(Altadena Mara) Peach trees don't last that long so are gone in around ten to fifteen years, from my experience at least. A foursome of plum trees also died over a ten to fifteen year period. One foursome of apricots had two trees die. One of them that was left was especially good so I let them grow full size. A three some of apricots is hard to keep cut back but doable. In a three citrus, one sapote cluster, the sapote has grown four times the size of the south placed citrus but is trained away from them so they still are growing and producing. I wish I had not planted the sapote there, another citrus on the same rootstock would have been better, but the sapote fruit are too delicious to remove it. I have several threesome of fig trees which aren't doing that well, compared to individual trees planted elsewhere, are about half the size, but are still producing a nice crop of figs. Banana trees make their own foursome, given half a chance and a little time. I would suggest that if you have a favorite fruit, plant it by itself. If you moderately like several different fruit, fruiting over time, plant a three or four cluster.

Isaball, I just love that golddust! It's funny, Mason's never been much of a toy dog. He likes to tug with me but his idea of playing with a toy prior to Jovi's arrival was to rip it apart as fast as possible and see if he could eat the inndards before I got them. (Tennis balls he can "pop" quite easily, powerful jaws.) As a consequence, he only got toys when closely supervised. Well, now there are toys all over the place. The first week I was obsessed about picking them up so Mason wouldn't have access to them. (It's not the ripping up I care about, it's the eating and possibly causing an obstruction.) I finally figured out that the only time he picks up a toy, balls included, is when he wants to "tease" Jovi. He really is a very special boy and I hope some of him rubs off on Jovi. Maire cate, I'm so glad you're enjoying the photos! I really like GSDs and Rotties too. I just like big dogs and if they bred smaller Dobermans then I'd probably have stuck with that breed. As it is, I wanted a smaller dog too. That sofa and loveseat are old, about 12 or so years old. Our dogs have always been allowed on them and we've never had a problem but I keep their nails very short. How often I do them depends on their growing stage. Whit and Mason as mature adults had their nails dremeled once a week. When Mason was a pup, his nails grew so fast that I did them twice a week. Right now everyone is getting their nails done every 2-3 days because I'm teaching Jovi to accept the dremel. She did very well with it this morning! I'll try to get some new photos later today. It seems that one of Jovi's ears is trying to change from semi-erect (flopped over tip) to fully erect. I've never had a BC before so I've got no idea if this is common or what....I've sent a question in to the breeder's Yahoo group. Anyway, my little girl has one ear up and one flooped today. Oh and Marie cate? Just because I understand what you mean about size issues with a Dobe, that doesn't mean I need to make it easy for you. :-) A few more "baby Mason" photos to keep everyone until I get some new Jovi photos.

Hi sheesharee, Let me take these in order - Lining fabric is sold at any store that carries home dec fabric. It's usually white or off-white and comes 54" wide. I buy mine on eBay about 20 yards at at time, since I use quite a bit of it. It comes in all cotton, all poly and cotton/poly blends. Joann Fabric has many different linings. Pin your fabric ALL the way around. I use a pin about every 3". You can leave the opening for turning on the top, side or on the bottom. As noted above, if the openings you leave on the sides near the top are large enough, based on the type of curtain rod you are using, these openings may be large enough to use for turning the fabric. The opening that you leave for turning your fabric right side out must be left OPEN. You will choose where to leave your opening - I suggest the bottom or on a side. Wherever you leave it - stitch across the top of your valance using a half inch seam. Stitch across the bottom of it next. Now stitch each side, from top to bottom, using the seam allowance. Doing it in this order reduces the chance of puckering. BUT, you must also leave the openings near the top of each side that will become the openings for your rod pockets. If they are large enough, you do not need to leave another opening to turn the fabric. You can stick your hand in the rod pocket openings to turn it. No, if you do it correctly, the opening that you have left open, when you turn and press your valance, will be folded under by ironing. It will fold in itself as you iron. You simply need to cut the fusible tape to the length of that opening, place the tape inside on top of the folded fabric edge, and press it closed. It will look just the same as the stitched fabric above and below it. I suggest cutting off the selvages, which are the white parts with the writing, before you pin the fabric and lining together. This assures that you will not see that writing through the lining when you finish your valance. You will see in the 3rd paragraph above where I say that I use about 1 1/4 yards of fabric for the length of my valances. This extra fabric is needed for the folds that are created when you tie up the fabric. However, if you are making this for a short window, you can buy less. The center 'drop' on my finished valances after tying them up is generally 20" - 24", but there are folds in that, as you see above in the pic, or in the one below that shows it clearly. I'd always err on the side of it being too long, rather than too short. When it's short it looks skimpy and cheap, IMO. You can tie it up as high or as low as you want, but the folds add richness to the valance. Here is a link that might be useful: see lining fabric here on ebay

