair. Besides, while I have been doing a "budget" remodel of the kitchen and livingroom for 20,000.00, many people can't afford to remodel at all, or are trying to do on much less, so I am actually pretty fortunate. You all have made me feel so much better! I am not used to being the one getting the hugs and support, I usually give them and I do so appreciate it. Now I need to suck it up and I will take a trip out to buy a great big umbrella to go over my patio table so I can enjoy the heat wave that is supposed to come later this week and get out of this darned mess! I just wish I felt happier about going out to do it. Maybe I will when I see out there and sit down under it to have lunch. Sue