Aw, Tricia, they are all gorgeous, and each with his or her own personality. Looks like Alice is smiling from both ends. And two more on the way! I envy you. If my sons ever settle down and produce grandchildren, I will be too old to enjoy them.

I am so sorry about your loss. Poor Jane knew that you were doing everything you could for her. I lost my Megan like this in January. For her, though, there we absolutely no signs that she was ill until she had internal bleeding from a liver cancer tumor that burst. At the emergency vet, they took one look at her, said "She's a lab mix, so this is probably cancer. If it is in her liver, we'll call you right during the surgery to euthanize her." Liver cancer seems to be common for labs. Well, they were right, and they put her to sleep while she was still under anesthetic from the surgery. I drove back there and petted her until she was cold. I am so sorry to hear of your Jane. I know how you feel about your Jane's suffering. You did everything you could for her, and she tried her hardest for you. You will remember her wonderful presence in your life forever. She is a part of you by way of the lessons she taught you about love and devotion. You will mourn the lack of her company, but a part of her remains in the person you have become. I will think of you and your Jane girl often and send you thoughts of healing and comfort.

I think they'd be an impediment to good growth - the reasons why you'd not use them would outweigh the reasons to use them. If there was nothing else around, I suppose they'd be OK, but since that's not the case, why introduce something that you're not sure about? Depending on the size of shell, I'd guess the soil would compact more easily, the drainage would then be suspect, and there'd be problems when there didn't need to be.

Elizabeth, that would make the best Christmas card!!!! Dragonfly.........fantastic shot of your dog!!