Hey Mike. Root pruning was a little nerve racking for me but I have done it with tropical fruits. I root pruned a mango tree, and yes, I was nervous but it worked just fine. I have not tried this on any of my citrus trees yet but my 'OroBlanco' grapefruit will probably be the first I tree I try it on. When I did it to my mango, I used a sharp knife and cut off 1/3 of the entire root ball. The only other thing I did was moved the tree to shade for a few weeks to recover, and the tree was fine. I would think it would be the same for citrus also. When I do this to my 'Oro Blanco', I will let you know how the tree does. Andrew

It is a treat to come in when time is available, to see what is happening with other gardeners around the world, not just here in our country. It is the dang hot humid month of August down here, and is really miserable. We still have Sept to go through yet too, so summer is here for us yet awhile longer. Yesterday I worked on my website, and that took all day up until almost 6 pm. I still have more I want to do, but after looking at html code all day, reworking things and uploading everything, it was most definitely time for a break. Thanks everyone for posting. It's what makes this a great forum. Solana ~ You are welcome, although I was mainly just a cheerleader as I am still learning the ways of my camera also. Do post your blog addy when it's up and running for that trip you took this summer. It will be a mini vacation for all of us without having to leave our homes. FlowerLady

It does sound horrid, and I empathize about lack of sleep (if I don't get enough, I'm worthless). My mother has Restless Leg Syndrome (they make medication for it) and she does not stomp or thud around the house at night (or day). It's just as is sounds, her legs are restless during sleep and might involuntarily kick, jerk or twitch. I was thinking about the LL's perspective, tho. If I had a tenant that was disturbing others, but said tenant told me they had a medical condition that led to frequent need for nocturnal walks, I'd probably find myself in a pickle. Even if I knew the condition, and that symptoms or remedies didn't mesh, I'd still be in a pickle. I know this is a stretch, but say LL keeps after stomping tenant. Stomping tenant could well produce a doctor's letter that says 'my patient needs to walk at night for relief'. That's just something a LL really doesn't want to push, because pushing it hard enough might find them slapped with a discrimination suit or something. But obviously you can't continue to live like this. I'd suggest something along the lines of larke's suggestion. Be sure to let LL know you understand that she might be dealing with a tenant's medical condition, and you respect that. (That will help keep LL from being put on the defensive. A defensive LL is an uncooperative LL.) Then let her know that you are developing health conditions of your own, find that you can't perform your job as expected, find yourself nodding off at inappropriate times, your heart races at night when stomping starts, etc. (Yes, the hassle part of changing units would be as camlan mentioned in 1st paragraph, 12/5 post.) Despite LLs predicament, and upstairs tenant's stomping, you are still entitled to peaceful enjoyment. Hopefully you can get it with some good old-fashioned open communication and a little psychology thrown in when talking with LL.

I have never had a subscription to a cooking magazine - the only subscription I did have was to Illuminatrice, an Italian lighting magazine, and that was at work. The only magazines that I buy at the newsstand are Italian design magazines, some of which are quite expensive (I used to buy men's Italian fashion magazines, when I was more fashionable), and I have saved every one of them. I also buy Architectural Digest, Interiors, Veranda, etc. when they publish photos of my furniture designs, and I keep these also. My old magazine collection takes up one shelf in my garage, and I do refer to the Italian magazines from time to time for inspiration. I do collect clutter, but books and magazines are not part of that. I have one shelf of cookbooks in the hall next to the kitchen. I once bought a magazine on Feng Shui, but I decided that the magazine was clutter and got rid of it. I spent last week-end trying to declutter my bedroom because I also bought a new mattress that will be delivered tomorrow, and I want my room to look nice. Yesterday I made a runner with the fabric left over from making new drapes for my bedroom (to be able to block out light) and put it on the wide dresser beside my bed. The dresser on the other side of my bed has a runner I made from fabric left over from when I made my bedspread. I find that decorating or trying to coordinate rooms helps me get rid of clutter. However, I did put a bunch of books on the wide dresser using bookends. I don't have room for another bookcase. If I need to get more books, I will get rid of old ones that I have. Lately I have been buying and reading books on Anthropology and early human evolution. I read them at night to help me get to sleep, and so it takes a while to get through them. I cannot stand to watch Hoarders, but I will watch Clean House if I need inspiration to declutter. Making my house and yards look as beautiful as possible is one of my top priorities, and this helps me let go of clutter. I haven't gotten rid of it altogether, however, and so I think it is an on-going process. I have a hard time getting rid of old clothes that no longer fit, and I am convinced that sometime in the near future, they will fit again. Anyway, that is my goal. They may be terribly out of style or inappropriate by that time, however. Getting rid of old clothes is my biggest problem. One of the things I came across yesterday while decluttering was a printout from a Cooking Forum thread from 2005 that I started asking what was in everyone's freezer. It included a post by Ann_T on pitahaya (I happened to have some in my freezer at the time) that she had copied and pasted, bad Google translation and all. The translation was hysterically funny. Lars