WOW! What a great place to WORK! Looks like JT & her buddy had an adventureous day! You GO, JT! (and R'ducky!) Too bad R'ducky left some friends behind here in IA! Well, maybe next trip ...& I'm comin' along to play, too! TFS, nmgirl! Jeanne S.

Babka they're not visible at the moment so I can't take a picture (or even remove them because I'm not sure exactly where they are lol). This is my first spring so I'll find exactly what perennials have been planted. In fact, there were a cluster that randomly sprouted in the middle of the lawn a few weeks back. I moved to the front yard but I still don't know what they are as they haven't bloomed...at first I thought it may be the tulips or daffodils that I planted in the fall and the squirrels moved them but I don't think so anymore as they are growing so much faster than the tulips and daffodils. My mum thinks they may be crocuses.

MRI's would assist in the specific diagnosis of certain spinal problems. There are simple manipulations that the Vet might perform that would be dispositive. (My last Bulldog at age nine had symptoms similar to what you described. My Vet showed me that if he lifted the girl's rear paw and put it straight down on the floor she would not return the paw to the normal position.) Really I'm just asking a question and explaining my background. Your vet would know best. As an aside, my nine-year old lived to be fourteen - ancient by Bulldog norms - and I spent the last four years of her life sleeping at night on the couch with her. She is missed to this day.

What I would do: (and what would help with curb appeal), is a larger front porch. Then you can place a bench out there--sort of an outdoor mud room. But you don't want folks through the front door, I understand. I'm curious where you live? And you still haven't answered about who are these people who come to your front door, but you'd prefer to have them come through the mudroom. I'm thinking about my own home. We accept UPS packages, the plumber, kids' friends, my friends, the grandparents.... all through the front door. We do have a foyer there though, for the removal of wet things. The only people who actually enter through the other door are kids who are VERY familiar with our household (dogs etc), and who are perhaps mid-playdate with our own kids. You can spend some time reading through other threads in design dilemmas. There has been one within the last week or so about the opposite problem--guests using backdoor when front door is somehow less obvious--though close by. Since your problem is the opposite, and based on your local culture, you can glean the advice and use it to your advantage. (painting front door to match siding so it disappears; removal front walkway; careful planting of bushes and trees to obscure what you want obscured; remove decoration from undesired door).