Almost time to get out the DR brush mower. I use it for most of my perennial gardens and it gives me that D*MN good feeling. I took out all of my markers for my hostas and daylilies because I realized I really didn't care what the names were any more. In fact, even when I was selling them at the Farmer's Mkt, nobody cared what the names where! Frankly - they are all named "ME" now because I grow them and care for them. In fact, with the daylilies my favorites are the ones I hybridized myself. Yep, they are named "ME". There is joy in every moment of gardening and even the tearing out and clearing of dead material is a joy because we know that in the spring it all starts again.

Raeanne~This is already one spoiled baby! LOL She is the first grandbaby on both sides. She is only 6 hours from her DM's DPs so they get to see her way more often & of course they have done their share of spoiling. Of course, you wouldn't know that the DGSs weren't my biological ones b/c I spoil them as much or more. There is something about it--I just cannot help myself. We are going to babysit the youngest DGS while his momma is in school. That should be fun. (You should see the packages that we are taking for Valentine's Day for all 3 & then DGS #1's b'day is on Valentine's Day. Close to DeeMarie's! Please remember my DS on the 8th. That is when she has her surgery. They are going through the front of her neck to remove a vertabra & there is a slight chance that she might not make it & a slight chance that she would not be able to speak again. Dee~Sorry that you are under the weather. That is never any fun. I'll try to get back on here tomorrow before the Super Bowl starts--if I have finished with my packing. I have most of it done but am waiting on some clothes to dry. Since we have to go to a laundromat, I don't like to have my clothes dried there & prefer to have them hung up to dry. Have a Super day everyone--you must be since nobody is posting. :) Patti

What LWO said ... Really, Ms Beagles -- you are already in such a high-end bracket, it's bizarre to hear of these troubles. With all due respect, you are simply paying too much to be this aggravated. Me, I know I'm not paying top dollar: you are. Your GC's job should be to see to it that for all this $$$ you contend with no/minimal aggravation. As surely you must know, that figure you're paying for this tiling job is stratospheric. You know it, they know it. Your GC should know it and while you're never going to hire them again, he might. He's the one the relationship matters with and I'm guessing you pay your GC similarly munificently. While it's tough, I think you should be setting your laser-sites on this GC. Insist he mop this up. Insist he advocate for you: this piddly little couple layers of extra tile should definitely be one of those costs of doing business these guys should suck up. This is their job and your GC should know it even if, somehow, they don't. BTW, while you've conceded it might have been hard for the tilers to somehow know you intended for the tile to go to the ceiling, it's not actually that esoteric an expectation. There's cause for understanding how the misunderstanding could have occurred. Yet there was also several opportunities for them to have figured it out: excessive overage, just plain asking, etc. For example, that's just the first fundamental bottom-line question my tiler asked of our bathroom: are the tiles going to the ceiling? I do think I had the temerity to think, inside, 'of course they are, what are they going to do, stop midway...?' -- but I didn't say anything. I've since come to understand there are a bazillion and one such decisions to be made when tiling and they really aren't all as obvious as that. They seem so to me but there are so many tastes under the sun ... it can't be an easy job tiling under such conditions. I'm sure you and I both aren't the only ones who imagine our expectations are just obvious. BUT... this cuts both ways. Because these presumptions are ubiquitous I am quite certain every single tiler encounters these issues every single day. It is, therefore, an integral part of their job to straighten this stuff all out. It just doesn't work to all innocently say later on: "...I didn't know, she didn't write it all down". He should have asked. But where this should all be being dealt with is at the GC-sub level. The tiler should be whining to the GC "but she didn't say..." and the GC should be shaking his finger at the tiler saying "next time, ask.... deal with it...." or something. While I know this is traumatic and irritating, I think it is utterly commonplace. All that's not commonplace is the tile-guys' presumption that you'll just take care of it all.

I was in bed at 10, but the fireworks up the bayou started at dark and continued into the night. I have no idea when midnight actually was. I woke up at one point and it was quiet, so I figured the people with more money than brains had finally ran out of fire power. Living on a bayou, the sound travels, and then because of the tall trees around, it echoes from the other side, so you hear it twice...on both sides of you. I got up this morning and noticed not very many animals came to eat. I don't blame them. I didn't venture out last night either. :))