Thank you all for your input/responses. I have been following the Bible and it actually has produced a lawn that looks like this: [And yes I know the grass needed to be cut in these pics] However, point of frustration is two-fold I have over 35 roses in my garden [which must be watered daily if over 90 degrees] and if I use my irrigation system I cannot water them without also watering my lawn. And lately I've been seeing alot of clovers and weeds in my lawn [more than likely from over watering]. Therefore, my only solution is something I did not want to do: water the roses via hose by hand and properly water the lawn via the Bermuda Bible schedule. Sucky thing is that Atlanta is so damn hot to stand outside for an 1/2 hr daily to water these thirsty roses. As for those that read into my response(s) as having an attitude or insulting tone, I did not mean to express myself in this manner, more than likely the frustration with my lawn/roses coming out within the written word. Thank you one and all.

Whoo Hoo!! Ran the 10k Cotton Row Run yesterday and finished with a decent time (for me anyway)! And I feel good today so that is even better. No soreness, which I attribute not only to good training, but also to the stretches I've been doing before and especially after the running. My DD and DGD ran the 5k and I'm so proud of them! DGD killed it and was 10th in her age group out of 52 in that group. She is 14 and ran it in just over 29 minutes which I thought was really great for her first 5k. My time for the 10k was 78 minutes which isn't a barn-burner by any means, but keep in mind it was very, very hot, sunny, and humid, even at 7 am when we started. The first half of this course is a gradual uphill climb, with a quarter mile hill just before the 3 mile point that is so unbelievable that almost everyone walks up it. Then the last 2.8 miles or so is mostly downhill which is a relief but still by then you're zapped. The 5k course isn't so bad. Now on to the next great challenge, which is to keep running in our summer heat and humidity. Most of the races around here in the summer are 5k races until September. Too hot and dangerous. Our running group has a get-together this evening at a local watering hole...should be fun and I've met some great new friends and running buddies I hope to see again on the trails. There is also a group that runs trail runs on Tuesdays, 1-3 miles, from now thru October, so that is a good thing to do. Anele, so glad you are noticing progress. Normally you'll notice some change in 2 weeks and big changes in 4 weeks, so am really happy for you that you've stuck to your plan. Hope you have a wonderful vacation and can work in some exercise, even in 10-15 minutes here and there per day, to keep it going. I've read that those intervals do just as much good as long workouts. Oh yes, forgot to mention...I treated myself to a day off today and had a massage. Sometimes you just have to do things for yourself as I'm sure you've all figured out. We had the family over for dinner last night and celebrated DH's birthday too. So it was good to have another day to recuperate after a busy weekend!

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.

I have not been pushing any limits in the heat the last couple of days. In fact, it is sort of the opposite. I watered the plants well on Thursday and only did minor work for an hour or two yesterday and have stayed away from the garden ever since. As I am typing this, it is 99 here and the heat index is 112 so y'all had better believe I'm smart enough to not be out there in this heat. We did the whole CostCo-Sam's Club run down to the metroplex today and stocked up on everything, so we're good for a couple of weeks. It is terrible when Saturday morning feels too hot to even run errands and shop, but it did....and we went out and did everything we needed to do anyway. Now the game plan is to stay indoors, stay cool and hydrated, and enjoy having our oldest granddaughter here for what is left of this weekend. Jennifer, Armenian cukes love the heat and are very disease-tolerant. They actually are melons and not cucumbers, but if harvested while on the small side, they are very cucumber-like and even can be used to make pickles. The larger they get, the more melon-like they become, but not a sweet melon---sort of bland. I harvest them small for us and let them get as big as possible for the chickens. On hot days, I cut an Armenian Cucumber in half and put it on the ground and the chickens peck away at the flesh until there's nothing left. They love them, and it helps to hydrate the chickens as well as just entertaining them. As soon as something else finishes up in my garden, probably pole beans or squash, I'll plant Armenian cukes so I will have them for the chickens when the real (ha ha, that's a joke) summer heat arrives in July and August. I would have planted them in the back garden this year, if I'd planted the back garden. Megan, I'm sorry to hear that about your beans. If I hadn't planted mine ridiculously early (March), I would be in the same boat. I've pulled one variety because of the spider mites, but the other three are still chugging along. I am watching to see if the blooms form new beans tomorrow and Monday during the cooler weather they say is coming. (I can't see it or feel it here yet, but a lot of y'all who are north of us are cooler today, so I just hope the cold front comes this far south as predicted and doesn't stall somewhere north of us.) That's unfortunate about the gray leaf spot. I hate diseases. I am going to have very low tolerance for anything/everything this summer and won't hesitate to yank out the plants that start looking pitiful or stop producing. I am not foolish enough to think I can baby these plants through a long, extra-hot and likely extra-dry summer. It is just easier to plant fresh plants in late June or early July for fall production. This year does bear some unfortunate similarities to 1998. We lived in Texas then, but already had purchased this land and were up here clearing the woods and working on fencing in our 14.4 acres every weekend. Sometimes we didn't get much done in one weekend between the heat and the dense jungle that was our woodland. I thought we'd die in the heat before we got the fencing done. I remember it was a horrific grasshopper year, and Bruce and I both are seeing signs of that already too. Jen, As the plant gets older it will put out more tall stems. Its' nature is to have a low bushy growth of foliage at the ground level and to send up the tall blooming stems. Just deadhead each one back after it blooms and it will make more. One of the nicknames for verbena bonariensis is verbena-on-a-stick and now y'all see why. Butterflies absolutely adore the blooms. Jennifer, We have those gigantic flies here. They are horrifyingly huge. Back when Chris was in school and they had to do that insect collection in Biology, our place was incredibly popular because the kids could come here and collect enough different insects in one day to have enough for their collection. Until we moved here, I'd never seen those gigantic flies either. Bolted onions can be chopped and frozen. Paula, I have found lemon grass works as well as anything else to repel flies. I agree too, it is the little things that matter. Amy, It looks like you hit Smashed Thumb at an awesome time! Have y'all noticed that on the FB gardening pages this week, there's tons and tons of tomato problems? It is mind-boggling, and I simply cannot believe how many photos we're seeing with herbicide damage, though we also are seeing plenty with plain old physiological leaf roll. I should get off this computer and go sweep and mop my floors. I just don't want to. Heat makes me lazy. Dawn