- Are you a solo cook? For daily meals, will there be two cooks? For dinner parties, will there be multiple cooks? Mostly solo, with occasional interference, um, assistance in prep, etc. from others. Mysteriously, no matter which way I turn, there always seems to be somebody in the way. Perhaps there are additional people living here I haven't met yet. - Do you typically serve food family-style (at the dining table), buffet-style (dining room sideboard or kitchen counter?), or waiter-style (plate in kitchen, serve each guest individually at dining table)? Buffet style? Horrible dictu. Either family-style or plated, depending. - Any quirky needs for where and how you prep? Like my "sink on my left" fetish? I like my sink on the left, too. but perhaps I'm just used to it. I would love vertical prep space, like an 8" shelf to put stuff on as needed so it doesn't end up ten feet away. But I may not be able to achieve that. In any case, I like cockpit cooking--everything I need in arm's reach, nothing in reach that I don't need. I like to expel things out of my way when I'm done with them, so I thought a long time about a garbage can accessible through a hole in the countertop. Then I realized the danger of breeding Swamp Thing on bits that get stuck in dark crannies. In addition to getting rid of garbage, I do not like to touch or see cooking implements once I'm done with them. I want them out of my way. Sounds weird, I know. But that video of an iron pan careening into a Kohler cast iron sink at top speed held special meaning for me. - Are you a big baker? How important is a baking center? Occasional baker. My mind doesn't really work that way. But I bake for holidays or just when I feel like it. A full-blown Iron Confectioner Baking Stadium would be nice, but I'd settle for a place to keep baking stuff out of the way of other prep tools. - A big oven user? Need double ovens? Speed? Steam? Need venting over the oven? Yup, I'm an ovener. Double would be fun for those Yorkshire Pudding occasions. I'm actually liking my tiny Easy Bake. It will be horrific when company comes, but for the two of us to roast the odd chicken, it heats up fast and works well. I do need someplace to cook my Christmas seven-hour pork shoulder. - A many-burners user? Need four, six, eight, ten? Six would be nice. I'll live with four if I have to, but what really bothers me about four burners is the crowding. - Any preference for range or cooktop/wall oven? No preference, though obviously a range is generally cheaper. - Are there any unusual tools you plan to include? Grill, griddle, deep fryer, wine cooler,(swing oven, blast chiller, immersion circulator, live fish tank . . . ) I'm not much of a nanotechnologist, so if I ever get the hankering for a molecular gastronomy experiment I'll just use the basement workbench. I'm a little old school, so I need to keep out my vintage Osterizer and two no-control toasters, one of which was my parents' wedding present in 1938, on display. The blender gets the most use. I need a place to securely clamp things, like apple corers and pasta makers. The chitarra can stay in the cupboard; I think it rusted, anyway. I need a place to store two sets of pasta board and pins. One is mine and oversized; it's a piece of plywood a counter deep, with a long dowel that can hang from a cup hook on the end somewhere. My mom's I'd like out on display; it's an old breadboard with a smaller roller. Plus there's her wooden spoon that needs to hang on the wall somewhere nearby. Never had a grill, I think I'd like one. - What size refrigerator is ''necessary''? How much pantry (linear feet of shelf) is ''necessary''? An unusual size is OK but not too small. The fridge always seems to fill up with wine and salad. Of course, even with French door fridges I can never find anything. I wish they were all six feet wide and a foot deep. I do have a root cellar in the basement, where I can store overflow cans of tomatoes once we get the paint cans out of there. I should mention the spice thing. You know when you go into a supermarket and see that huge rack of spices? OK, trim it down to one jar deep. That's what I've got. It's in an upper cab now, on those little step shelf inserts, and it's horrible. I want alphabetical. Neat. Accessible. All in a row. - Is a bar/beverage area important, for mixology, chilling, decanting, jello shots? Way. I may be able to find a nice bar for the DR or LR. But mixology has to happen somewhere. - How many people do you want to seat at this dratted ''eat-in'' zone? Two? Four? Two comfortably, 3 a little awkwardly, possibly 4 with permanent sciatic damage. Just to appease the future toddler moms. - Do you prefer pots and pans to hang or be stored in drawers? I loathe hanging pots and pans. In my apartment pots and pans were in a super susan, the kind where the door is attached and you just push it in, right next to the range. Worked well, except for flat pans, which you had to stack to infinity. So, I want them hidden, but I don't want to unnest two hundred pounds of metal to fry an egg. Appliances to live on counters or be hidden away? I imagine the stand mixer has to stay out, unless you figure out a way to lower it from the ceiling on command. Toaster and coffee maker out but out of my way. The Cuisinart should be accessible--the days of jamming my hand into a cupboard to find a sharp blade really have to be over. - All things being equal, do you prefer lots of upper cabinets or fewer? Lots of windows or fewer? The light here is great, but houses are somewhat close together. I want to keep at least one window on each wall (size may be flexible), but a wall of windows would not really be that pleasant. I do like uppers, but some need to be glass and I desperately want to avoid that oppressive Great Wall of China look. - Are you a "can't live without double dishwasher'' sort? No. - How ''traditional'' a look do you want? For example, in the 1920s homes didn't really have fixed kitchen islands. I'm thinking serious vintage, with allowance for creative interpretation. My inspiration is that online collection of 1920s kitchen photos, but I'm not going to replicate an entire dysfunctional '20s kitchen--I just want the charm. I don't 100% need a fixed island, either, but I'm not opposed to one.