I had this cat named CAT I used to talk about. He was huge, coal black with green eyes. He disappeared in a thunderstorm right before Halloween. There are cats,and then there are CATS. He had magical powers and used to go around screaming at empty spots in the house and yard. I guessed he saw ghosts. He killed a magpie, a pretty amazing accomplishment since they are so big. They called in all the relatives and attempted to kill him. For years they hassled him everywhere, hazing him back to the house. He'd be eleven years old right now. What a magical CAT. I guess it's quality versus quantity. I am glad I remembered where to get Comtesse de Rouquigny, so you can plant it in memory.

That is a great way to treat an otherwise hard to handle plot of land. It will look really beautiful as it matures and fills in somewhat. I am surprised you used an herbicide and haven't had any deleterious effects on your newly planted plants. When I put in a new bed I just rent and use a sod cutter from a rent-all place or sometimes a large hardware center will rent them. The sod cutter removes the top layer of sod to the roots and you just go back afterword and roll it up and do with it what you wish. You are left with a solid plot of clear soil. Then I spread my amendments like composts, composted manure, pearlite, peat moss, PH adjustment amendment of whatever type you need to maximize your PH level, and alfalfa based fertilizer pellets and then I just rototill them all in as deeply as I can. I do all this in the late fall of the year and then let it "sweeten" as I call it over the winter. Then the next spring I will till it all one more time with maybe a little more compost or composted manure or whatever else I want to add. Then it is a simple matter to use your shovel or post hole digger or even one-man gas auger to dig your holes to put in your new roses or other plants and then I lay in my drip irrigation system and add my top layer dressing of compost and mulch. Voila!! I have a super good new garden bed and the new plants love it and grow like crazy. Oh, one more thing that I generally use before laying in the drip irrigation and top layer of mulch is weed matting to keep weed growth to a minimum. Very easy and super helpful and time saving not to mention saving my back from constant stooping to weed all the time once things start growing. I didn't do it on my last rose bed I put in and am regretting it mightily since I am weeding this bed about 8 times more often than the others I did put weed matting down in. I am considering adding it now and then putting down another top layer of mulch. I will have to temporarily pull back my drip irrigation system in that bed, but the little trouble it will be may well be worth the effort involved. Good bed preparation is absolutely essential in making a successful and vigorous growing flower bed. If you skimp here in this step at all you will suffer for it all the time you use that bed and regret it mightily. I don't want to brag, but my roses look great and most of it is due to the attention I paid at bed prep time. It is quite a time saver now as well. I don't have to fertilize and weed nearly as much especially in the first five or six years the bed is in existence. Every year I put on a layer of compost and new organic mulch. Good luck with your bed preparation. John

Thanks - yes, what we are missing in energy we make up for in stability so I think it will be fine! I'm a little nervous about the increased risks but the odds are still in our favor and they test the embryos now. Colleen, I've heard that is pretty common! It happened to my aunt and uncle. They tried for 10 years, did quite a few unsuccessful ivf rounds and were trying one last one before adopting. That worked for a baby boy and 2 years later they had a girl naturally. I think the body has an easier time getting pregnant after the first time in many cases. I hear so many stories of taking a year or more to get the first but the second was a one try kind of deal.

Today we're making sure we have just staples in the house. No big plans other than tolerating the inevitable fireworks from pyromaniac neighbors. (ANY excuse is enough.) Chicago will have four to eight inches of snow, falling all day on January 1. At least no high winds are predicted, so electricity should not be a problem. The last time the city had a big snowfall on New Years Day was 1918 -- note the 'connection'? We won't see our kids until at least a week after anti-vaxer relative and family have left town. Hoping they haven't reinfected our newly recovered family. I have to be cautious due to my compromised immune system with multiple myeloma treatment. I'm guessing we'll have a break from the plague by March. Local hospitals are full up now, and the post-Christmas infections are continuing to stress although Illinois is in better shape than neighboring states and New England. Wishing all my KT friends a Happy New Year!