I don't know whether or not I'm sorry to have started this post or not - lots of grossness!! I can definitely relate to feeling disgust at seeing huge infestations - there's something about hoards of aphids squirming and scuttling over a bud, or millions of scale plastered over a stem that just makes me sick! re slugs and cats, sometimes I step on them by accident and I find the aftermath so much worse than when they were alive! Smells definitely add to the unpleasantness - mehitabel's right - at least you can close your eyes! :) Thanks for sharing! :D

Very sorry to read about Izzy's knee problems. I am a boarded surgeon in the Denver area and routinely do TPLO surgeries. Unfortunately, cruciate tears in both stifles isn't uncommon. If they are only partial tears, they can be difficult to feel until they worsen. Did your vets do radiographs? Although you won't see the actual ligaments, even with partial tears, you will see swelling within the knee to suggest a problem. Pretty much, if there is swelling within the knee, there is almost always a cruciate tear to some degree. It is a matter of surgeon's preference, but when dogs have torn both knees and are having significant trouble even walking on either leg, I recommend repairing both at once. When TPLO surgeries first came out the surgery was patented and you could only purchase the plates to do the surgery from one place (Slocum Enterprises). Unfortunately, those plates where terrible. Made of weak metal and did not withstand much weight-bearing on them. When we attempted to do bilateral (both knees) TPLOs with those plates, there was a high complication rate (40% in one study). Now, the plates are no longer patented and other companies make very good, high-quality and strength plates that hold up to significant weight-bearing. My preference is the Securos plates because they are super strong and thin. With the better and stronger plates, doing bilateral surgeries does not result in any higher complication rate. The down side of doing both at once is that the first week is pretty rough. The dog really doesn't want to walk on either leg. The owner needs to help them get up and support some of their weight with a sling under the belly. The dogs tend to have the most trouble getting up but once up, tend to walk okay. After about the first week, the dogs tend to start getting around pretty well on their own. By doing both at once, you cut out some of the cost because only one catheter, anesthesia, hospitalization and cut the total recovery time down to around 3 months. I only recommend bilateral procedures if the dog is significantly lame on both hindlegs because the recovery is going to be hard on the dog whether we do one or both. If the dog is using one hindleg pretty well, even if I know both are partially torn, I tend to do one at a time because at least the dog will walk on the better of the two after the first surgery. The good part, is that you should get really good results with the TPLOs. In my patients, I expect greater than 90% to return to good to excellent function on the legs. I think the key during the recovery is making sure to walk them. Once they are putting the surgery leg down every time the go to walk (usually about one week from surgery), they should start taking short leash walks. No off-leash activity and no twisting or turning but straight, on leash walks. Gradually keep increasing the distance as the dog improves. The key behind TPLO surgeries is that when the dog bears weight on the leg, and all the muscles contract around the knee, the joint is stable. So, keeping and getting back as much muscle in the leg is really what gets the best results after surgery. Hope Izzy's second surgery goes as well as the first. The post-op radiographs look nice. Here is a link that might be useful: More Info About TPLOs

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/buyanewhouse/vwp?.dir=/Outside+Pictures&.dnm=DSC00635.jpg&.src=gr&.view=t Thanks for the feedback. If you have a Yahoo account, check out the "before pics" in this Yahoo group I made in 2003 to share pics. The pics were taken a week or so before the old owners moved out, so try to ignore the ugly furnishings and mess in the yard! Although I love the traditional southern bushes you suggested, I'm a little afraid to plant a lot of shrubs at the lower end of the yard because of all the developed honeysuckle and virginia creeper. Before long they'd be covered. The vines have been growing for MANY years and are probably the only thing holding up the fence by now! I do want to incorporate some shrubs into certain areas. My first Priority though- I need to think of preventing grass seeds from taking root when they blow from the neighbors' yards and also about killing the grass I have now. I COULD just mulch heavily- but I'm not sure that would do it. The areas I have mulched and planted in the front parts of the yard have helped reduce my weed issues, and I want to fix the back yard to be just as low-maintanance. Sometimes I can turn around twice and find a Weed as tall as I am staring back from the back yard! I say prevent them from starting in the first place! I hear you - when you mention the slide of mulch and landscape fabric- I was concerned about the same thing. However, I know that I personally cannot create flat areas in the back yard or make concrete paths. The concrete also seems to present a "planned" look. I want it to look at natural as possible, since I have cut down all the "typical shrubbery" in the front of the house and gone softer with Butterfly Garden plants. I think it better combines with all the english ivy in the front yard. I heavily pruned the shrubs around the deck and they have grown back nicely. I planted 6 inch Mimosa trees in the back yard 1/2 yrs. ago which have grown into 18 foot tall trees in three corners of the back yard. There is a new 18X6 Red Block Patio between the deck and the house which reaches to the AC unit. The patio blocks will be extended out in the "forward" backyard to border a new garden pond to allow for entertaining. A new large flower bed begins at the other side of the AC unit and continues beyond several feet of the fence. My thought was to use some of the same blocks in a more scattered pattern, to access the back section of yard. Nobody will be walking back there except during emergencies. I mentioned I have lots of ankle pain- I won't be dragging stuff up the hill- I can barely walk it. There is a huge shaded area for the dogs underneath the deck and either side, depending on sun direction- but they don't stay out long enough to suffer- I'm a woose who spoils them to AC since they both get overheated in our summers. The rest of the backyard bakes in direct sun until the trees develop more branches. After seeing the pics- would you possibly have any other suggestions? I don't mean to be obstinate- I am just trying to work with limited mobility and hoping for the most natural looking and low-maintainance yard possible. Priority one: I want to get rid of the grass and weeds without making the yard slick or dangerous to walk on. Oh- and I have clay soil which has developed nice earthworms and a darker color than most of my neighbors here in Charlotte. Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard prior to any changes

Most of these posts are not really design flaws but rather personal preferences. IMHO there's a Big Difference. I consider a design flaw something that is inherently wrong with the home whether it's in the finish product or the structural part. We toured some $1.5m homes recently that had wonderfully finished shelves inside the closets in the foyers. But the doors were designed to open inwards, away from the entrance. Result, you could access only 1/2 of the closet. Or, DW's and trash compactors that open into one another where you couldn't have both open at the same time. RV garages that are to short for an RV's height. High end homes that only fit one 36" refrigerator. Guest bathrooms with bathtubs not to a standard 30" x 32" size (standard since 1950's) and the only thing that would fit was something that looked like it was out of an RV. Of course to me the BIGGEST design flaw is on my own home. Out architect didn't include snowload trusses. That took almost 3 months to find a retrofit solution. The last thing we wanted was to remove the roof and all the plumbing, HVAC, central vac ETC. lines that were already in place. The repair and having to repay these companies to come back and redo their work cost us about $20k. Another architectural flaw is that this guy has never repaid us for this mistake....