Landscaping

We finally finished the landscaping in the largest bed and it looks great! It took a while because we had a lot of rocks in the bed. Big red rocks. And clay. And gravel. The ground was very hard and took a while to dig some of the holes. We used red lava rock in the bed. We were first going to use mulch, but was concerned it might wash away after rain. It is now complete and we love it.

We are looking for someone to do some edging around the smaller bed on the north side of the porch. After we get that installed, we can complete that bed. It won't take long, but finding someone to put in the edging is proving to be hard. One guy had a minimum of 100 feet and we only need about 30-35 feet. We have someone else to check with today.

We received the flag, flag pole, and parts for the bed at the end of the drive. The pole is 20 feet and really looks massive lying at the end of the drive. We would love to have it up by Monday, which is Memorial Day. Once the pole is up, we can easily complete that bed.

I saw three hummingbirds yesterday, but they were not close to our feeder! I need to get more out to attract them.

In national news, oil is still spewing into the Gulf. It has been well over a month and a few attempts to stop the spill have failed. There will be a new attempt today. It looks as if Louisiana's fishing industry is severely affected. The oil slick is spreading to the Florida panhandle and may go down around the Keys & up the east coast. And, now hurricane season is just around the corner. A hurricane will "mix up" and disperse all the oil that is sitting underwater. A hurricane will also stop attempts to stop the attempts to control the leak. It could cause much more problems. Right now, the slick doesn't appear to be on the Alabama beaches.

In the adoption process, something interesting is happening. There was a couple who was approved a few years ago to adopt from China. Since that time, they have divorced. The lady notified her agency and provided an update and request to continue the adoption. Other than being single, she still meet all the medical, financial, and other requirements. Since their original approval, China has stopped single person adoptions. After receiving her request to continue with the adoption as a single parent, China approved her request since the original approval was before the more strict guidelines. Fast forward almost two years, she is a few months from receiving her referral. China has now decided she cannot adopt since she is single. Basically, she is appealing this decision through her agency. But China owes no one an explanation, is "self governed", and the US has no say-so in their decisions. If this decision holds, China may go back and review applicants as they get closer to their referral time. Not long ago, China became more strict with their qualifications: better financial status, better medical reviews (especially weight issues), etc. With the number of people "in line" for Chinese adoptions, China can now pick families that are more healthy, reliable, and more financial. If China re-reviews each case, many families will no longer qualify for adoption. The economy has caused some families to lose jobs, have lower incomes, move into smaller homes, etc. Also, some couples are now divorced and some spouses have died. In reality, many things could happen to eliminate a family. This has caused quite a stir in the Chinese adoption world since many families have waited patiently for 3-4 years and are concerned they will be denied close to referral time. This is a lot of time to NOT KNOW what is going to happen. Plus, all the money already spent, with more that will be needed.

So, what does this mean for us? Well, we don't know. If China does decide not to "grandfather in" those couples that no longer meet their qualifications, our wait should decrease. But, there is no way to know how many people "in line" no longer qualify. I feel there are many, but that is just a guess. And, there is no way to know how much it will decrease our wait.

If China does disqualify people, we will know. More people will provide information if they are no longer qualified and we will probably be notified by our agency.

Bad news for others....but good news for us.

Tide Gal