We got our rain! Looks like a pretty good amount. Everything is thoroughly soaked. Amazing how much good the rain can do for plants. Glenda, You have had much cooler night temps then we have had. It has been in the high 90s during the day and high 80s at night. At 1 o'clock in the morning the temps would still be in the mid to upper 80s. Awful. Cameron, I am so sorry about your weather. I know the last time I flew to SC to see my daughter, I couldn't believe how brown everything was from Atlanta to SC. It was an olive green. I have never seen the South like that. The lakes were down really far and some almost dried up! I could see columns of smoke rising from the fires burning here and there all over. This must be the fourth or fifth year for you guys to be in drought conditions, huh? Man! We had a ten year drought and it was devastating. Nearly broke the banks because the farmers had no crops and the ranchers were having to sell off their livestock because there there was no hay to feed them. All the cattle ponds had dried up. This year, all the rain and precip. we got in winter and this spring really made the difference. The trees were able to get moisture further down in the ground, so the plants closer to the surface are not having to compete with them for whatever there is near the surface. I have had to water every day through this Heat Wave, but everything is doing pretty good, considering this early hot weather. The only exception being the veggie garden - insects ruined my cool weather crops. But even the areas further out where I never water look good. The garden phlox are the first to indicate drought. When they shrivel up, I know we are in drought. It's still very overcast and gray out, so we might get more rain. Hope this heat wave and drought ends for everyone... and moves on up to Washington where they could use a little heat and drying out. BTW, has anyone heard from MeMo lately. She blew out her knee(s?) trying to move plants and do things she shouldn't be doing by herself. She doesn't have one person to help her when or how she needs it the most. Wondering if she is in the hospital. Oh dear! I am just heartsick for her over her beautiful cottage garden plans. She worked so hard at designing it and digging those beds and her veggie garden. Then digging up her plants out on the ranch and transplanting them, mulching them, babying them along, only to be told it would all have to be dug out. And to make matters worse, this all happened right when the heat wave hit. Good grief! I would have been devastated. I worry about her. ~Annie

You know how many South Floridians butch up to the torrid and steamy heat? They retreat to air-conditioned houses that are kept so frigid that this Yankee has to go outside just to warm up to avoid frost bite. They stay inside during the day, go out at night and come out again during the day some time in December. So, they go from air-conditioned homes, to air-conditioned cars, use drive-throughs for banking and other needs (so as to avoid getting out of their air-conditioned cars and actually having to, heavens forbid, walk). Meantime, if the outdoor temperature actually drops to the temperature they maintain their homes in the summer, they run for the sweaters. Yes, a hardy bunch indeed!:) Seriously though, protracted hot and humid weather in the Deep South in the Summer is expected and people have learned either to live with it, insulate themselves against it with air-conditioning, or move. The issue in many more northern states is that air-conditioning is not nearly as standard as in the South (in homes, schools, etc.) Also, northern homes are build to insulate against cold--not heat. To give a more extreme example, much of Russia has been going through a heat wave of historic proportion. Moscow has had weeks now of record-breaking heat with temperature at or above 100 F. I was talking to a couple yesterday from Moscow and they report people there are just not equipped for the heat, few have air-conditioning. What's worse, is that there are peat fires burning all over the place making the air quality very bad. Of course, if their Winter is anything like last (which had record breaking cold--even by Russian standards), they'll eventually have to live and love in sub zero maximum temps soon enough. So as much as we Northerners, Easterners, Westerners and Southerners like to complain about the weather and boast as to our 'hardiness' and endurance, I think I'll reserve first prize in that category to the Russians.

Beth, We had sunshine! Rain returns Thursday though. I am starting to think it might be a hard winter too because our daily high temps and overnight low temps are consistently averaging 15 degrees below normal and have done so for almost all of Sept. and Oct. That cannot be a good sign. I'm glad you're prepared for winter. I think we are too. We don't get much ice here, and are happy if we get one snowfall a year because we seldom get that. We do seem a little more prone to get sleet or freezing rain instead of snow, and I'd rather have snow. It was almost 10 degrees colder here last night than the forecast had predicted...went all the way down to 39 degrees which surprised me. I'm glad it didn't get a few degrees colder or the misty drizzly light rain could have been sleet. I'm not a cold weather person, so if it gets colder than usual, I'll stay inside more. With the cougar roaming, I'm unlikely to work clearing brush at the back part of the property (the back prop line is about 1000 feet from the house) this year like I have most years in the past. (sigh) Maybe I need to come up with something else to do inside if it is a long, cold rainy winter. Dawn

Is it "normal" to get a sinking feeling every time you think about building a home? Of course not. It's normal to feel nervous about the project's enormity, the expense, the logistics. But a sinking feeling means this is not what you want. You might like parts of the house, but that is probably not enough. The fact is, you will have to put a huge amount of effort, money, commitment into a project that will end up with you living where you don't want to live, in a house and "yard" too much for you to deal with. And at an age when your health and energy are not likely to be trending upward. You will continue to resent his not following up on his commitments. He's getting his dream and you're gonna pick up the loose ends. No WONDER you have a sinking feeling. Just for a moment, and just to yourself, think about whether or not you can back out now. And how you would do it. I think you may already be too deep into this to back out now--for whatever reasons you've agreed to it. What would happen to your relationship with DH if you called a halt to it right now? (I'm not suggesting you answer any of this here; just to yourself.) If you can't see a way out of this, then what would it take to make it go better for you? I think you could assert your right to not have to work to age 70. If he's willing to handle it by himself, it's his dream--let him work for it. Or, let that be a real good reason to scale down the house. Just say you're not willing to work past 62 or whatever. He can run the numbers to see how to scale back the house accordingly. That will get you 2 big things you want: a smaller, more easily managed house and an earlier retirement. While you're having that discussion also tell him that the project has to be scaled back because you're not willing to be annoyed all the time, and scared by living in the midst of undergrowth, and you will need a bigger monthly budget to hire things done. (What was his plan for while he's away for 3 months?) I don't think he's been realistic about that and you haven't confronted him about it. Does he know how much you resent picking up the pieces for him and waiting for him to get around to things? Or, focus on how he's too busy working to consistently get the maintenance done and should plan on letting YOU hire it done; so in his free time he can play country squire or whatever he dreams of. Did you just agree to all this because you can live in a really nice house? Because other than that I don't hear you wanting any part of this. Until you come clean with him about ALL of your reservations, he will have no motivation to start planning realistically so that YOU will also be happy living his dream. (Or as happy as you are capable of, given that you basically don't want this.) This isn't just a house; it's your entire life. Especially since you work at home. That sinking feeling you have is a warning signal. I really hope you'll tell him now, while he has some motivation to make concessions and provisions and to scale things back. If you don't tell him now, he will have zero motivation later. And all you will have is the sad consolation of being right about the fact that he would disappoint you--again.