2005 Timber Press dogwood book says to call it 'Miss Satomi'. 'Big Apple', despite appearing to do fine otherwise seems very quick to react to drier conditions every year. "Cornus Kousa ---Kousa Dogwood Too thirsty. It loathes our dry summers and is horribly stunted. In this regard it is just like the Katsura. Happily, Kousa Dogwood will not grow too large for small gardens. I love the tree's appearance, health, and its colorful seasonal displays. But because of its virtues, and despite its thirst, it is being overplanted. It blooms in June, and Seattle would benefit by more trees that bloom later in summer" Here is a link that might be useful: Article - Overplanted in Seattle by Arthur Lee Jacobson

5 days keeps everyone's schedules more dependable and won't require changing existing patterns and habits? That's good for the very young, to be able to have and experience organization and dependable schedules. It's also usually less stressful on parents to not have to shuffle and re-settle into new patterns. 4 days of longer hours will require some shuffling before it gets to feel 'normal' and before it then becomes the new dependable pattern. It will require new duties from your partner in terms of taking the baby to daycare. Is he aware and able to do that? Do you have a choice about Mondays or Fridays to take off, or other days if taking a 4-day work week? You might be able to negotiate a 'trial' of a week or so with your employer so you can get an idea of the physical requirements and whether this kind of schedule is do-able for you (you need your health and sanity as intact as possible). Other issues can be complicated. Do you get a 'free' day to do the things you need to do (the thing to consider is whether, at stressful times, this change would feel like something that is resented). When the adults involved are both sleep-deprived their judgement can be impaired, or their thinking processes relatively slowed or otherwise affected by that lack of sleep. It can seem like, when offered what is felt to be needed (a free day) then of course it would be a good idea. It's harder to predict how one's life would change as a result. (If you end up feeling so overworked those 4 days that you really can't consider that 'free' day as 'free'; then you might a lot more support from your partner. He may not appreciate that, or be naturally adept and providing that as needed. No one benefits much at all if this change causes you to exceed your body's limits in terms of exhaustion and sleep.) deprivation. Basically, spend some time thinking about your own body's patterns. Which kind of work schedule would agree more with your own natural patterns (and why). What considerations are 'pro' and which are 'con' for the change. How sleep-deprived are you both, and how sleep-deprived are you both feeling (that is important because 2 people can have similar degrees of deprivation but one person's functioning might be more impaired by that)? Who will have to do what with the baby's schedule either way (note required changes)? Go through all these kinds of questions for yourself and with reference to your partner and baby. You'll be able to come up with a good idea about whether this change might be worth attempting. you can ask your employer for a trial of this change if you'd like to explore how you might be affected (positively or negatively, or not at all)

TG, that is definately a pic of beauty. I pulled the bird out the fridge at 7:30 to take it's chill off..threw the "icky" bits in water and they are still simmering away..how does just water and turkey bits smell so good? Lol.. I also put hubbies Maple Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie in the oven. I think that with the simmering bits made T-Day come alive so early. :) The turkey is now in the oven on 450 for a few more minutes and the aromatics plus herbs are making my mouth water. I'll drop it down and let it go for 3.5 more hours....it really is torture. :) The sun is peeking through the clouds giving off that golden haze. What a beautiful day it is. Oh and Shick..Kids = expensive...stick with critters, cars and house remodeling. ;) you may financial come out ahead. However, I wouldn't trade them in..even though I threaten now and then. I would give up a few of the battle scars/heart break of parenting though.

