Theresa- I thought that was a walkmaker path. I got the brick walkmaker stamps for the areas between my raised beds in my veggie garden. I'll probably get the stone one this year as I really like the look of a bed (esp. a cottage garden) that spills out onto the path. That hardscape element seems to give a sense of order to otherwise wonderfully chaotic cottage gardens. I haven't finished my project yet but I have a couple tips for anyone wanting to do something like this. First, put down weed barrier fabric between the ground surface and the rock substrate. Secondly, don't buy the concrete colorant they sell for it at the big box stores. If you look up concrete suppliers in your phone book, you'll find a few places where you can buy the integral color as well as a release agent in a different color so it gives it more depth and realism. It is also less expensive to buy it in bulk than the colorant from Home Depot and comes in many, many more choices.

I am laughing out loud at these stories and videos. It's been quite a few years since I've had a pet, but I've had a few over the years. The dogs just did doggie things like steal the roast beef off the counter. Scruffy the mutt we found would sleep on the bed when we weren't home, which he wasn't supposed to do. I'd walk in the back door and hear a thunk from him jumping off the bed. When I went upstairs he'd pretend to be sleeping on the floor, in spite of the bedspread being messed up. Worst of all were the ferrets. They could and did eat everything. It would go in one end and come out the other in the shape of intestines. I have hot air heat in my house and they used the ducts as their own personal trail system. It was so funny to be sitting in the den and a ferret would be scrabbling behind the duct cover. My son had taken the cover off the duct in his room and they used that to get in and out.

Even before Jen posted this, I was telling my husband about hearing it and being sad that I missed seeing Sedaris in my backyard. Then he suggested maybe we could do a road trip to catch another performance. He was probably thinking a place like D.C. I said well, I have checked the schedule and he'll be in Australia in January. I may have overplayed my hand. I think I'll recheck the schedule and see if there's a city - with a sports team - that we haven't visited and see about a weekend away. Unfortunately, we've already been to Dallas but I suppose we could repeat, we had a nice time.

They are so beautiful! Our cat Sunshine is 12 years old. She’s a nut!! We haven’t figured her out yet. Sometimes she’s aloof. Other times she’ll come and sit on your lap the minute you sit down purring like a motor. She still plays a lot for her age compared to other cats I’ve had. I love her!