Randall, based on your location, here's the government poop on your soil (see below the demarcation). I'm guessing it's not red clay, but rather has some yellow clay in it. Does it look like the picture at the bottom of this post (farm near Raleigh)? I'd recommend fescue if you want a year-round green lawn. If your soil doesn't crust and get hard during the summer, you can use lime. Otherwise, use gypsum to break up the hard clay surface and Milorganite when it comes time to plant fescue seed. You should never have to dethatch, but aerating once or twice a year can help OM get deeper and work faster after you have a lawn going. You actually can top dress with granular lime right after seeding and don't worry about the nitrogen reaction. it won't matter that much. I have used peat moss or vermiculite as a top dressing also, but I have a commercial level Hunter irrigation system to keep that moist with regular spritzes. Fescue doesn't like to be covered too much, and even good seed can take three weeks to germinate (sprout). Straw helps, but I sometimes use a very lightweight insect cloth in 100-foot rolls to cover seed for the first three weeks. As soon as the grass is popping up, pull that off so the new sprouts don't "damp off." Look for the freshest seed you can find, direct from Oregon. Several sources on the internet when it comes to buying seed. Meanwhile, yes by all means find worms. I can't tell you how nice it is to see piles 4-inches in diameter of wormcastings in my yard this time of year, all over the place. One worm near a Pro-Spray head was about 10-inches long. He was a monster. We have little "cocoons" or egg thingees all over the raised vegetable garden, which has tons of azaleas, camellias and mountain laurels interspersed around additional raised beds for those good ol' veggies. We actually had tomatoes still two weeks ago! Anyway, the cocoons are future worms. Google earthworm images on the net so you can learn to recognize them. If you find them in the woods or anywhere, grab them and put them in your yard. Worms will find a way to organic material, even in clay soils, and they are indispensable. Good luck. ================================================= DURHAM SERIES The Durham series consists of deep, well drained moderately permeable soils formed in loamy residuum from acid crystalline rock. They are nearly level to sloping soils on broad ridges of the Piedmont. TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic Typic Hapludults TYPICAL PEDON: Durham loamy sand--cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated.) Ap--0 to 8 inches; light brownish gray (10YR 6/2) loamy sand; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; medium acid; clear smooth boundary. (6 to 10 inches thick) BA1--8 to 13 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) loamy sand; weak coarse granular structure; very friable; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (4 to 10 inches thick) BA2--13 to 16 inches; pale brown (10YR 6/3) sandy loam; weak medium granular structure; friable, slightly brittle; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick) Bt1--16 to 25 inches; brownish yellow (10YR 6/6) sandy clay loam; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; thin continuous clay films; strongly acid; clear smooth boundary. (8 to 10 inches thick) Bt2--25 to 36 inches; yellowish brown (10YR 5/8) heavy sandy clay loam, few fine and medium distinct (7.5YR 5/6) strong brown and yellowish red (5YR 4/6) mottles; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; thin continuous clay films; strongly acid; gradual smooth boundary. (10 to 14 inches thick) Bt3--36 to 42 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/8), strong brown (7.6YR 5/8), and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable, slightly sticky, slightly plastic; thin patchy clay films on vertical faces of peds; few fine flakes of mica; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (0 to 8 inches thick) BC--42 to 48 inches; mottled yellowish brown (10YR 5/4), strong brown (7.5YR 5/6), and yellowish red (5YR 5/8) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; few fine flakes of mica; few bodies of sandy loam; strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (5 to 12 inches thick) C--48 to 60 inches; mottled yellow, yellowish red, and pale brown saprolite that crushes to sandy loam; rock structure; friable; strongly acid. TYPE LOCATION: Wake County, North Carolina; five miles south of Rolesville, North Carolina, on county road 2227, 1/4 mile east of Bethany Baptist Church at junction of county road 1003; 50 feet north of road in cultivated field. RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The thickness of the loamy horizons over saprolite range from 40 to more than 60 inches below the surface. Depth to bedrock is more than 5 feet. Coarse fragments range from 0 to 5 percent throughout. The soil is strongly acid or very strongly acid except where the surface has been limed. The A or Ap horizons have hues of 7.5YR, 10YR, and 2.5Y, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 1 to 3. The BA horizon as hue of 10YR and 2.5Y, value of 6 to 8, chroma of 1 to 4. The A horizon is loamy coarse sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, or fine sandy loam. Where present, BA and BE horizons of sandy loam are pale brown, brownish yellow, brown, or light yellowish brown. The Bt horizon has hue of 7.5YR, 10YR, or 2.5Y, value of 5 to 8, and chroma of 4 to 8. It has few to common reddish, brownish, or yellowish mottles. Mottles in chroma of 2 or less are below the upper 20 inches of the Bt horizon. It is sandy clay loam or clay loam. Some pedons have lower Bt horizon of sandy clay, but the textural control section averages less than 35 percent clay. The BC horizon is similar in color to the Bt horizon except where the mottles are more contrasting. It is sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or clay loam. The B3 horizon contains weatherable minerals such as mica and feldspar. The C horizon is mottled or varicolored saprolite of acid crystalline rock. It is sandy loam or loamy sand. COMPETING SERIES: These are the Apison, Cahaba, Cowarts, Emporia, Euharlee, Granville, Hartsells, Kempsville, Linker, Marvyn, Nauvoo, Nectar, Pirum, Spadra, and Suffolk series. Apison, Hartsells, Linker, and Pirum soils have bedrock at depths less than 40 inches. Cahaba, Nauvoo, and Nectar soils have redder hue. Cowarts, Emporia, Kempsville, Marvyn, Spadra, and Suffolk soils lack weatherable minerals in the lower solum and have C horizons of Coastal Plain or old alluvial sediments. Euharlee soils contain more silt. Granville soils are higher in exchangeable aluminum. GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Durham soils are on nearly level to sloping Piedmont uplands. Slopes are commonly 2 to 5 percent and range from 0 to 10 percent. Durham soils formed in residuum weathered from acid crystalline rocks, chiefly granite and gneiss. Mean annual precipitation is about 47 inches and the mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees F. near the type location. GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Appling, Cecil, Helena, Louisburg, Pacolet, Vance, Wedowee, and Worsham series. Appling, Cecil, Helena, Pacolet, Vance, Wedowee, and Worsham soils contain more clay and Louisburg soils contain less clay. Helena and Worsham soils have mottles with chroma 2 or less in the upper 20 inches of the control section and occupy lower positions on the landscape. DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Well drained; medium runoff; moderate permeability in upper subsoil and moderately slow permeability in lower subsoil. USE AND VEGETATION: About two thirds of the total acreage is in cultivation or pasture. The remainder is in mixed hardwood and pine. Common crops grown are corn, soybeans, tobaco, cotton, small grain, and vegetables. Native tree species include loblolly pine, short leaf pine, Viginia pine, sweetgum, whiteoak, red oak, post oak, hickory, and yellow-poplar. Understory species include flowering dogwood, persimmon, sourwood, red maple, eastern redbud, eastern redcedar, and common sassafras DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Piedmont of North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. The series is of moderate extent. MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Raleigh, North Carolina SERIES ESTABLISHED: Raleigh to New Bern Area, North Carolina, 1900. REMARKS: Durham soils were formerly placed in the Red-Yellow Podzolic great soil group. They ranged in texture of the B horizon from moderately-fine to fine, and in drainage from well drained to moderately well drained. This revision restricts the texture of the argillic horizon to fine-loamy and the drainage class to well drained. Here is a link that might be useful: Cecil soil (probably what you have)

