OK in for a quick break for lunch, and to throw the ham in the oven 4 dinner.. Karma, the puppy has been pretty good today..but only when I am watching, lol. If I am outside and the garden gate is open, she goes over, looks at me, then I say 'hey outta there' and she goes. SHe's learning..thank god! It IS fun changing stuff around. I moved my dirt piles into the garden where I havent tilled yet, the 'new' area, lol. so she can't dig in them anymore, lol. New fence eh? Gotta keep that peeper out, lol. Hey Kylie, Karma's got a spring peeper! lmao! How is that going by the way, with that nosey ol' neighbor? CC it is supposed to be a high of 75 here today, then tomorrow 55, seems like the extended forecast says mid 50's to upper 60's for the next few days. Perfect working conditions. I dont mind doing it when it's hot, can always jump in the pool to cool off! Kylie, lol, I am trying to take pix, my camera has a mind of its own lately, and only works when it wants. I have a few so far, but I am gonna wait till I have more, then make a slideshow so I can post w/the whole time line thang. Karyn, If you were closer I would def come and help! I can't get enough. I used to help my mom all the time b4 she moved to PA. I did all her digging. Ugh, I havent even gotten mulch yet. I keep forgetting to call the town and see when they are putting out their free stuff. My luck it came and went already, lol. When you hire people to come work in your yard, do you watch them like a hawk? lol, I know I would be..I'd be makin sure they didnt screw anything up. Kristy, have fun fishing! Catch some monsters! And get that pergola!!!!

Although I'm not much of a hot tub person, I love the deck! We are considering decking our entire backyard because 2 of our dogs are allergic to grass. We would then have a small area, grass-free, for a potty area. I really hate to do that because our backyard changes every few years. 3 years ago we took down the pool to put up a greenhouse. Now, I'm missing the pool. Really need to spend a few thousand bucks for tree removal... then I can have both. LOL Flower pics of beautiful!

*chuckle* Thank you and you're welcome, budge! I was out-and-about all day yesterday closing on the new house, playing in it a while and then having dinner with friends to celebrate; today we had a (long!) showing here at the old house and I had a very long nap afterward. BTW, although they're super-cool, I'm too cheap to buy the nifty elasticized mop covers when I can get "irregular" microfiber cloths at three for a buck at the dollar store and use them for a dozen other things besides the floors. :-) (Okay, I did cough up for the Bona Kemi oversized hardwood mop and two covers, but we can call that a post-hardwood-installation euphoria. ;-) It's not maneuverable enough for my bathroom though.) I just use a regular ole Swiffer frame, the simple little one that comes in three pieces (no squirty thing) for about eight bucks from the grocery store, and while it's not the strongest thing in the world if you need to scrub that hard maybe it's not the tool for you! I wet and wring out a microfiber "miracle" type cloth, drape it over the rectangular head and push little bits of it in the holes with which you secure the disposable cloths. If you want to use a cleaner that requires rinsing, just wring out one cloth in the cleaning solution, then go back over it with a second cloth dampened with clean water. Me, I'm a one-step kind of gal, and for me one of the great joys of the microfiber cloths is that they just need water to get the dirt off stuff. I think Budge may have gotten a rather more specialized and less "cheap, quick and dirty" (ahem...) product. I just combined what I already had on hand, and I know a lot of other people already have Swiffers and microfiber cleaning cloths on hand so they don't necessarily need to go buy another product either. BTW, just a weird little thing I thought I would pass along - did you know you can use a wet miracle cloth to remove makeup? It even took off waterproof mascara and extra-long-lasting lipstick without having to resort to the oily crap I usually had to use to get the stuff off. (I'm not really the makeup type, and I hate raccoon eyes and touching up lipstick!) Another case of me being cheap - I wondered why I should pay $14.99 for a "makeup remover washcloth" at one fancy store when it looked and felt like the 3/$1 miracle cloths I had at home, so I tried it next time I had to paint up my (already-adorable) visage and it worked. The squeamish might want to get a different color to keep them separate from the ones in the cleaning supplies. :-)

Dawn, you are liven' my dream. I would love to have that many cats, and room for outdoor cats. But I know it's a lot of work. Our four keep us slammed, and we insist on no cat smell in the house so that's constant box cleaning. Regarding pellets, you can use the commercial bagged kind like Feline Pine or you can use stove pellets. Some shelters have 'em dropped off half a ton at a time. My vet assures me there is nothing bad in the stove pellets; they are pure sawdust. I have not used them, but have used Feline Pine and liked it. There is another bargain option not mentioned here, which is chicken feed, or what the industry calls "layer crumbles." They are extremely safe and work like wood pellets in that the urine soaks the pellets and they fall to bits go to the bottom. Poop stays on top for scooping. Because they are cheap and safe, I keep them on hand, and use them routinely in my porch box. Indoors, they give off a sort of vitamin-supplement smell that I don't care for. The scent does not travel, however, and the feed does contain the urine odor. I would not call this a clumping litter, though some do. And you can, theoretically, flush it. Pros of using layer crumbs are -- very little dust, safe for your cats, safe for the dump, and as environmentally benign, I guess, as any litter. I don't live in an area where you can compost, but I guess with the poop scooped, they would be compostable? Look for them in 20 and 50 pound bags at places like Southern States or Tractor Supply. My last 50 pound bag ran around $15, IIRC, so that is an awesome bargain. For anyone interested in this, I will post a good link below. Here is a link that might be useful: Link from Cats Adored