After reading all these post on your pets, I'm crying so hard don't know if I can do this or not. Last Friday we had our horses vet come out to the house and relieve my German Shepherd Kaiser of his pain and suffering. He would have been 12 in July. He had hip-displasia and had gotten to the point that it took a lot of effort just to walk. One night last week he apparantely fell down the steps and skinned his nose very badly, and he almost would not attempt to go up and down the steps any longer. We had been putting this day off for at least a year. He was a grandchild to me, a part of me: also my shadow. I still find myself turning to tell him, "Grandma's just going outside, I'll be right back..Stay" He never did, had to go with me even if it was only for a minute. He loved the grandchildren almost as much as he loved me. If they were sitting on the floor watching television, he was sprawled out in the middle of them squeeking one of his balls. They couldn't play in the yard under the water sprinkler, because he would stand over it blocking all the water. If I got the water hose he always had to come get a drink of fresh water. After I had caught my kitchen on fire once, I had some ladies cleaning for a few days and they had been playing with him. They gathered up their cleaning supplies and placed them in boxes. My husband helped them carry the boxes out to the yard and sat them by the gate. Then when they started to pick them up to put them in their car, he just gently put his mouth on one of the ladies arms as if to say, "My grandpa put those there and you shouldn't bother them." We told him it was OK and he released her arm. My son who is in his 40's likes to play pranks on everyone and one day Kaiser was asleep on the porch with his head resting between the bannisters. Kevin sneaked up to him and shook him and said "Whatcha Doing"!! Kaiser came to life with teeth bared and made a believer out of Kevin. He had to jump the bannister and landed about 6 feet out in the yard to keep from getting eaten alive, until Kaiser realized who it was. Needless to say Kevin didn't try that again. Kaiser's daddy was imported from Germany and was a Narcotic Dog with the Grand Rapid Mi Police Dept. Now they are together somewhere "Over The Rainbow" along with Jett one of his litter mates who belonged to Kevin and his family. Now he and Jett are bouncing around there with no hip pain at all, waitin for Grandma to come home. Glenda

Hang tight, Josh Mr Sunshine is on his way up North to pay you a visit & shine on your garden as he always has by the looks of your plants I've seen. Man I just can't wait to get my clippers on my succulents to start choppin and proppin and poppin dem into the ground. I have cut and repotted some but only because I can't control myself, for the most part I'm holding off & not taking any chances with my nicer plants until the weather gets a little more settled, because the weather can be like Spring one day and the next day BAM it's cold again, Well what I mean by cold is the temp is like 48 - 50 degrees. . Greg

I have a website which is www.edwinsmitsconifers.com Enjoy the pictures! There is a consensus now among several taxonomists to place vietnamensis and nootkatensis inside the genus Cupressus. Thus Silba renamed rightfully Cupressus x leylandii, C. x notabilis and C. x ovensii.

Thank you, everyone. He was a lovely cat, and he was best friends with the other two cats in that photo. The other two have been doing some serious meowing for him, especially the first night he was gone from here. Last night it was more quiet on their part.