Benny, I have a cure!
Apparently, your wife wants & needs more attention from you. How about making breakfast in bed for her....some fresh squeezed juice & fresh fruits from your garden! Just you 2 - closed doors LOL. And , maybe after dinner, spend time with her.... help her clean-up. If you must go out & check plants, ask her if it's OK to for a few minutes or..ask her to come with you...maybe help check for bugs. Make her feel part of it. At harvest times, ask her to pick or help you pick fruits. I think SHE thinks your plants are more important to you than she is and she's letting you know this.
Just my 2 cents worth from amateur-marriage-counselor me

Patty, I am in the same boat with Benny. I did all that, also the laundry, all the handy man repairs, even the roses I cared for her enjoyment. Breakfast in bed, espresso in the morning, soccer dad (take kids to track and field, baseball and soccer), ballet dad (take daughter to ballet), cooking, do the dishes, sweep the floor, not mentioning mowing the lawn and garbage collections.

Still she makes me feel guilty when I am out there spending time with the plants. I always say that it is better for me that way than taking up expensive golf hobby or be a couch potato.

BTW, my wife is taking up nursing, so I am supporting her fully by assuming half of the house chores.

The standards set by women are always on a sliding scale, and it always slides uphill.

But Patty, remember we still LOVE our wives. We know they don't mean it and they are just playing spooky games with us. Yes, we did just like that- we served coffee and breakfast in bed etc....
I guess it is just paying back time for me. You see when I married her in the Philippines I thought I was in heaven.
She would do the unexpected for me- when I was takiing a shower she would put the IRONED underwear and T shirst and new towel outside the shower room and I would see also my tooth brush had tooth paste on it alreadyand when I came out of the shower my slippers were outside the door and there on the table my full breakfast and fresh hot coffee ready for me. She would not eat breakfast beside me because there, the man of the house eat breakfast first. Only when I was finished they all would eat. I did not like the custom since I wanted everybody eat at the same time but I could not convinced them that including her mother and her sisters. I think that is also a tradition in the old Japan. I experienced that also there with a little difference.
Maybe when I got her here in US that I treat her like an equal and that what she heard from her workplace and the things that she did not know and know now and what she can get away with .
But remember I know she just does not mean all of that since she does all the laundry and cooked when she does not work. And a lot more things .

Breakfast in bed?, espresso in am?, cooking?, cleaning?, laundry?, trash out?, gardening?............
MARRY ME!

Joe:
Hey, Joe, like in the the Godfather movie an OFFER you can't refuse?

Thanks for the consolation Folks! Simply appreciate that as a compliment. I simply enjoy serving my loved ones. Been happily married for 17 years to my only "official" girlfriend in my life!

I was hoping you'd know T'was just a joke! I respect you guys for appreciating what you have! There are a lot of guys that are "couch potatoes" & go to expensive golf outings, & just plain don't care etc. Just my way of saying you guys are great husbands! Lots of women WISH they had a husband like you! (ahhh, breakfast in bed!)
Don't forget that stupid California law now..."against the law to beat your wife with a strap wider than 2 inches"...LOL. You know I'm kidding.
Krea, sorry for getting off topic here. Did you try the 'skewer' thing & how did it come out? Was the soil soggy at bottom?

Thanks Patty. We knew you were just joking and we took that as a compliment. My apologies to Krea also.

Your Satsuma should be okay for a while and when it is time to repot, this group will tell you, just don't forget to ask from time to time.

Oh, I know all the time it was a joke Patty but I am still laughing so hard.
We are doing it just because we want to and not because we are told to.
I know a lot of guys like us. We understand wives work so hard and we just want to share the burden of everydays' chores.
I enjoyed cooking but in my old country it can be termed'effeminate' to do those things.
Anyway, I tried your recipe already. I have a full pitcher of fresh oranges cut into 1/2 inch size and filled them with vodka. Half an hour later, since it was getting late, I could not help but taste it so I put some in half a glass and took it to bed. After I sipped it I don't know what happenned afterwards. I was out like a light. And we had Betty's avocado guacamole together with the carnitas and lots of other stuff. My kids love them so much and I LOVE my vodka orange.
Thanks a lot Patty.
I am greatful to Laaz also for having this forum. I am learning a lot.
And Krea, I apologize also.

Oh gosh ya'll! hehe...I dont care about you getting off subject:) Feel free!

Well I havent done the stake thing yet. I am going to have to wait till this weekend when I have the time to do it.

Again, thanks for all your advice! And by all means....continue the conversation.