Hi Teach !! Just wanted to ask. Did the kids commission that or did one of the parents find it by accident? So happy --you are happy !! Teachers, parents, clergy. All so very important in our lives. My "fav" teacher died 3 weeks ago. I had her in the 11th grade. She was 85 when she died. You would not believe the outpouring of love from her 25 years of students. She brought every book we read to life with her knowledge and enthusiasm. The Scarlet Letter never had such a good Hester !! Congrats and I know you will have bright and fun students next year, as your personality will bring out the best in them. Cece

I see you get it - understand - Lux and Gean - that is good descriptions. But like Ingrid wrote - a garden in the state of perfection is just fleeting moment/sense/even feeling - how can a camera capture that? A camera can capture a perfect rosebush (Hoovb have captured - some of her magnificient rosebushes - the size we can only dream of over here) - but proving that perfection or garden ideals in California or elsewhere in the world for that matter are different. A camera can capture a perfect flower - a perfect rosebush - a perfect part/angle of the garden - but the quality of the picture will reflect the quality of camera equipment - lighting conditions - time of day - humidity - and filters - photo-editing - layers etc. and not least the skill and knowledge of the person using it. A camera also only captures some angles of a garden - depending how we zoom in and and out and what we choose to capture/expose. A camera will never document a feeling of having reached perfection - and the fact that my idea and ideals of what constitute perfection and overwhelming, tearful joy - will or might be very different from others ideas or ideals of what a perfect garden is for them. But I sat there - and the beauty - flowed through me and touched me deeply - and tears began to flow - what I had hoped for - I sensed - I felt - I smelled - not just saw - I am afraid we have become to visual and in a day of age where we upgrade our digital cameras/lenses and photo-editing equipment all the time - we tend to forget that a garden speaks to other senses that just our vision/Eyes - but touches our whole body and soul. These days I am working on my new ugly plot too - it may never become beautiful - I could divide it into small garden vignettes or rooms - to use for temporary garden articles - showing plant combinations - but it will be "Artificial" - "staged" and the end result - will look great on pictures depending on the factors mentioned above about what a camera is able to capture and the following photo-editing that can manipulate near every aspect of a 18 mill. pixels - 8 MB RAW photo file. I just shared this moment of my love for roses and my garden - "perfection is probably is more than in the eye of the beholder" it is a fleeting feeling and it will not last - it will be hard to maintain - and like you know it takes work and years - and such moments may not come again - as all who have a garden and grow many roses - know all too well. I just hope that you one day might get the same feeling and you will KNOW what I tried to capture - I will take pictures - but the light is harsh - and today I might spot a yellowing leaf, a weed or 2 and before I know it I will be sweaty, have dirt under my fingernails - scratches from rosethorns because I forgot to wear glowes ... and it is hot as hell .... maybe perfection was just a day or 2 ago ... Well I better go out there ... No time to help Catsrose or blog right now Jimmy ... I will however...

Wow, what a bummer about that rabbit invasion......Isn't it interesting how we all have different kinds of critter invasions? I noticed that you used to live in Berkeley, which is where I am now and you had the same squirrel problem. I never thought about putting something sharp around pots, I've got to try that! I put up some hanging baskets and one day came home to find one smashed to the ground with a peanut buried in the soil. The squirrels bury those damn peanuts throughout my yard and if I don't check daily, they expose the roots of some plants and they dry out. You'd think that those of us that have dogs wouldn't have a critter problem, but even if they chase them off (like my dog Lucky does) they end up trampling a bunch of plants. Now I've got a rat visitor who likes to munch on bits of sunflower seeds that have fallen from the birdfeeder and he's tunneling through my freshly placed crushed granite paths and digging up the gravel underneath. I'm going to set out glue traps and get rid of him. Good luck and I hope you get your critter problem solved, Cathy

