On another thread recently, a regular poster here did a *:facepalm:* which perfectly expresses my feelings when I see "window boxes" in posts about landscaping. Honestly, spare yourself. How the heck would you water the things, and if you could they'd drip on your cars... Ditto for clematis up the posts. Very romantic - in summer - but have you ever seen clematis in winter? And they do grow INTO eaves; they do not naturally curve out and go over the roof. Ask me how I know. Blank slates, big or small, are daunting until you start fleshing out the parameters and constraints you face, which can be best done by looking really hard at function. In this case, these include preservation of sight lines, shade and sun preferences, and property lines, both on the ground and in the air. So for example, you want shade on your son's room - so put a tree in spot A. But choose a tree that does not make an overwhelming mess nor spread or seed excessively (hint to my neighbours: not a Norway Maple). You want some screening probably just at a certain spot when people are looking from a certain height to a certain height. A wall of green may not be necessary to block this - perhaps three columnar evergreens, either upright or droopy or some of each. The property line looks like it is a huge issue to me. It looks to me as if your neighbour will want to have walkable space next to that boat, and will step on your plants if they don't have it. Having had my fill of neighbour issues, I personally would either leave that area for them to do something with, or do it in flagstone with ground cover or in brick - end of story. Then it's space you can use to weed or prune your plants too. Legal issues aside, it just has to work on a day to day basis. Now, the next step is debatable depending on whether you DIY or are having this done for you. You see, a designer always has to do a plan in advance and then get approval and work to it, because the designer then goes away. If you are DIY, you have the luxury of feeling your way through this, because you're always going to be there. And plants can be moved. In other words, the designer has to get it right first time. In contrast, you get to make a few mistakes, and change your mind. Yes, it can cost an extra few dollars, but if you get it mostly right, not that much. First maybe you address a boulder(s). If your husband is a rock person, I'd go along with this, because I am one and I know that when you need rocks, you need rocks. If you don't get your rock, you suffer from rock envy, which can make a person grumpy. Go rock shopping together (or watch craigslist or your local construction sites for free ones). Next, you go plant shopping. You get a few plants. You may find tall slender evergreens among them - there are some great junipers in this category (also some great ground-hugging junipers for the front end of the driveway) and some amazing drooping spruces. You argue about where to put them, and then you go back to the nursery a few weeks later and get a few more (lots of new stock coming in through the season, don' t just go once). Then you plant and live with it. Move it around if something isn't right (in the fall, not in the summer). (It is already actually a little late to plant without being sure of watering adequately this first summer - be aware of that). You might find yourself picking up a few new plants as the weeks or months, or years, go by. In a way, though, all my advice is only going to lead you to one key realization: what you and your husband each want is not incompatible. There's plenty of room on that strip for both of you. KarinL

Steve, Meader is not self-fertile; however, it is a member of the Early Golden/Garretson family, members of which have a genetic propensity for occasionally having a branch here and there that produces male flowers which can fertilize the female flowers on the rest of the tree - which will result in seeded fruits. Meader will often set seedless fruits in the PNW, but that's a climatic fluke - in the east, you'll either get overproduction of seeded fruit(translating into small fruit size) or no fruit production at all if there is no 90-chromosome persimmon pollen around to fertilize the female flowers on your tree. If there are no native 90-chromosome male persimmons in your area, I'd advise planting one - or even better yet, one of the polygamodioecious(bisexual male) selections, such as Szukis or Claypool F-100. Like gene, I also have some deep-woods persimmons on the farm here that are probably 60 ft tall - and 40+ ft to the first remaining branch; but open-grown persimmons are more likely to take on a spreading orchard-tree type of growth habit, not unlike a standard apple tree. I'm not tech-savvy enough to post photos here, but if you'll send me an email, I've got some photos of heavy-bearing open-grown persimmon trees, and some close-ups of the flowers that I can send as email attachments.

I just went and got a bottle of Vetericyn at Petco and we will see. It's like they are almost healed up and she'll lick one of them during the night and BAM it's all festered up again. I keep them covered with a sock bandaged up but she will just chew it off if she wants to and I can't watch her 24/7. It seems like everything I put on them makes them worse and not better. So far the Vetericyn seems to be helping ALREADY! Brownthumbia, which variety of this do you use? There were several different kinds. I was able to find ONE bottle of the wound and infection variety in the whole town! GAH! If this does work as well as it seems, I'm going to buy some on line for cheaper. The bottle was $37 for 8 oz.! ACK! But if it works...hey, I've already spend a ton on meds that don't work. OH and the goldenseal....SHE LICKS IT RIGHT OFF TOO even though it's bitter as all get out! I just got it last night so I haven't been able to see if it's going to work or not. Right now I need something more medicinal such as that Vetericyn spray. I put a small dab on goldenseal on my tongue and holy cow, that's about the most bitter taste I've even come in contact with...how the heck can a dog lick that...ugh! Crazy! LMAO!

Hi anne marie, sorry to hear about your baby : ) I went through the same thing with my guy about a year ago. He had a small lump which I (and the tooth doc) suspected was a fatty lipoma. But it was troubling, in the vaccination region on his shoulder (my mother lost three cats to fibrocarsinoma at injection sites), and other opinions were it *could* be cancer. Wait and watch was an option with my regular vet. At the time, I thought the best thing to do was just take it off right away (surgery was unsuccessful with my mother's cats as it wasn't removed with clear margins). The cancer surgeon saw him and thought 95% chance it was cancer. So, off it came. He was 12 at the time. He was very healthy and asymptomatic of any problems other than allergy issues he's had all his life. He has never been the same since that operation though and I feel so bad about putting him through that. I didn't want to wait, though, as early detection is key. It was, in fact, a fatty lipoma. There were further complications, though. A small part of the incision failed to heal (costing another $2K with the dermatologist even though over those few months it healed through only one course of different antibiotics and use of another salve). He lost two pounds and seems unable to gain it back. He also seems to have been traumatized by the whole thing (horrible massive surgical incision and two weeks in a cage). As soon as he was let out, he jumped up and curled up on my shoulder and has been stuck there ever since. He wants to be held all the time now (sweet problem, but it saddens me what he might have felt or be feeling). Otherwise, he seems pretty happy and healthy though. I do feel it has actually taken time off his life though. He seems old now rather than the ever-youthful guy he was before. If you get to the point of removing it, I would go to a specialist who is a very experienced and skilled cancer surgeon rather than a GP. You might contact a University hospital or local oncologist to see who they use (which is what I did). As in people, the skill of the surgeon is critical to success. I wanted someone who knew cancer intimately and as the devil that it is. Another thing. My other kitty was terribly sick at the same time with heart and kidneys failing. One thing that has really come to light with these two is how delicate cats are to stress. I would never have thought so with these two, but all the visits, prodding, and invasive treatments really showed up in their physical health and seemed to accelerate it all. They are very tough decisions to make, especially for a layperson. Best of luck with your kitty. I would definitely get another opinion, even if that's three. Maybe a specialist next time. Dermatologist? Eye doctor? Oncologist? They may have seen this before or have suggestions on ointments, compresses, or whatever else, to try before getting invasive. Best of luck with you two : ) Hope it clears up real soon and makes it easy for you. (Try googling online too for images that may look like your kid's eye.)