I worked like a dog in the yard today - woof!
First let me explain my yard configuration. At the street there is a steep bank leading down to our "yard". Part of the yard, I have planted a nice lawn. In winter, (and much of the rest the year in Oregon) when it rains, this causes flooding in the yard, ripping out my lawn. Year by year, I have dug and placed drainage pipe along the driveway edge of the front yard, then placed river rock (from other areas of the yard) over it for both decorative and drainage effect. So, in the picture(s) you'll see how far I have come, today finishing up to the open area, tomorrow, on to the last leg of the journey. I had my nephew helping dig the trench and my daughter digging up rocks that I would collect in buckets and bring to my site (in the tractor-trailer). Quite laborious, but this is my art work, so I really don't mind. (The blurry spot is a water spot, the sprinkler hit me while I was photographing

) And that's the vegetable garden in the back of the second pic.
Thanks to
Rhonda and
Zinke for the oat recipe and to
Nori for the Chicken Alfredo recipe.
Vixjean, it did seem like you were being left out of the loop a lot. And I admire your staying "clean". Thank goodness you have your sweetie nearby. Sorry I couldn't be closer, you seem like such a dear one yourself!

. Hang in there.
Tawny - There were times I wanted to leave, to be sure. After a lot of tears and trials, when we moved here, I found a PTSD women's group that really helped me a lot. Like you say, unless someone has been where you are, they just don't quite get it. Don't give up if you love him, unless of course he gets violent. He definitely needs to be loved, and of course so do you. The ideal thing would be to see a therapist together. Perhaps, as you gain more confidence (since you're looking so hot!) and he sees you are going on with your life whether he comes along or not, he may find he would rather join you than have you grow away from him. Doesn't always work this way, but it can. I must restress, take care of yourself first. And feel free to pm me anytime you need to.
That's it for me today.
Dora