Emerald: Words don't work at a time like this......but prayers do! And in that vein, prayers are flooding your way. You WILL find the right words to talk with your mother. You WILL find the right words to console your husband. You have already found the right words to convey to us. You ARE stronger than you think you are. You ARE a mother! ~ We grieve with you and for you. I think this entire experience which you have been so gracious to share with us has brought out the goodness and grace in both you and us......and for that we can all celebrate. You are closer to us than possibly any other poster. You have touched our hearts and souls and brought out the best in all of us. How we conduct our lives from here on out will speak volumes to this experience. Thank you for allowing us to be enlightened in and through your journey. My heart is heavy in your loss. God will continue to guide and be good to you. We are here for you in more way than you have yet to discover.

Let me know your specific needs and I'd love to talk Texas gardening!! I tend to do a lot of native planting for ease, I'm not fond of planting and buying again and again, so I prefer plants that will return year after year, though many do die back each winter. I always supplement with fun annual color but try to get a good baseline of natives that I can count on and that will emerge early and take over. Is the bed you are planning shaded or sun? Is is near the pool or actually next to it? I have one bed directly next to mine and haven't noticed any ill effects from the salt water, which was one of my concerns. I'd mostly avoid things that shed leaves or blossoms (like crepe myrtle can be a mess too close to a pool) in large quantities. One of my favorite plants is the native hibiscus (the ones with the dinner plate size blossoms, huge and red), I just love them, along with yellow bells, plumbago. Pride of Barbados are spectacular near a pool and look very tropical, just don't assume they are dead each spring, they are late to emerge. Chaste trees are fun and can be trained to be smaller, and I tend to find lots of things that butterflies prefer, like passionflower and such (in fact I plant several things ONLY for the caterpillars to come munch). I do some herb gardening too, and those can be beautiful and functional, echinacea does well, rosemary and sage, etc, all are pretty and useful. Let me know when you're planting, I'll give my 2cents.

I believe that some of you don't understand what's been going on with the initial posts. It's not that we couldn't figure out where to post, but that the words become gibberish....which cannot be corrected! Backspacing only multiplies the gobbledygook. It only occurs during that initial post. This issue has been resolved for me as of today so I encourage others to try again.

thanks. I guess I will just drop it but YES its frustrating. Truly I see posts when I click them --- I appreciate your reply- this is what I see when I click on the first link. Go figure. Kindle Owners Library?(amazon prime) salonva 4 hours ago We have amazon prime, and I have (and love ) a kindle paperwhite. There is a book I want to read that is available at the library, but it does not have it in ebook format. I was reading that with AMAZON PRIME you can borrow one book a month for free from the KINDLE OWNER LENDING LIBRARY. The word on the street is that they don't really promote this and make it hard to use. I agree. I am able to get to the lender library which I believe can only be done on the device itself, not on any of the apps, but there is no way I can see to search for a specific book. Has anyone used it and can you share some wisdom or tips? Owner Lending Library EmailSaveComment1LikeEditDelete Comment (1) salonva and I meant to post this to kitchen table but whatever. I just hope this thread posts because I can only view it by searching for my activity. good times. Like Save 4 hours ago Edit Delete