they definitely sell topsoil around here...by the bag or by the truckload...it sure looks pretty but it's definitely garbage. don't throw things at me though...because i just used some in my mom's yard. her soil was too rich for the type of garden she wanted...xeric. she had added so much compost over the years..i just knew the heads of all of her echinacea would be flopping over in no time! so...i had to basically cut the quality of her soil a bit. sad..huh? i added only 6 cubic feet...i'm not sure if it will make a difference or not..but i wasn't going to add compost! when i put in my raised beds, i ordered something called planter's mix. i think it was a 70% topsoil 30% compost mix...and i STILL had to add TONS and TONS of compost and manure to get that soil fertile enough to grow good plants. the soil was horribly hydrophobic too! anyway..in horticulture class..my professor warned everyone against "topsoil." he said it has no organic matter and will not support plants on it's own. in my soil class...we learned that silt makes great soil! so edie...just start adding compost and you'll be happy with your soil in no time!

Okay now, come on confess, all of you, WHAT DID YOU DO TO ANNOY THE WEATHER GODS!!!!! As I stated in the best place to live post, I have been out weeding, raking and burning brush. Nice enough today to burn, raining now. Best March here in years. And as you call us the frozen tundra, yeh "what is the point"? LOL Remember Hosta are tough and a little bit of snow will only do them good. I bet your hosta this year will be the best yet. Don't worry, be happy. All the moisture in the ground. They say we are supposed to have a dry spring/summer here this year. Now you can sympathize with what we usually go through, and whose to say, we will probably have snow in April. Won't be the first time. The only thing we cannot control is the weather, no matter where we live. By the way, the golfers have been playing on the greens since last week. Sorry, just had to say that, they are such a happy bunch. Betty

Supposedly they lose their potency as time goes on. However, coincidentally, I JUST had the same exact dilemma. I had a tube of cortizone 10 that had expired in 2008, although I can't remember the month. I didn't want to buy a new tube and throw away a full tube. So I took a chance and used it. Figured if I didn't see results, I'd pitch it and go ahead and buy new. But it worked fine. The thing about drugs is, you buy them, but then hope you don't really need them. They come in large enough packages that I almost never use up a whole package before I'm over whatever was ailing me. Then it sits in the medicine cabinet, languishing, till it's past it's expiry date. I'm not swayed by those dates, and have used expired meds many times. And they always seem to work. If they're older than a couple of years, I might toss them, but usually they're not, and I use them.

webe--You can install stationary shelves from inside the cabinet. You screw in a U-shaped arrangement of three wood strips called "ledger boards" (I may be wrong about the spelling!) to the sides and back; then, set the shelf on top of the ledger boards and screw through the shelf into the ledger boards. If you were going to do that, then the heck w/ the stationery shelves. Just install the ledger boards or cleats (leave off the rear piece), and then attach the drawer slides to THOSE. (that's part of what I meant by my comments about "lining the side of the cabinet" or installing a filler strip--those would be the same thing, just called by a different name!) I don't know what they're smoking at shelvesthatslide--the fixed shelf itself is attached to the cabinet sides! OK, maybe it's attached by using a cleat or ledger board, which would distribute the load more evently--but then, all you need to do is install a cleat or ledger board, and since you have framed cabinets and would need a filler strip anyway, that's all you need.