Great thread! For cleaning -- mix of alcohol and water with a bit of lavender oil --got this from CatMom on Kitchens -- works well for stainless Also like Caldrea Basil Blue Sage --cleaner, dish soap, anything they make with this scent. Also like the old fashioned scent balls -- Aura cacia and others sell it -- because you can use pure oils. For my face: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant -- it is expensive for what you get but it really does seem to make a difference. Tretinoin-- just the plain generic stuff -- and also some of the products from Skin Laboratory -- such as salicylic acid -- Shu Uemura eye shadow -- but they discontinued some of the best colors

I used something last year that DH ordered from one of the home shopping channels (yeah, yeah) and it worked beautifully - but it also ruined my sheets. You were supposed to apply at night, which I did, allow to dry, which I did - but because I have menopausal night sweats, you can imagine how it affected my sheets. I was nice and tan for the first week of our vacation in Mexico, then blotchy by the second week after it started to wear off. I couldn't bring myself to reapply it and risk somebody else's sheets. I have actually briefly toyed with going and getting a few sessions in a tanning bed, as we're soon off to the beach again and I keep trying to tell myself that tan cellulite is less noticeable than white cellulite. But I'm not going to do it. For one thing, it's hell on tattoos and I've invested too much $ in mine to ruin them that way. Not to mention the dangerous health implications. ::sigh:: Don't you wish pasty, white skin would truly be fashionable on the beach? I sure do.

What an interesting thread! I can definitely say I come down on the girly side. Makeup is as much a part of my daily routine as toothpaste. My hair is short and colored and I use various products depending on the look I'm going for. I love jewelry and am never without earrings and a watch, usually a necklace. I change my jewelry daily to go with my outfit. I still work, and I get fairly dressed up, especially on the two or three days a week I am in court. On other days I can be a little more casual, but usually still have a jacket or blazer, just in case.On days off it's jeans, or capris in warm weather. but nice dark jeans and nice tops. I only own two sweatshirts and they are zippered hoodies that I take to picnics, or when working in the garden. The biggest problem I have as I get older is finding the right shoes. Like many here, I can't really wear high heels anymore, although I love the way they look. But I still want a narrow, feminine heel. Shoes tend to look either too old, like orthopedic, or too young, like clunky. Summer is easier because there are lots of pretty sandals and open toed shoes with a lower feminine heel, but in winter it is tough to find a closed toe shoe or booty with a kitten type heel. I don't like flats at all,my legs are short and they make me look stumpy. I really believe in taking good care of your feet, so now that the weather is cold, I will remove the polish from toenails and moisturize them every morning before putting on knee-highs, or trouser socks. I never wear bare feet in closed-toe shoes. and I never walk barefoot. I am 60 years old but my feet look 30. When my children were little and I was home all day, I got in the habit of wearing sneakers all the time. After a while I couldn't wear shoes without feeling that they hurt my feet. I had to learn to wear shoes again. Now I rarely wear sneakers unless I'm gardening, working out, or doing a lot of walking, like at Disney World. I think you can be comfortable in nice clothes, it is just what you get used to.