ali, what about putting an arbor in and growing a honeysuckle up it? From the edge and in from the driveway to the tree, I'd edge out the grass from that area and curve slightly to the end of the concrete pad in front of your home, the patio area. All the way to the end. Let's give you some curb appeal ;) Put the middle of the arbor in front of the edge of the concrete pad where the car is sitting, about 3 feet in. From the middle of the arbor to the drive and then going up your house, you could create a path that would curve over to the sidewalk and to the front door. For right now, using newspapers and a 5 gallon bucket filled with water, cover up all grass with layers of newspapers you've plunged into the water. Lay them down, overlapping as you go. I typically use about 10 layers of paper. The more, the better. If you can create your path first, either using stepping stones or gravel, lay down something like visqueen and lay the stepping stones or the gravel over to create the path. Remove the grass where the path will be so that nobody trips over stepping stones or gravel. Take out a V shape where you're going into the lawn from driveway to tree and up and over to the end of your home. Remove the dirt and the grass from the V, so that you've got a drop off of sorts and lay your wet newspaper to curve down into the area where the dirt is. Cover the area up with mulch or mushroom compost if you can get your hands on some, except for the path area. By next year, the newspaper will start to decompose and the grass will be dead, but it adds to the organic matter of newspaper and the dead grass. Worm heaven. From now and thru winter, study up on various perennials and possibly a few shrubs that produce berries for our other feathered friends. Next year, push back the mulch or mushroom compost and dig holes to plant. There should be enough room to the right of the path up to your front door, to add in a shrub. Then the other shrubs could go in front of the poles, under planted and going out to the edge with perennials. I prefer natives. They're adapted to our weather, our soil, they make up our ecosystem. Find a list of native plants for your area, and research those plants as to what hummingbirds like and also which ones make seed that other birds will like to eat on. The native plants won't require dead heading, don't need pruned or cut back so they look better....I just prefer them over all. Now an iris in there isn't going to hurt anything ;)...or a peony....both left by the previous owner that I decided to leave and a friend of mine from TN also gave me a beautiful iris that is sentimental to me. But again, those 2 are easy plants. Hummingbirds will love to sit and rest a spell on shrubs you provide and give you a closer look at their beauty. Too much?? Where do you live? Zone 5, but where? lovefornature, you're doing a wonderful job! It's people like you who join GW that make it an enjoyable site to visit. If you like butterflies and are interested in attracting some of them to come to your yard, you could plant a Aristolochia tomentosa or Aristolochia durior. Another plant I love that I don't know draws anything in, but blooms in late summer, is Clematis virginiana. Another neat native clematis is Clematis glaucophylla. I also answered the e-mail you sent, I hope you got it.

Hi Kris, I'm facing the same dilemma myself. May 13th 09 marks 10 years since my brother died in a car crash and I also feel I should mark the day in some special way. At the same time the anniversary of his death has always been a private day for me to be quiet and reflect on my feelings; I almost feel I shouldn't bring it up with my parents in fear of upsetting them. Like you I met my boyfriend Lee a couple of years after Tom had died. He knew of my brother and was also friends with my older sister, which I feel helps when I talk about Tom. Mostly Lee just holds me when I cry on my brother's anniversary and the day passes in a subdued manner. I don't want to toot the horns to announce Tom's been dead for 10 years but you're right, it's significant. I think the fact you're giving blood is great. I'm in no way religious but do sometimes smile at coincidences or what I hope are signs. On the same date Andy lost his life you're potentially saving another! You say you've had a variety of emotions and experiences with grief, me too. Some days are fine then others, like today for me, come and bite you in the ass out of nowhere. I wrote this poem today as that's exactly how I felt: My heart hurts today for the brother I lost ten years ago Although the charcoal grey of pain sometimes fades to the colour of a rainy autumn sky, today it is black and screaming at me I want to turn my head and look away, to busy myself with other things But it's tap-tap-tapping on my shoulder and pulling on my legs I can feel myself being dragged down, despite my every effort to stand tall Clawing at my throat, clouding my head; only it will decide when I've had enough, when it will scuttle back to that well worn place upon my shoulder Well I've had enough! I scream and cry and try to shake it off but it sits heavily above my heart Mocking me with the certainty of knowing it'll be back, but not knowing when With a defeated sigh I raise my head, I dry my eyes and vow to prepare for its next cruel arrival Knowing, in my next breath, I can't. I don't mean to sound depressing but I think sometimes people presume because someone died a while ago that you're over it. Yes time heals but you never forget. I hope the anniversary wasn't too horrendous for you : ) Connie x

Here is a pic of the bracket/brace we found, but the picture really doesn't show anything else going on underneath. It connects the side panel to the front frame on the cabinet that creates the recessed bottom. The gap between the wood support bar you see and the side is the same on all of the other cabinets. We checked the cabinet with a level, and it does show the left edge to be ever so slightly off. The cabinet door is ever so slightly off in the other direction, but it lines up perfectly with the right side door. Finally, here is a picture of the entire area if it helps. I'm now thinking that perhaps the installer installed the cabinets on each side of the sink first, then when he hung the lift up cabinet over the sink, the spacing was off just at tad and so when he connected it to the right side he "pulled" on the box of the right cabinet, and it started to come apart. He then added the bracket/brace to "correct" the problem. Of course, I have no way to know for sure. But assuming that is the case, and it was an install issue, what can/should be done at this point? I'm assuming that this problem will only get worse over time. I'm pretty sure Brookhaven (if they ever bother respond to my email) would look at it conclude that it was an install problem. And since the company that did the install is no longer a Brookhaven dealer, Brookhaven would not have any influence over the dealer to make any corrections. I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done to correct the problem and keep it from getting worse over time - without ripping everything out and reinstalling? So I have no idea what my next step should be. I'm afraid if we hire a third party to try to make repairs, things might go from bad to worse. Suggestions welcome!

I too, like SnidelyWhiplash, appreciate the low cost and speed of a keyboard with internet. I was raised in a different time long before the internet when writing ability was important. I believe that good penmanship yet has merit in today.s world, albeit slow compared to the typed word with other modern conveniences. I am saddened to learn that cursive writing is no longer taught in some schools. Its no wonder that today;s students can't write. Printing is slow compared to cursive. Cursive characters are designed to flow smoothly into each other and this speeds writing. It leaves some latitude for individuals to develop their own distinctive styles. although that was frowned upon by teachers of the art some 70 years ago because they were striving to mold the output from everyone to standard form. Lets not forget that this country was built with cursive writing. Case in point: The Declaration of Independence is hand written in ink with a nib pen. The original Constitution was hand written. In fact, all court records such as land descriptions and marriages were hand written until the introduction of the typewriter in the 1880s.