Some other thoughts (I've been thinking about your and your post, and your problems, over the evening and the morning, on my commute, in the shower, etc.--so feel "cared for"!) I have some other thoughts that maybe you can plug into your problem-solving here. ******************* THOUGHT ONE: Redefine yourself as a SUPERVISOR, not a DO-er I have a relatively new colleague who is the editor of our magazine (I'm in charge of process and timing). Over the last 2 issues, I've realized that she's editing about 3/4 of the stories--yet she also has meetings w/ the publisher, and press-conference things to attend, and meetings w/ the edit director, etc. I've been pressuring her to realize, as she's hiring a new senior editor (there are only 2 editors, her and the senior) that she has to redefine what she does. She CANNOT edit 3/4 of the stories; she doesn't have time. She has to have time to be the executive (researching and making decisions; editing behind the other editor, etc.). And time to supervise. The same is true of you. Your kids aren't quite as old as mine (my youngest is the age of your oldest), but you need to start working TOWARD the idea that you don't DO; you supervise. (right now, you'll have more 'doing', but frankly, you should never take the garbage out, and you should never clean a toilet or a bathroom sink--your kids are old enough to do that. ******************** THOUGHT 2: REWARD WORKS BEST Also, reward works better than punishment. I keep forgetting that, and I sort of resent rewarding them for doing chores, but it's EFFECTIVE. Praise is a great reward, but so would be something like TV watching. (this means you have to move stuff like family event, TV time, etc., out of "life as normal" and into "reward" category) **************** THOUGHT 3: MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK This is not just that you can do more--but that when you work w/ company, it's more fun, less oppressive. Also, especially I think at the ages your kids are, it's much more fun to clean and tidy WITH COMPANY. So keep up the "family pick-up time," and make it MORE often, and everybody do it. Right before bed, everybody picks up. Put it on the schedule as being JUST as crucial as brushing teeth. it happens at the same time every day, and everybody does it. A little bit of "togetherness" right before bedtime, that ALWAYS happens, regardless. (I say this, because I do not DO this always, and I live w/ the end results, and it is NOT good; but the times that I am able to make this happen, it makes a big difference) (and everybody picks up everything--even if it's not yours, if you know where it goes, put it there) ****************** THOUGHT 4: PROVIDE STRUCTURE I think the ages your kids are is a good time for little time-management/motivation tricks. Here are some I've used: -"beat the clock": set a timer for 15 minutes, see how much you can do in a HURRY! -"clean to music": pick lively music, and see what you can do in 2 songs -"do a dozen": bring a laundry basket in, put 12 things in it (maybe you can help pick them, but best is to get the kid to put them in); so the dozen is clearly corralled, and have them put those away (beat the clock, if you can--my DS can put 12 things away in 3 minutes). Repeat as needed -"how long is it REALLY?" My timer will also work as a stopwatch; we timed how long it took to fold a basket of clothes--10 minutes. Or how long to "do a dozen"--3 mins. You could make a chart of how long things REALLY take, and then that will help remind you all that it'll be done so quickly. ************** THOUGHT 5: EDUCATE HUBBY I'm not big into demanding of my husband--it doesn't work, for one thing. But I'd suggest working w/ your DH to open his eyes to the idea that the stuff he brings in doesn't have a home, doesn't add to anything, etc., it sounds like he's got a willingness, so you can build on that. You may just need to educate him about the dynamics of "stuff" and "clutter"; he may not even see it. *************** THOUGHT 6: THINK "LONG-TERM IMPROVEMENT," NOT "ONE-SHOT SUCCESS" Also: one slighty pessimistic (well, "realistic") note: you said: "I want this resolved!" Homekeeping is NEVER "resolved." Training children to pick up their clothes is NEVER "resolved." Laundry is never "done." Aim for "caught up" w/ laundry. Aim for "trending better" w/ organization, housework, and kids living up to their responsibilities. ******* (an aside--the 6-hour math class: I often say to my kids, "If you'd stop arguing w/ me and just go PICK IT UP, you'd have been finished by now. You have spent more time arguing that it would have taken you to DO it!" (of curse, in those instances, I probably should have imposed some swift, onerous punishment, but...) I have thought sometimes that I should take my stopwatch-timer and turned it on to time how long they were fussing and whining, then time how long it took to do it") But that also points out a value in getting your kids to help you do some research--take your chore chart, and have them do the chore, complete w/ setup and break-down, smoothly without rushing or dawdling, and then write down the number of minutes it took--that's the standard, and when it's chore time, maybe it won't seem so daunting bcs they'll know that can clean the sink, the tub, and the toilet in 5 minutes. I did this w/ my DS bcs he was taking so long to get dressed, and he acted as though it would be FOREVER until he was done. So I challenged him to help me research it, and he could get dressed in 6 minutes (he has a tie, and a sweater, etc.) Once he really understood that, I found, he would get dressed promptly. Try the same thing for setting the table, etc. Also research stuff like how long it takes to pick up a huge mess, vs. how long it takes the next night when it's a single day's worth. ************* THOUGHT 7: LESS STUFF I said it before, and I'll say it again--the kids won't get overwhelmed, and you won't either, if they don't have more than the bare minimum. I'm thinking of Jamie from Montana, who used to post here, who hated washing dishes so much that she wouldn't, and then she'd have a huge stack of them, etc. She put all the plates away deep in the dining room, except for 2--so she had to do dishes every night, or she didn't have anything to eat on. Voila! she could keep up.