My biggest beef is our disgusting lawn. When people walk around the garden to look at roses, I fear for their lives. Awful pot holes and sinkage and tree roots sticking up. We built our house fron scratch and carved it out of a damp forest. When we prepared the back and sowed seed for the large lawn, we had it levelled nicely, and it looked wonderful, though we had a bit of a grade. But it has deteriorated quickly over the years It is now like the surface of the moon with huge pot holes. Springs have re-surfaces, even though my husband trenched and diverted with rocks and Big O beneath......and we have squelchy boggy areas. It has turned out very poorly and moss and weed ridden. It will take a fortune to fix it. So I try and ignore it and tend to the roses. Anything else, especially now we do not have deer in the back is negligable. Pauline.

First: thanks KT for the post - but the link didn't work today, not here. Kinda hard to dredge all the trash out of orbital space, ain't it, Vgkg? "Who has used nuclear weapons in the past, who has the largest arsenal pointed at other countries, who is expanding use of such weapons (including on conventional weapons), who is talking about deploying such weapons into space, who has hundreds of military bases in some of the most politically sensitive places in the world, and who is acting unilaterally and pre-emptively?" Why, al Qaeda and al Qaeda's helpers, of course. Don't mistakenly exclude "tests" from "uses." And don't exclude "cells" from "bases." Never mind: NOTHING they hit is EVER a "holy site," is it? There goes "religion" again! The "zombie themes" sound SO much more Soviet than American - but we're getting there, all in good time, my pretties, and our little dogs, too... Gee, just like in Hollywood's movies, before long we can expect on our own continent - overdone dead zones. Maybe we should invite Elena over here for a "before" tour, with an open invite for an after tour of the same spots...eventually, some preacher will take up the cue and tell us all what we should do...and we'll do it...or else...again, never mind: preachin'z already happenin'.

This is actually a really good question: why isn't there more on TV, like Animal Plant or Discovery Channel, about cats? Shows about lions and cheetahs are sure-fire ratings grabbers. Maybe because a cat is more of a cautious, one-on-one kind of creature, they don't lend themselves to dramatic TV shows? I'd love a special on care of, or training for cats. I know cats are trainable, and a lot of people have done it, but I have no idea how to go about it. I've seen an episode of some home show on HGTV that profiled a couple who "customized" their house for their tribe of cats, with ramps, and sleeping spots, and pass-thrus cut into the walls -- it would be neat to see what other folks have done to cater to their cats. Someone on a craft forum where I hang out has retrofitted a mudroom bench so that it also has a nice private (easily accessible!) litterbox inside -- that's a great solution more cat owners might like to know about. Something about the health of cats would be nice. Because they tend to be private animals, it's sometimes hard to tell if they're sick or just being quirky. If my cat was choking -- would I know what to do? If people saw a special about some of the diseases out there that could afflict their cats, or on the scope of damage cats can do -- would they think differntly about letting them outside? I know some companies market videos specifically for cats -- maybe our cats would like to see themselves on TV, too! Maybe we need to start a letter-writing campaign on behalf of our feline friends!

Hey Tech, Got a bee in your bonnet? Sorry if we offend you... Out in the country, we've always recycled. Didn't get into 'organized' recycling until I lived in a city. Call me ignorant, but for most of my life I have either been in school or in such a high stress job (meaning working 60 to 70 hours a week) that while I thought of our environment, I did so rather casually - that's all the time I had to spare for it. What does frustrate me is that super conglomerates dictate our lives by being convenient. Easier to go buy gas than to think of what car/truck manufacturers did 75 to 80 years ago to insure that we'd buy those babies...and the oil/gas companies around that shored them up. My father made his living growing an evil weed...tobacco... And it was the only thing he could grow that would bring enough money to keep his family clothed, housed, fed and educated. It breaks my heart to think of him, and my neighbors. They could be growing food...but, we expect grocery prices to be soooo cheap. No way to earn a living producing food. I would very much like some geniuses to devise equipment that could use corn or soybeans to fuel not only cars/trucks, but also to run heating systems and the like. It would help our enviroment in more than one way. Maybe talking about it here will encourage a few more people to think of it. And, as far as I'm concerned, a penny earned can be a penny saved, so to speak, with regard to our environment...and our pocketbooks...and with saving farmland. If you have particular problems with me, for any reason, please feel free to take it away from the forum...email me privately. I'm personally happy that there's a stained glass/mosaic forum. Please do not run the newbies away... I, and others too, appreciate the help and info from others, especially those who have more experience in whatever our 'projects' are. I've said before, and I'll say it again, now, I know I'm a newbie with much to learn. I don't feel welcome at GJ anymore...I'm not posting there anymore. Please, play nice. Kimmy