Hi Lynn, I went to Camp Cuyamaca in 6th Grade, I still remember the Camp Song (YEA,YEA,YEA,YEA CUYAMACA ;-) Yes, Oregon Clay and yes, it loosens it real well, check out my video link below. BTW.. Also ..Yes , I use Decomposed granite for breaking up the Clay as well as for providing Micro-nutrients to the Beneficial herd. Decomposed granite is a rock powder and is an excellent amendment for clay soils. All rock powders are great sources of minerals and micronutrients. All growing soils need them. As the microbes and macrobes like earthworms, digest the insoluble minerals, they break down into the various soluble micronutrients that all forms of plants need. For example, limestone rocks are rich in calcium. Granite rocks are rich in potassium, etc. Seaweeds of course are the king of micronutrient fertilizers and soil amendments. There can be up to 70+ trace elements in seaweed. In locations where seaweed is not readily available; rock powders is one answer to the problem. Research continues to reveal that insoluble tiny particles like rock powder minerals, can be easily digested or absorbed via microbial activity, over time, into the anatomy of growing plants, thriving in the presence of rich organic compost, and other forms of powerful biostimulants like aerobic compost teas. Obviously a heavy clay soil is very difficult to initially dig, whereas a sandy loam is much easier. Heavy clay soils can be improved considerably by adding a lot of sawdust and mason's sand. DO NOT use beach or river sand! Mason's sand, being crushed granite, has sharp edges and actually loosens the soil. Here is a link that might be useful: Jon's Wonderful Soil 2010

A mitzvah...guess that's what I did. And if they come this way again...I will do the same thing again. But this time I will expect the rather ungracious behavior. These people are not day laborers... at least 2 of them have responsible jobs where they deal with other people, they are 2 of them over 50 and one very near that, so the excuse of "their mother never taught them" doesn't hold water. They were kind, language was good, English wasn't too bad they said they loved the meal and how nice it was of me to feed them when they were planning on taking me out....but just don't know that a note after a meal is nice. Even my very good friends who I feel comfortable saying.."I made a pot of soup...come on over and help me eat it"...will send a thank you email. But It amuses me becausew hen they first contacted me...I sent a copy of the email to my kids, saying "Guess who emailed me!" and they both replied you're NOT going to have them spend the night are you??? And later...."why not just meet then somewhere for coffee or a glass of wine." They took pictures which they promised tos end to me....maybe they're waiting to have the film processed....wink wink! And I am pretty sure that if I were in their neighbor hood they would welcome me and treat me the best they know how....and not expect me to write a thank you note. Well...it has been said if you don't want to be a door mat, don't lie down on the floor But I guess everyone has to do door mat duty now and then. And I did it fairly willingly....so I'll shut up now!!LOL! Linda C

I'm going through that right now. She's a neighbor which makes it worse. This woman calls me every day on the phone expecting to chat for an hour or two or three. My handset has a speaker so I just let her talk away while I clean the house. Nothing I hate more than a person who talks AT me instead of TO me. Have you met people like that? You start to appreciate there is an art to conversation when you meet people who don't understand that it should be TWO WAY! She talks, I listen. I have no sympathy for her problems because she's so self-serving. Has no interest in my life. Day after day she calls mostly to repeat what she said the day before. She lives alone. Talking on the phone is her favorite pasttime whereas when I'm bored I turn on the TV or get on the internet. When I tried to ween her off of me by not answering the phone she started calling at odd hours like 10pm or 9am in an effort to catch me. She would even show up at my door if I didn't answer the phone after a couple days. I can't not ever answer her calls or she'll think I've died or something so now I "return her phonecall" with an email. She hates email because she can't monopolize the conversation and you're in control. That's what I recommend you try. Don't answer her phone call, instead reply by email so you're still being polite. With a properly scripted email you can impart a message without being overtly rude. Doesn't require brutal honesty. The shorter the response the quicker she'll realize you aren't interested in her. If I'm not home when my neighbor calls she'll have a conversation with MY ANSWERING MACHINE! She doesn't just leave a message she will talk until the machine cuts her off. DH laughs that even the machine can't listen to her for very long. She's the only person who has ever run the time out on my machine. A couple of times she's run the battery down on my handset because she's talked so long. I thought we had been disconnected but a slow walk to the other end of my house to pick up another receiver revealed that we hadn't. I just wanted to call her back to explain I didn't hang up on her when I realized we hadn't been disconnected. She was still talking! Completely unaware that there was no one on the other end. Didn't matter a bit to her. LOL The problem comes when people are too dense to pick up on "social queues". Those are the ones we all loathe because they force you to act in a way you'd rather not ...rude, curt, or the bearer or the silent treatment. But when polite hints fail you do what you gotta do!

Here's something to keep in mind. When you counter offered they didn't come back with anything. If I were the potential buyer and really interested in your house I would have come back with something between your counter offer and what I had offered, unless I was at the maximum offer I was willing to go. Having sold a house in the past six months and understanding the reality of trying to sell I would take the 228k without any hesitation. If this doesn't work out in 6 months you'll really wish you had too. Keep in mind housing prices are due to drop up to another 11 percent in the next couple of years. "U.S. home prices will decline as much as 11 percent by 2012 as weak demand and rising inventory extend the housing slump, Morgan Stanley said in a report yesterday." Here's a link to that story. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-09/homes-in-u-s-poised-to-lose-1-7-trillion-in-value-this-year-zillow-says.html Here is a link that might be useful: Housing losses