AH!!! Gosh I've missed you guys. :))) New and old! Dawn, I THINK I've decided on a different approach to the pecan tree leaves that will fall this year, tell me what you think? I'm raking them all in to the garden spots and covering thm with the black rubber matting I have. Watering them here and there to encourage decomposition. THEN, when spring rolls around, I'll lay down newspaper and cover with grass clippings. Bryan says he'll order a grass catcher for the riding lawnmower, that'll help out tons. And on the things breaking down??? How the heck did you know my kitchen a/c unit broke down yesterday??? LOL! OH MAN, right after a huge baking session! I used to feel like I was brushing back the tide with a broom on things breaking down around here... now it's a little better and I'm so grateful! :) I loved that tomato today, that'll be another one to try in the future. :) Susan, Don't take this wrong, but I'm glad I'm not the only one that had that problem... LOL! Not that I'd wish problems on anyone else, you know what I mean. Another thought. My fil grew a yellow tomato this year (not sure what type, very mild flavor). I got the wild idea to grill it with some olive oil and s&p and it was really good! Maybe the yellows just need a bit of help for some people (like ME). :) KelleyP, HIYA! Nice to meet you! I'm only in my third year of gardening, and finding these people to talk with has helped me LOADS... I'm glad you joined! Do your tomato happy dance, I did! LOL! Diane, OMG!!! If you move close to me I'm gonna be over to your house a.s.a.p.!!! LOL! Crap, I'll even help you unpack if you want! I'll email you as soon as I'm done here... you better believe it! Jay, Love the info you give out! I copy it all and put it in a file with Dawn's info too. Keep it up, I sure do appreciate it! In conclusion... (lol), I just want to say that I've still got the gardening bug. EVEN tho this year has been turbulent, I'm still obssessed with that mythical "too much of something" harvest. (Mythical to me, LOL!) Every year gets... I almost said better, but now I'm gonna say DIFFERENT, LOL! Adding, I'm getting a HUGE deep freeze at the end of this month! And I'm going to Hot Springs again and me and my smil will be stocking up at the local farmer's market (as much as we can with those prices). Plus, I do have a working sewing machine here! Got a basic Brother model for my birthday (with cool zebra stripes on it, LOL!). So I'll be doing some projects as soon as I can. Love you guys! Stay cool and safe, okay? :) Beth

I haven't had bird damage since I did three things. 1. Put up a bird feeder that encourages several species to visit the yard. Seems to make it neutral territory. 2. Encouraged Robins and House Wrens to nest nearby the plant area. They let me walk within a few feet of them. 3. Put in a birdbath so they could have water and a bath. Some will do their thing with me six feet away. The House wrens and Robins nested within 10 feet of each other and gave me about 8 weeks of no other birds messing around the tomatoes while the toms were little green things. I am always amazed to watch those little wrens chase off a big Bluejay, Blackbird, or Mockingbird. And the robins are big enough to back up their commotion. They're done nesting and now, I have Catbirds, Robins, and a host of smaller birds that visit my birdbath each day. Best of all, not the first damaged tomato. The wrens kept the place nearly insect free. The robins still come to hunt for bugs and worms. I've got one that I threw an earthworm to a few weeks back. The bird looked at me and then the worm and then me, and then took the worm. Now it shows up every time I go to the garden. Talk about learned behavior. Maybe the critters are just thirsty or maybe they think the red tomato is the "biggest cherry they've ever seen"., but I think my good luck is in the nesting thing that seems to declare an area as staked out by the nester and all who cross the line will be chastised. The other birds were chased off enough that they've decided they don't want to do that any more. (I guess that's more learned behavior.) Just MHO.

I know nothing about birds i have had a small wooden bird house on my porch for 20 years i have had small sparrows or wrens living there and mating there for years This year i bought a hanging house like feeder which is hung about 4 feet away i never knew that people hate house sparrows i enjoy watching thrm sitting on top of the bird house once or twice i saw them at the feeder not much action I filled the feeder with classic wild bird food i hope i see more birds in the Spring any advice for me about seeds or sparrows i have never had a problem i just wanted to feed thrm thanks for your advice

Really nice home and property. You could simply remove any central vac system and invest in a Roomba -- that could get rid of one something along one wall and let you square room 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=Roomba&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1l-Ll87bnAhXJSt8KHZjVD0QQsxh6BAgPECs&biw=1366&bih=628#spf=1580785213419 For heating purposes in a large old two story home, being able to close off the stairwell should be the primary concern since heat rises. From personal experience ... if you have a wood stove, you'd be better much served putting it in a larger room or in a room open to multiple rooms. NOT in a small room such as room 3. If you have a wood heater, you could put it either in or in front of your fireplace (with triple wall metal stove pipe lining the chimney for safety). If you don't want to make room 3 your new Foyer/Entry ... but if you want the room 2&3 side of the house to be your front of the house ... another way to use the rooms is worth considering: You have a tiny bathroom very close to the kitchen/eating area. Budget permitting, the best use of room three could well be closing it off from room 2 and creating a new full bath in room 3. That would enable you to square the informal dining room and move the bathroom farther away from the kitchen and dining area. Once you've moved the bathroom, you could recreate the space between kitchen and informal dining with a pass thru kitchen cabinet "wall" that you can walk all the way around. https://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/remodeling/architectural-details/home-design-ideas-room-dividers/?slide=slide_2bf3e1c7-021a-4262-9de6-fd5daf3777a7#slide_2bf3e1c7-021a-4262-9de6-fd5daf3777a7 Keeping only one interior door to enter room 2 from room 3 means you could use room 2 as a bonus room -- usable as a bedroom or as you choose. It also means you can keep that one door to room 2 closed and not fully heat it all the time. You could keep as is or alter or (if not load bearing) remove the wall between dining and informal living room to create a single elongated rectangle shaped "great room" -- kitchen, dining, family room. If you created a pony wall between dining wall and informal living, your wood heater in the fireplace could heat the entire great room area. You could keep as many posts as needed for support in that pony wall and, with a solid back on the informal living room room side, you can put any furnishings you choose by it with the back to the pony wall. You could alter the porch beside room 2 between the window to room 2 and the door to room 1 to create a wider porch there that wraps around the side of room 1 several feet. You could even enclose that area and create a new foyer and make the rest of the porch on the right side of room 2 your front porch. Then in that back corner off the kitchen at a right angle to room 3, remove the shallow/narrow open porch and create a square deck or patio there with a rail around it and steps exiting on the left side toward what would be the back of your home. You might also consider a "green wall" -- row of shrubs -- all across the yard so guests are led to the new foyer on the right side of the home.