mommom, your roses are just going through their normal blooming cycle. The rose will look better if you trim off the ends that are no longer blooming. Water well (but don't drown them) and regularly. . . and wait. After a rest (anywhere from a few weeks to a month or sometimes even 6 weeks), the bush will bloom again. At the end of that blooming cycle, again trim off the spent blooms, water, and wait--for the next bloom cycle. One reason your rose isn't doing much right now is that it is still trying to grow roots in your garden. A newly planted rose will probably take about a month or 6 weeks before it starts putting out new vigorous growth. Patience is a virtue all gardeners have to learn. : ) Kate

Gotta love those happy accidents !!

in looking at your pictures of the basement... see where the band joist/foundation wall that rests on the stone/rubble walls? that is one place to air seal that is worth the time & effort to do so. there are different approaches.. less expensive in materials but more time: would be to caulk tops of joists to floor above and bottom to rubble/stone below. caulk any cracks or penetrations. install 1" or two layres of 1" dow blue board (or corning pink board). use roofing nails, button cap nails ..something with large head to hold foam sheathing in place. use construction adhesive to hold it tight to the wall. caulk edges of foam sheathing to floor at top of joist, and again at bottom of wall to stone wall. do this in all areas of band joist. more cost material..less time to install would be froth pack of closed cell insulation. this is diy. tiger foam is what we have used a few times on small jobs. http://www.tigerfoam.com/#video the site he is spraying..is what I am calling the band joist of your basement. third option..most cost would be to hire the foam sealing out. in the floors large air leakage sites would be any areas where pipes run into the house. under tubs around piping for radiators. plumbing accesses. a mixtue of methods to seal these areas would be pipe insulation around radiator pipes. cut to fit around pipe & into hole in floor. caulked to seal. under tubs..usually a large area. depending on where the tub is located..either metal flashing cut to fit over hole & around pipe. caulked into place & screwed to floor. then caulked around edges of flashing to floor. btw..the radiators you have are really attractive. don't think I've seen such nice looking ones before. of course..radiators are uncommon in this area. I know you are dealing with the ceiling issue right now. hope that goes well. whatever you decide is the fix...seal any gaps between new ceiling & walls of room before reinstalling moldings. this will eliminate any need to caulk moldings to walls & ceiling. will give some more thought to attic later. best of luck.

You are so wise and such a great mom! "I think I have come to realize that contact with DD is MY want or need and that DD is sort of an out of sight out of mind kid still... So as long as she is 'fine' I need to be fine." that's a huge step and kudos to you for realizing it. I also have no doubt that, despite your understandable and natural want to talk to your DD often, you haven't placed an unfair burden on her. My SS's BM expects contact anytime SHE chooses. DH had a big issue just this morning. BM got SS a cell phone last week and told him he would be bringing it to our house so she can call him anytime and he can call her. Well, at 9 yrs old, of course he wants a cell phone. He thinks it's the coolest thing ever. DH told him no last week. This AM he picked SS up at BM's and she handed SS his phone and said "Keep your phone on so I can call you anytime." DH said he didn't even say anything, just pulled on out of the drive, and immediately took the phone from SS. And told him they had already discussed it and DH had said no, and that BM can allow SS the phone at her house, those are her rules, but at our house, the answer is no. No cell phone. we have a home phone that is strictly for SS/BM. Anytime it rings, SS knows it's his mom and he can choose to answer or not answer. And he can call her anytime he wants, as well. A cell phone is jst another means on BM's end to have constant contact to SS---to infrige upon DH's time, and make sure SS isn't having *too much fun* without her. It's really sick. Anyway, DH said SS cried for about 5 mins but he's been at our house all morning, we're getting ready to head to the pool and a family bbq, and he's perfectly fine. I'm sure BM will blow up once she realizes the cell is turned off and will not be allowed----but whatever. She can blow up all she wants. Sorry to ramble on. I think reasonable contact is vague and I for one wish the courts would define it more clearly for hostile situations like ours. BM thinks reasonable is multiple calls a day. I do think the child's age thing makes sense. I don't know. When I took SS on vacation two yrs ago, he was 7 and his mom asked that I have him call once in the AM and once in the PM. I had no probllem with that b/c we were out of the country and I knew she was worried/anxious. But I did have to practically force SS to make the calls some days. He just wasn't think about his mom that often, in the same way MY DD doesn't think about me when she's sleeping at a friend's house or a grandparents' house, etc. In the same way SS doesn't really think about his dad much when he's with BM. If it were totally up to SS, I think he'd call his mom every couple days if he could choose. You are a GREAT mom, myfampg, and I hope your DD calls you soon. I have no doubt she loves and adores you and it is THAT foundaiton of love that enables her to withstand the times apart. Honestly, I'd be more concerned if she were calling you ten times a day! "