Well what a great report from you, pitimpinai!! The last I heard you were still very low in energy and still on a ton of medication and little appetite, and listen to you, helping the neighbor till up a lawn! LOL What a nice neighbor you were to plant tomatoes and Dahlias. :-) I am happy to hear that you've also benefited from a shorter work day. Great that you had all that time off saved up. I bet you really needed it to get your energy back. We have gotten pretty much back to what is normal for us here. The weather has been stupendous in the past month! I have never seen the cover crop in the veggie beds so high. We've also gotten all the leaves mowed and collected in bins, ours and three neighbors. [g] We have gotten somewhat cleaned up for the year in the garden, but I keep adding to my list of what I want to get done before the weather turns. Still have a small amount of bulbs to plant and three shrubs to get in the ground, some pots to clean and put away and that will just about do it. I am actually looking forward to a break from the garden. Not that we don't get outside and enjoy it, but it's nice this time of year, to focus on other things. During the gardening season, the garden seems to push out other priorities. [g] I enjoy the winter garden and by the time spring comes, I am just itching to get back to a new growing season. Glad you are able to enjoy gardening again and hope you stay well this winter! :-)

I've read these forums off and on for several years now. It's amazing how many searches for gardening info bring up Garden Web forums! I bought my first house last fall and decided this week it was time to register and join in here. So many wonderfully talented and knowledgeable gardeners here! And, then, I find a forum specifically for Okies! One of the things I liked best about the house when I first looked at it was the backyard. There are just all kinds of plants. I have to wait to see what many of them are, although my neighbor next door has clued me in on some. The neighbors have a landscape pond in their backyard. One of the things I expected to miss about my last apartment (lived there for over 10 years) was the landscaping, complete with ponds, a stream and lots of wildlife including frogs and toads. I was thrilled to find out that the neighbors pond has frogs in it as I love listening to them. They were worried that the new owner (me) might object to having to hear frogs croak. I think we both got lucky! The backyard slopes severely and has some sort of evergreen planted all around it. Over the years many of lower branches have been trimmed off due to disease, according to the neighbor. Now they are very tall with foliage only at the top. Quite a few of them suffered a good deal during last winter's ice storm. There's still at least one sizeable branch that is broken and needs to be cut off. A couple in the back aren't broken but are badly bent over. I'm sort of hoping that the bent ones somehow magically recover as the birds and squirrels seem quite fond of them. I have already counted at least 15 different species of birds in my new backyard, and that doesn't include mockingbirds which I have seen in the front yard. I also saw a tiny mouse near the back fence a couple of weeks ago when I watering a spot that has some irises and a crepe myrtle. Last Monday evening I saw a baby rabbit in the neighbor's yard by my garage. Some of the plants (many of these I can't verify yet, just going by what the neighbor tells me) include crepe myrtle (3 in the back), a Rose of Sharon, irises, hardy hibiscus (looks like 4 of those), daylilies and some other lily the neighbor wasn't sure of the type, clematis out front, what appears to be a lilac someone tried to chop down that is coming back but is probably too close to the house for good air flow, and some boxwoods up next to the front of the house. The boxwoods look nice but stink so I am going to try to relocate them farther from the house in the front yard and create a flower bed with them as a back drop. To replace the stinky bushes up close to the house I have already acquired two blue hollies, four mini roses, a peony, azalea, hydrangea, blue lilac, and a romantica rose. I'm probably going overboard, but my gardening for the past 20 years has been limited to pots and whisky barrels on an apartment patio, and I'm just so excited to have a house with lots of room for gardens now! My biggest problem is that a large part of the backyard is heavily shaded due to the evergreens, and, especially around the perimeter, there isn't even much in the way of grass. Lots of weeds in the areas where there is grass. I'm looking forward to finding out all the creative gardening things I can do with my new house! I've probably rambled on long enough now. Going to leave work early today to have lunch at the Arts Festival then home to plant and transplant! Debra

Usually sciatica is not related to clicking in the knee. Your problem sounds like it related more to a cartilage problem. One problem that causes knee pain is called "chondomalacia of the patella". It generally occurs is young people, and usually in females. Usually the pain with chondomalacia occurs after the knee is in a bent position for a period of time, and can be relieved by straightening the legs. Recommended treatment usually involves NSAIDS such as ibuprofen or naproxen, exercises to strengthen quads, and avoiding activities that irritate the joint, such as climbing stairs. If you have problems with arthritis, that is another possible etiology of your pain. Problems with any other joints?

Suzieque, O.K. (;-) My FIL was my bestest friend. He was like a father to me, as I never had a father that I was close to. I went to live with my grandmother when I was young and my father remarried after my mother died and he had a complete other family. I got married young, and my FIL was like a father to me. He even finance my way through school, encouraged me in every way. He was an Appalachian mountain man from the hills of Tennesse. He had a fierce Love of Jesus, and a love for all peoples. He would give you the shirt off his back and loved nature, fishing, wildlife, gardening, anything to do with Gods' green earth. He was so smart...He was a radio man in the War. He did the Morris code back then. He had a television and radio store and sold them plus worked on people's t.v.s and radios. He was so trusting of people. I had helped him with his books before dh and I were married. I went to him and ask him why there were so many outstanding accounts that had not been paid. Some were over 6 years old. He replied that the good Lord would take care of it and for me not to worry. God would provide, and Mr. or Mrs. So and So would pay when they could.. He ended up being right. You know God did take care of him, as he never went without, and he built up for himself a nice estate off that little store. He taught me MANY good lessons and life skills. I liked him so much I married his mirror image...His son. LOL. Here is a link that might be useful: My FIL, my friend....