Unless your trellis somehow blocks the sun, I don't think it matters. The idea of the trellis is to give the plant something to wind around, so it will end up on both sides as it grows.

Hard to say how the dog will react. Mine did not like it at all. He was 6 at the time. He was so insecure thinking we no longer loved him (would not get out of my lap!), that we were replacing him, that he would be cast off that he would have nothing to do with the puppy. It was sad to watch him ignore the new dog and he continued to treat him that way for the next 12 years. He remained alpha which was good, at least he didn't have to fight for that title because the new dog was by nature very passive. It's best to know from whoever has the dog you plan on adopting if they think the dog has an aggressive or passive personality. Our dogs never fought but if the new dog was aggressive then they may have. When my older dog got to the age where he could no longer keep up on walks it became increasingly more difficult for us because we didn't want the older dog to feel the sadness of being slower. It wasn't fair to the younger dog who needed longer walks. As the disparity grew we were forced to take them on separate walks. That took up more time. When our first dog got to be really old we weren't able to go places anymore because he needed to be looked after 24 hrs a day. That went on for a couple years which meant the younger one stayed at home a lot too. I would never have two dogs again so far apart in age. I have to say though, when it was time for our dog to leave us I did find a lot of comfort having another dog...an heir and a spare. ;-) He made the pain a little less severe. Now he's elderly and slowing down. After taking the back seat all those years to a more dominant dog I want him to live out his remaining time feeling like he is finally the most important dog in the world to us. And he's is loving the attention. The difference between my situation and yours is that you have young children and I don't have any. I would be concerned that a 4 yr old would still be too young not to pester your first dog as he ages. Dogs don't like to be bothered when they're older and children might be nipped at if they aren't taught by the parents to respect the elderly dog's space. So maybe having a younger dog to romp around with would be a good idea for your children. They can focus their high energy on the young dog, allowing the other dog to watch but not be expected to participate. But I wouldn't wait any longer.

Wow on facebook today I found Steve's LS Frosted Mint that I stole from him, dressed like Batman, stolen and claimed to be someone else's. You will find it in American Hosta Society on facebook. Ripped off!!! Darn.

Interesting thread, Ritamay. I probably mismanage time -- I have a lot of interests and a lot of curiosity and so it is super easy to do. I also like looking out the window at wildlife. That isn't really a waste of time, nor is reading on the Internet, but it doesn't have any physical product to display at the end of my musings. "Hang it, nail it, paint it" personalities would likely consider it wasteful. I tend to think of it more along the lines of unbalanced resource use. We use "sorta warm" water for laundry with a cold rinse. The washer is an older, compact (not huge) top-loading Kenmore that was barely used for $100 in Craigslist and it fit in the SUV (older, bought used). I don't wash on cold because from my experience washing and observing (dishes, hand laundered items, cleaning), I find that oils (everywhere -- food splashes, perspiration) are better removed or broken down by detergent if water isn't cold (like our icy deep well water). That cheap washer spins cycle is good. We hang, line dry but often machine dry 2/3rds of items. I love leftovers, but groceries can get forgotten. I try to make a rotating list of perishables for the front of our refigerator/s. We compost vegetable scraps (not rice) and fish skin, trimmed fats, skins get frozen to feed to birds in winter. I'd like to feed our opossum chicken bones after I've used them for broth, but it's likely that raccoons and coyotes would also come by & we don't want that. Most of what's in the compost is not very attractive for scavenging wildlife & it gets coffee grounds dump over it and mixed throughout. MamaP & others: know a good source for quality flour sack towels? I like them. We try to minimize our use of paper towels, not for tree preservation, but to sa e money. Like others, I buy a dozen or so plain white or light colored inexpensive (thin) face clothes to use (and keep clean) for all sorts of things, including as a dish cloth (bleached daily & washed). if you have a sewing machine, or can find a used inexpensive serger, you can make lots of no-fray cleaning cloths from older towels. Here is a link that gives ideas: https://www.seasonedhomemaker.com/un-paper-towels-reusable-paper-towels-paperless-towels/ We re-use those plastic shoppers, but Re_cycle most of them. Grocery stores have Recycle bins dedicated to clean, dry "plastic film" (packing film, wrap, shoppers). We use a lot of LED bulbs when we can, but we live in a wooded area and I like and need a lot of light. Off at night. Annie D. -- I for one am thankful that you spend time on the Internet ;) You post so many interesting contributions.