Hi everyone! Celeste, first I want to tell you how much I enjoyed your article in the current Heritage Rose Groups newletter. I wish I could do the same thing: wind in my hair, holding on tight, and exploring the highways and byways with my sweet husband via motorcycle, sounds like a lot of fun. Too bad I am scared to death of motorcycles!!! (I cannot believe I just admitted that on this forum!!!) I have loved roses since early childhood, due to my mother's love of them, and spending some time with her in her "garden" (well, just a suburban yard, really, but when you are a preschooler, the whole world is bigger, you know?). I have had small gardens at each home I have lived in, and even when I was young and single, I would at least have houseplants and a rose or two in a large pot out on the patio or deck of my apartments. My husband Johnny and I married in 1996, and he knew from my small pot ghetto at the time that a larger garden would be inevitable once we bought a home together. Although he is not a gardener by nature, he is very much an outdoorsman, and he was content that I would want a nice big garden. Whether it was roses, other flowers, or vegetables would not have interested him at all. We bought our home in 1999, and before we had moved in, the garden plans were beginning inside my head. As soon as we had made this older house habitable inside, I changed my focus to the outside... Being the nice guy that Johnny is, he took my planning and excitement in stride. He could be counted upon to dig some holes, and assist with maintenence. But no way would he help pick what roses and other plants to buy, or help choose where to plant them: "You just tell me where to dig, and I will dig" mentality, lol. I joined the Texas Rose Rustlers, and Johnny has been sweet enough to tag along with me to the meetings. After all, how many times have I gone with him to the deer camp, or out fishing, etc, just so we could spend some time together? He met several men in that club that are avid gardeners of every description, particularly rose gardening. He listened to the speakers at each meeting, he joined in the socialization, he made friends with all the sweet older ladies that think of him as one of the nicest guys they have met... and before you knew it, he was asking questions, becoming curious about soil science, propagation, hybridization, and even would love to try his hand at growing roses from seed. Several years and hundreds of planting holes later, Johnny still doesn't consider himself a gardener. He leaves that distinction to me. He is the gardener's helper in his mind. He has lots of pictures of me in the garden that he loves, and I know it is not just that the pictures are of his wife! I think one would have to be heartless to spend so much time caring for the earth and not be able to develop an abiding love for the plants that you have nurtured! And anyone that knows Johnny, knows that he is a man with a very big, very happy and loving heart! Does he get teased for gardening with me? Not that I have ever heard. Would it bother him? I doubt it. He is pretty strong minded, and can hold his own in any circumstances (except for needles.... he nearly passed out during a minor procedure once, but that is a tale for a different sort of forum!) I wonder what sort of folks would think it odd for a man to garden? Maybe I am naive, but gardening is pretty common here in Texas. Lots of us come from Farming roots. And there are generations of hybridizers to look to for the nobility of the art of gardening. How many of the founding fathers of the United States were gentleman farmers before they were called to become patriots? I doubt they *only* grew their cash crops, but probably also grew things that they fancied. ... That reminds me that Thomas Jefferson was just such a man. His garden journals still exist, and he was, I think, the original American "Master Gardener"! Maybe there are problems with people's thinking nowadays, to disparage a man for being agrarian, rather than just a hunter-gatherer! Seems to me that agriculture was a step up on the evolutionary pathway. My final thoughts: Anyone that is foolish enough to question the masculinity of a male gardener is deserving of having a whiskey barrel full of compost, or a trash can full of fermented alfalfa tea dumped on their head! And anyone that stops to think about it will realize that rose gardening ain't for sissies! Most roses have big, mean thorns, and they bite. Anybody that would laugh at a guy that wrestles Mermaid without fear is lacking in brainpower. And last but not least, as Poodlepup knows, men that grow roses... yeah, they're hot! And most of them don't even know it! Allison

I confess to not reading this whole thread (it's late). However, I think I can still add a perspective here. I am a certified euthanasia technician (retired) and unfurtunately have put down many an animal. I would always opt to be with my pets when/if they are euthanized. However, the original poster's vet had a point. An animal can always sense stress in their owner and anxiety. I always opted to do the deed alone if possible, and make it a kind and lovely (yes, lovely) process for the animal. However, if the owner agrees to not be hysterical (I always explain this "stress" situation and the specifics of the process to them), then they can be present. Otherwise I didn't allow it. Every situation was different. I think its great if the owner is there for the animal, but its not for the comfort of the owner, its for the comfort of the animal. That was always my priority. If the owner was obviously going to be stressed and crying then I didn't want them there. I don't want an animals last moments to be full of stress worrying about why their owner is freaked out. Animals pass.. humans pass. To us, (humans) its a stressful event. To animals, I rather think it is more natural. I liked to put their needs before ours in those moments. They are going to a better place, and it should be a calm experience. If the owner can be calm and loving, then I think its better for the animal. If not, then they can do the emotional thing in the lobby. As a note, sometimes I let an owner go in against my better judgement. It turned into an awful experience for me as the one doing the deed, and the for the animal (I expect) wondering why the heck their drama queen mom was freaking them out. I actually had to ask them to leave the room. Other times (actually most), I've seen it be an intimate experience for both the owner and the pet. In those times, after I've explained the process, I think both the pet and the owner had a better experience for it. The closure was there, and the owner left knowing they were there through a painless end. Most of the time, I felt like the owner left knowing their pet went to a better pain-free place.

Ask your vet. He would know if your kitty is getting enough and the right vitamins from food, or needs extra because of health issues.

Lyfia, that's what Capenter explained about "code", too. He had also been a building (commercial) inspector before retiring. The joists were code compliant when built. And the slate... Carpenter showed Inspector that it was rated for fireplaces. It's in the write-up from the FP manufacturer...pre-installed. So glad I've saved all the original documents. GrayWings, the one harp I'll keep here lays down. Right now I have him up on the closet shelf in the bedroom. Ah, the joys of a 4-pound/4-foot harp. I've used an X-pen during "harp petting zoos". Very effective for keeping them from running loose around the hall LOL. And keeping mittengrabbins with dirty mittens from grabbing. Almost forgot! Carpenter put in a GFI plate, that was all that was needed. The receptacle was wired for it. He said the foreman probably ran out of GFI plates & told the crew to use a regular one. It's on the GFI circuit properly now. The cracked stair step underside we're discussing. And TaDa, I squirted WD-40 on the latch. No more sticky latch :-) When do we get to the fun stuff?!? My scene & set design skills are languishing. Are we there yet? I'm bored. Ooops! Once the dust settles, I'll probably be posting pictures, asking a slew of questions about "staging", too. Are first-time house sellers as "retentive" as we're being :-)