Look I grew up with dogs, in fact, my family owned as many as 11 dogs at one point in our lives. We never ever allowed our dogs to pee in any other people's yard. In fact, we allowed the dogs to do their business in our yard. Better our yard than our neighbors'. BTW woodyoak, no I don't hate you but I respectfully disagree with you. I also appreciate your situation. However, Thisn't good enough an excuse to allow a dog to destroy another one's yard. DOG pee is potent and burns. And yes, dogs will actually pee in one's own yard if it doesn't have a choice or if it's trained to do so. Dogs pee (any pee) is potent and we know the remedy is for one to wash down that pee with lots and lots of water before it begins to burn the grass or the shrub. However I don't really see a lot of people carrying buckets of water to do that job... (sorry being funny here) Being that I'm a former dog owner, I understand the nature of dogs and the need to scent mark... but the idea of someone allowing their dog to go up to people's yards and pee there is absolutely, absolutely rude. It's no more as rude as someone coming to my yard to snip off a flower. There is a sidewalk strip in my neighborhood but no... the dog had to go up a few steps into my neighbor's yard to pee. Or to go up my yard to pee on my carefully trimmed topiary. My yard is meant for kids to touch and to feel. My neighbor spent over $300 to have new sod last year -- only to be damaged by this. My yew cost me $30 andhad many years of pruning behind it. The point is, dogs can be trained -- I know. I was a dog owner. I've used many technics in training but I'll give you 2 implements - a gentle tug on a leash when its misbehaving and a spray bottle filled with water. Sprays are gentle but stops a dog from certain behaviours fast. I've also used it to control too much barking (we had chihuahuas, dalmations, dashunds, pekenese, terriers)

Polygonum-The rose bushes I cut into manageable pieces with a large set of lopping shears, then I dug out the roots. The daylillies got dug out and the whole pile is currently sitting in the other little garden area, waiting for my neighbor's lawn guys to cart away later this week. I also want to clean out that area & put some more cool/shade tolerant stuff in there, as it only gets a couple hours of sunshine a day. Sorie-You're absolutely correct about gardening being good for the soul. My garden is the one place where I can totally unwind and feel connected to the world. I am so glad I get to have one this year. Kenny-Glad you think my varieties will do well. I pretty much just threw some things together with what was available. I've not grown many toms, so I'm curious how they'll do. I'll let you know if I have any better luck with the Early Girl than you have. But even if I don't, the other ones should make up the difference. What one person is going to do with 7 tomato plants (plus 3 for paste, but those are gonna be canned) remains to be seen! :D

Mboston, your post made me cry! Thank you so much for posting a message to me. It's been an exhausting few months of waiting and more waiting and I just didn't have it in me to write up a huge post with no real information except maybes and more maybes. I also had a small email issue with someone here on Gardenweb and she tipped me over so I haven't logged back into my emeraldisle email since then. The gall of some people sometimes. But I shouldn't let that take away from all of you wonderful people. :) I saw my oncologist at the end of March after seeing the fertility specialist the week before. We needed my oncologist to give us specifics on time (she gave me until September to get pregnant!), we needed her to say if I could carry the baby or if it would have to be a surrogate (she said I definitely can carry the baby!), I stopped taking the Megace that same day (so the worry is the cancer will definitely grow back but there is no way to determine how fast and/or aggressive it will be) and it's a no to any hormone treatments to stimulate eggs as my cancer is hormone dependent. So...after stopping the Megace, I had to wait for my cycle to reset itself (I hadn't had one since June) and then the fertility testing would start. 6 months seems like a lot of time but really it's not! I got my cycle and then 2 days later had to get to the fertility doc for blood tests and an ovary ultrasound for them to count the eggs. It was a couple of days after the marathon bombing and it was overwhelming (to put it mildly) to have the armed National Guardsmen and their Hummer vehicles standing outside Mass General. I actually starting crying at the sight of them as this is the world we live in now and I'm trying to bring a baby into the world. And my heart broke knowing I was thisclose to the victims that were brought to MGH. Of course during the ultrasound I hear everything the doctor doing the procedure (not my doc) is telling the nurse. So I mentally make my notes and I'm googling everything on my phone before we even leave the hospital. My appointment with my doctor was the following week to discuss results. I only have 3 eggs on each ovary (low for someone my age not in menopause) and one of my hormones is very low. My doctor told me not to panic yet as it doesn't mean that I can't get pregnant naturally, it's just not ideal for egg retrieval. Plus he can't give me hormones to stimulate any more eggs due to the cancer. My doctor is so sweet, he's determined to help me and says he thinks about my case all of the time and what he can do for me (safely of course!). He's never had a case with my variation of issues so it's a first for him and his staff. I was talking to one of my cousins (she's a nurse at MGH) and she said these one of a kind cases get a lot of attention as it's both a challenge and an opportunity for them, so that made me happy. My doctor decided to wait until my next cycle (whenever that would be as I don't have a real cycle schedule) and re-test everything to confirm the numbers. I figured it would be 4 weeks or so, turns out it was just 3 weeks later. So I went again last week for another ultrasound (still only 3 eggs on each ovary) and more bloodwork. I go back at the end of this month to see what the next step is. I also saw my OB/GYN last month and she said I'm the most determined patient she's ever had and can't believe how much I've been through in the last year trying to figure this all out. She said if I end up pregnant after all of this, she will make sure my story makes it into a medical journal as it deserves to be. I told her I'm just doing what I can, it's all I know how to do. I never ever give up without a fight! So, in a nutshell, here I am! Still patiently waiting and worrying about only having 4 months left now to get pregnant. My oncologist is allowing me to wait 6 months for my next D&C as she felt confident to do that. I trust her literally with my life and I know she wouldn't allow it if she wasn't ok with it. It's definitely a risk I'm taking but my husband and I talked it all out and it's what I wanted to do. At this point, what is 6 months. (I hope I don't regret those words!) Mothers Day this year was really hard for me, I didn't expect it to be so emotional. It was like I was mourning something I never had. My mom went to my brother's house and I decided against it. I felt bad but I had a long talk with my mom and she said she understood. I haven't seen anyone in my family for a few months and I didn't want a million questions about everything plus I didn't want to take away from it being my mom's and my brother's MIL holiday. And...I definitely didn't want to have to stop by my in-laws house. My mother-in-law and I are on the outs as I couldn't take the pressure of the constant texts asking how I was doing, wanting all the details, etc. I know she cares about me but I finally had to tell her this was between me and her son and no one understands the stress I have right now. I know she's angry but it's really too bad. I have no room in my life for drama at the moment! You ladies are so sweet. I still read here all of the time, I just didn't have it in me to post. But now you sure got an earful (or would that be an eyeful!). All of your prayers, good vibes and thoughts are on my mind every single day. I couldn't have made it this far without people like you sending up your prayers to the big man upstairs. :) You have no idea how thankful I am for you. This post was edited by emeraldisle624 on Tue, May 14, 13 at 12:46

Love it!