Well, I think that happens to everyone pretty much, unless they're retired or something. I know that this summer, I've neglected my garden a LOT compared to last year, because I've been doing major home improvement projects that I neglected for a couple of years to do my garden. You just take the good with the bad, and realize that NEXT YEAR will come fast. Six months ago, it was snowing here and I was just starting to sow peppers, etc., indoors under lights. It practically seems like yesterday. Now, those things are bearing, frost will be here soon, then the holidays, then it will be time to start again. The cycle of the seasons. Most species of berries don't self-sow all that much from what I've found. Black raspberries, mulberries, and shadberries can be bad. The rest not so much.

There was an OOPS! message when I just logged on. I couldn't do anything at 6:30 this morning either. Here's the message: 8:15AM: Oops! Garden gnomes wreaked havoc on our forums overnight and our tech team is working to reverse their mischief. Thanks for your patience and we should have things back to normal soon!

My oldest granddaughter is a step. She has 2 younger siblings. She was so hard to love. My husband and I made every attempt to attend every event she was in with her even if it was across town for us. We did it. She just never seem to appreciate anything we did. Now today she is in her 30's and has 2 children of her own. Different fathers for both children. One she married and divorced and we attended that wedding. The second baby daddy we have never met. But the little girl is also a doll. the oldest child seems so sad to me and she never seems to smile much in pictures. They live far from us. I do send cards and gifts for their birthdays and holidays. It is a hard situation to be in having a step grandchild. I would just be as friendly as you can with the little guy, play games with him, make cookies with him even boys enjoy this. Take him out on his own and see what he is all about. He will open up to you. One of the fond memories I have with my grandson is making chocolate chip cookies and my now 25 year old grandson said grandma that was so much fun when we made those cookies when I was little and you let me put in the ingredients you had already set out to do. I loved eating the chocolate chips I would steal one or two or 10. Grandchildren can enrich your life so much, step or real. Most of mine call from time to time just to say HI, grandma. I have 6 and 2 greats.

mgmum, your messaging is not enabled, so I'll post a link to my OneDrive Kitchen album (scroll down to skip my wandering explanation). It starts with the hand-drawn plan--I found GW before I knew how to upload pics or use a Paint program. I did a DIY mini-remodel using some cabinets from the old kitchen, some new cabinets, and some salvaged cabinets and other recycled/upcycled elements. If you click on each pic, then click on it again, the captions should appear. The whole mess is documented, so if you just want to see the final result, scroll to the end. I mentioned hosting big family dinners--the kitchen is set up specifically to facilitate feeding a crowd. I could have a better working layout, but I need the long counter with no appliances, and a direct path to the new dining room. The range used to be on that wall, and the burners would still be hot from cooking, when it was time to serve the buffet. Many times I've covered the still-warm burners with a noodle board, so no one would accidentally touch them. I moved the range across the room, in part to clear that wall, but also to vent it to the outside. My vented hood is one of my favorite parts of the new kitchen. So, we start in the LR, file past the buffet serving counters (counter on one side, island on the other), and walk directly into the new dining/flex room. I'll include the link for that album, too, although you can see it in the background of the kitchen pics. Scroll down for a pic of the table set for 20. We can seat 6 at the kitchen dining table (usually the teens/young adults), which is open to the kitchen on the other side, and four more at a drop leaf table, which we move from the new room to the LR, which is connected through another opening, so no one is isolated in another room. I live in an older home with a circular traffic pattern--I guess now it's more of a figure-8. Before adding the new room, we had to move chairs out of the LR, push everything else against the walls, and squeeze around each other to seat the whole family together. One Thanksgiving we seated 24 at tables in the LR, and I said, "Never again, unless we have a separate dining room!" I think I've posted the story before, but that year my FIL had a friend visiting from the UK, and they decided to come early and visit with my DH, which left me without my usual help, so I was really running behind schedule. Then my mother arrived with her friend, who became bored because the British friend was getting all the attention. Mother's friend decided that since I was alone in the kitchen, he should come in and sing to me--'Devil in Disguise', while I shooed him from one spot to another, as I needed to check the oven, open the fridge, grab something from a drawer, etc. My mother dragged him back to the LR, but as soon as her attention was again on the interesting British friend, 'Elvis' returned for an encore. As more family members arrived with their dishes, he decided that holding court in the kitchen suited him just fine. I was ready to wring his neck by the time I had the buffet laid out. Now, I can set up the tables the night before, place the serving pieces on the long buffet counter early in the day, have everyone seated comfortably in the LR before the meal, set the drinks up on the island at the last minute, give the signal for the blessing, and breathe a sigh of relief. Everything is arranged for point of use, and my relatives know where to find things without asking, so if I'm running behind, they can set up tables and chairs, set up the coffee maker, set the tables, etc. I have trained them well. ;) Kitchen album New addition/dining room/playroom