Kim, You will be farming and gardening in a very unforgiving climate there, so perhaps their desire to wait for the rain comes from their knowledge of how tough Spring planting can be without the rainfall. I'm just guessing about that. I am sorry that your planting plans are a mess and aren't conforming to what you wanted, hoped for and expected. Please hang in there and don't stop believing.....even with a late start I bet you have a great year. It is unfortunate that your promised helpers are not available. Grrrrr. I hate empty promises. I wish you lived closer to all of us too. If you did, we'd caravan out to the farm and help you plant onions. Don't be too hard on yourself over the onion planting. Just do what you can do every day and be thankful for the progress you're making. I noticed that almost nobody in my area (or nobody who lives on roads we drive along so we're able to see their gardens) has their onions in yet, likely because most everyone here gardens at grade level, so their soil still is too wet. I am grateful for our raised beds because even though their soil also is wet, it was dry enough for me to get the onions planted last week, and today I'll be able to plant a lot of other stuff. So, even though I feel late here (and I am late compared to most years) apparently I'm ahead of everyone else who gardens around me. We all have to work with what we've got and, depending on one's location, it seems like we're either too wet or too dry.......sort of like Goldilocks and the Three Bears......it is hard to find that planting window when things are just right. Bruce, Our cats wipe out the moles and gophers, so they don't bother me either way, but it is stunning how many mounds I see on other people's property, particularly the ones with sandy soil. To some extent, our large amount of clay saves us from the moles and gophers, and the cats do the rest. If only that were so with the voles, but they tunnel completely underground at night, often hiding the entrances to their tunnels in adjacent woodland or areas of the neighbor's pasture with tall grass, so the cats have to hunt really hard to find the vole holes. I cannot let the cats out at night because of the coyotes, but I bet if the cats could be outside safely at night, they'd control the voles too. It would be tempting to use the poison for the gophers if only you didn't have grandchildren (or pets?). I noticed the sudden appearance of gopher traps, and all sorts of poisons and repellants on the store shelves in the last week or two, so clearly rodent season is underway now. For years, back when the garden fence was only 4' tall, we always had bobcats in the garden. I knew they were lurking there hoping to get birds, house cats, squirrels, bunnies or rodents, but I don't think I realized how many voles they probably were controlling until we raised the fence to 8' in height to keep out the deer. Since that effectively kept out the bobcats too, it was about a year after the raising of the fence that I realized we 'suddenly' had a huge vole problem. I wish there were a way to keep out the deer and allow the bobcats back in. It would sort of freak me out to drive up the driveway and see a bobcat just sitting there in the garden right in the middle of all the plants in broad daylight, but now that they are gone, I miss their varmint-controlling efforts. I don't understand everyone's obsession with moles either, but then, that's because our lawn is clay and we don't have moles. Maybe if we had moles tunneling everywhere in the lawn, they'd drive me nuts. I don't know. Also, we're rural and I could care less what our lawn looks like. We're not trying to maintain a pristine green carpet that impresses all the neighbors. I can understand that folks who live in suburban neighborhoods where there is a ton of pressure to have the standard perfect green carpet of grass would feel like the moles are ruining their lawn and, by extension, their lives. That whole obsession with perfect green lawns in housing subdivisions is a real thing, you know, and it amazes me how much time and effort people put into feeding and watering a green lawn and controlling the weeds just so they can mow it once or twice a week. It seems like a lot of work for nothing (by nothing, I mean that the standard green lawn doesn't produce food or flowers and doesn't support much wild life). When we lived in the city, we had the standard beautiful green lawn in the front yard, although I replaced as much of it as I reasonably could with ornamental planting beds. We had St. Augustine ('Raleigh') and it was so pretty, but I'm glad we aren't trying to keep a lawn like that green through all of OK's hot, dry, drought-filled summers. As our shade trees here get larger and larger, more and more of our bermuda grass lawn is being shaded out and replaced by ground covers, and that thrills me. That was my plan for the bermuda grass all along---to shade it out. I don't miss the green carpet of grass at all here. Our city back yard always was more garden than lawn grass and that was good---it gave me places to plant things that weren't green lawn, so I always spent more time in the back yard than the front yard even way back then. Nowadays I spend all my time in the garden that I possibly can, and resent every single hour of mowing that takes me away from my garden. It is funny how kids and grandkids take it so personally when someone else has offended their parent or grandparent, and those kids have long memories too! I guess that makes us stay on our best behavior when the little ones are around. Looking out the window I can see that it is dawn outside (pun intended). I've been waiting forever for the sun to come up, and finally that moment is about to arrive. Planting day at last! After today, the onions will not be alone any more. Dawn