*chuckles* ... "yard worker"??? when was it declared non-PC to call Mexicans, Mexicans? Oh, I get it. You must be one of the fabled "job creators" that is mentioned so often in the evening brainwash sessions 'round these parts. pardon my engrish. Gardeners are yard workers, and gardening is yard work. Gardening is universal in this earth and feeds both rich and poor. It don't matter who you think you are really. You should heed the advice given by others more subtle than moi and get your little paws dirty and dig down the dirt and determine how much moisture is reaching out to the roots of the plant. It should feel moist, not wet. Yeah, dirt and compost is smelly and yucky, but that is what plants use to make food. Even with my multiple health problems and crippling back pain I look forward to get down and dirty with my yard work and tend to my plants my self. If you'd rather keep your hands clean and manicured, then heed the advice of the yard worker and check for those weeds down there. I think it's the American thing to do that European-Americans pay yard workers for work that you refuse to do. Or you can round up a couple of yard workers and put them in a shack in the back 40 and feed them some food, and have them pick cotton for you from sunrise to sunset. Healthcare would be optional, of course. Just like the olden days when European settlers 'worked' the land back in, oh 1850's? At least old-time Euros were not squeamish about dirt. How's your royalty checks coming along these days? Grandpapi sure was nice giving you that piece of land down south fertilized with oil. Must be nice. Back to reality, gardening can be frustrating, but when you finally see those veggies on your table, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and connection to the earth like no other thing you can buy. I do not think the cardboard was an issue. Maybe you should have poked some small holes in it like another gardener suggested. But if your yard 'workar' mentioned to you that there was something still alive back there, you should follow his advise and pay to have the raised beds moved to a weed free area or replace the card board bottom. One layer should be good to go.

thanks for the comments. sierraeast - I will send all the rain to you that I can. Today was beautiful and tomorrow shall be the same. we made some good progress today finishing up the gable wall. We set two 28' 6x12's and the middle panels that go all the way to the peak. The are awesome solid wood posts. We also tied all the walls together. Never figured I would have gone through 20#'s of hand drive 16's this early in the game. This house is built strong with large timbers. We still have to install the large windows though. Tomorrow we will start on the other walls, which should go much quicker. The weekends are definately much more work than the workweek! My hands hurt. We are in Northern California in a town called Burney. It is an hour NE of Redding. It is a small (3200 people) logging town at about 3500' elevation. You should see the views on a clear day. Shasta to the North and Burney Mtn to the South. I am ready for another beer and some sleep as tommorow will be another sunup to sundown day.

We've been married for 14 years now and we lived together for 3 years before that. While we were cohabitating I never allowed our finances to be comingled. It was incredibly difficult for us to make the financial transition after we married. Truly, of all things that was THE most difficult. I have always been the "skinflint" and the "nervous nellie" when it comes to money. I remember living in a little town where there were no jobs... and how humiliating it was to have to ask for some money to go to a movie and then to ask for some for popcorn, too. An "allowance" was never offered and I had to "justify" every request for money. It was a defining time in my life. I swore, that when I got my first job NO ONE WOULD EVER USE MONEY TO CONTROL ME AGAIN. And I remember being so afraid of what I didn't know... balancing a checkbook, making intelligent decisions with savings, investing. My parents never talked about money, it was as though it was "dirty"; even though they lived frugally and lacked for nothing. I sucked it up and learned how to do those things because if I didn't, I understood I would be vulnerable and in a position to be manipulated. And you know what? it's not hard, at all! it's actually fun. The helpmeet was much more cavalier than I with respect to money (didn't take much, lol). He was never a wanton spender, but he wasn't always so good about getting bills out on time and never lost much sleep about interest or finance charges (drove me nuts). But he had a much healthier attitude in the greater context; never laboring under the awful, nagging fears that I did. So... after a few good fights about it we sat down for a "board meeting". We agreed to do the bills together; but I was given the responsibility to call the terms because doing so allowed me to put the kibosh on interest charges and any late fees. We worked out a strict budget and he stuck to it. We lucked out, I suppose. He's no longer is "late", pays no interest, and we no longer fight about money (he has thanked me for showing him how easy it can be!). Either of us could pick up the reins and take over in the event of catastrophe. Best of all, though, I am now at ease with money; no one controls me with it and I'm secure in the knowledge that there is plenty of it to meet whatever needs we have and even enough to spend on FUN THINGS! (imagine that?!) I will go to my grave knowing he imparted that simple belief to me; it set me free. Really. It wasn't easy gettin' here. You mustn't allow your husband to dodge the issue by saying he's "sick of spread sheets"... that's an excuse (and it's unfair to put the responsibility for success or failure on YOU!), the spending isn't about the new toy, it's about something bigger. I'd bet a nickel on that. If you want to get to a trusting place with your finances you have begin by being honest and putting all your debts on paper, establishing a budget and being accountable for it, and sitting down TOGETHER every month. Silvercomet is absolutely right... this is IMPORTANT stuff. It doesn't have to be unpleasant, either. One of the nicest aspects of this process for us is the time we spend together talking about what we want for our future(s). It's gone from perfunctory attention to bills and statements to presenting ideas/goals/and seeing possibilities emerge. It's empowering and it's FUN.

YAY Janet! I'm thrilled you got the home you wanted! Lynn, how do you like having a microwave in drawer form? I think the favorite thing in our home is the laundry on the second level with the bedrooms. I have a few more things to do to it before I take pix to share how I've organized it's space. The only way it could be better was if empty hangers appeared magically when I needed them. I also love having a walk in pantry for storing all our food and larger season pans, crock pots and toaster oven. Another part of our kitchen I love is that on one side of the cabinets are to the counter. Two having outlets in them. One has the coffee pot and blender. The other has the toaster and mini food processor. We also have a huge attic for storage. Right now we are using the basement since we've not finished the flooring in the attic yet. With the cooler weather coming we'll be doing that soon. Then we'll be able to spread out our wood work shop that's in the basement. Our garage is six foot deeper than a standard two car garage giving hubby room for a workbench, four large storage cabinet, two smaller ones and room to store our rider mower and huge snow blower you need out in the country. Oh, and each bedroom has it's own bathroom with vanity for storage (ours has twelve drawers) and their own walk in closet. Weird as this sounds, there's no linen closet. For some reason when I was making changes to the plans to make it fit our lifestyle more I never noticed until it was too late. I found a solution that I like even better though. I store each rooms linens in an under the bed roll out storage container.