This is such a good idea! I've wondered if some of you could have been my neighbors in the various places I've lived. Anyhow it's nice to be "online" neighbors now. GW Name - luckygal What does your GW name stand for? - I don't really believe in "luck" but I feel very blessed to have survived so well this long. Real Name - Katie Age - 66 Companion - same husband for over 42 years Children? - 3 nice adult kids and 6 wonderful grandkids Pets? - 3 indoor cats, 2 we chose from the SPCA and 1 who chose us - he just wondered by one day and needed feeding, and one outdoor feral cat we feed who keeps the mice under control. We're between dogs. Where do you live or used to live? - have lived in rural BC near the middle of the province for almost 20 years, originally from the west coast of BC, have lived in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Germany Zone? - 3b (according to the Canadian Zone Map) Do you work? - yes, but since I retired I don't get paid as much for it! Have been a jill-of-many-trades and master of a few. Companion Occupation? - ex-military, retired teacher Other interests besides gardening? - various crafts, sewing, knitting, crochet, reading, computer, yard saling, repurposing yard sale finds, interior decorating (DH calls me Martha when I get too obsessed), photography, traveling now that we are retired How long have you been gardening? - 60 years at least (difficult even for me to believe) - my parents were avid gardeners and I helped from an early age. Where is your garden located and what is its size? - we have a large acreage and the garden is near the house, sort of large city lot size but could be larger. Courses in Horticulture? - no, self-taught, but with many mentors What are your specialities in gardening? - propagating houseplants but I'm no longer doing that as it tends to get out of hand (who really needs 30 diefenbachia?), I like growing perennials from seed and nurturing yard sale plant finds, I like planning my garden then deviating from the plan. My DH would say it's leaning on my shovel and telling him what to do! Favorite Flower? - delphiniums, Lady's Mantle, geranium Vancouver centennial (more for it's foliage) are a few Favorite Tree/Shrub? - dogwood altho it doesn't grow in our climate What has been the best-performing plant/plants in your gardens? - shasta daisies and feverfew which are overly prolific self-seeders, irises, delphinium, Lady's Mantle, various poppies, Autumn Joy, and lots more - I'd have to think. Most Challenging Plant? - lavender, I started with 3 plants a few years ago and have one left which seems to struggle to survive every year. I think I need to create a mini-climate which is dryer and warmer but it's easier to just visit a lavender farm and buy some dried. Favorite Gardening Quote? - "I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error." ~Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988 Favorite Garden Magazines? - have only ever taken Gardens West and Harrowsmith subscriptions but no longer - occasionally borrow from the library, there is much more info online Favorite Garden Books or resources? - have 4 of Lois Holes' books which I use, some old gardening books I seldom read, Richters herb catalogue which is fun to dream with, online sites and forums What is your favorite tool? - my little red wagon which I use instead of a wheelbarrow in the house yard. DH got me a second one, a green one to use out in the back-40 for picking sticks. Both yard sale finds $10 each. I also really like using our old cement mixer, it's like this huge noisy toy! We've made hypertufa pots, concrete rhubarb leaf stepping stones, and I like mixing my own garden-healthy mulch in it. What are you most comfortable in when gardening? - shorts, shell or t-shirt, flip-flops mostly or heavy workboots if I have to dig, if it's cold fleece pants and tops, same footware, cotton gloves changed frequently when muddy or rubber gloves occasionally, depending on what I'm doing. What has been your best garden project? - When we had a new water line dug they struck rock the entire way so DH hauled huge rocks in the tractor bucket and created a rockery on a slope near the house. It's become overgrown so I need to replan and replant soon but I love those huge half buried rocks. He also more recently built me a large decorative-only birdhouse out of old barnboard and it's in the garden all summer and on the verandah in the winter. Any projects in the works or planned? - started a lasagna bed this summer over part of the lawn and we're adding to it, hope it produces great veggies next year. Am thinking about a garden house, probably plan it over the winter. Would love to enlarge the garden area more but I think that might be biting off more than I can do. If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do with your gardens? - I've always wanted a bobcat to play with but with an unlimited budget I'd probably hire a landscaper and gardener also and keep them busy for awhile. Buy a hammock and watch them work! Cottage style all the way with gazebo, ponds, streams, bridges a la Monet's garden. If you could invent a plant, what would it look like? - hardy for my zone, resistant to all plant problems, long-lived perennial, very blue and it would look just like my delphiniums but smell like a spicy rose. Would that seem weird or what? Describe an experience with a garden pest that had you ready to throw in the trowel? - being "bug-phobic" I try not to think about them and the birds eat most of the bugs in the garden altho we have zillions of ants, also voracious deer, and pine, spruce and fir beetles in the forest. Plant pests are dandelions, wild yarrow, chickweed, and various pasture grasses that seed. I try to be organic but occasionally use ant dust around the perimeter of the house so they don't eat it! Otherwise it's live and let live here. Parts of the lawn are turning into yarrow groundcover which I may address, or not. Hey, it's green. What advice do you have for the novice gardener? - Join your local garden club, read everything you can about gardening - discover gardening forums and online sites, read library books, start composting, plan a bit, then just get out and do it your way and have fun. Don't waste a lot of money on expensive plants until you actually have good soil to plant them in. We learn more from our mistakes than our successes so don't be afraid to try. What is your motivation for gardening? - I'm incapable of not gardening, it's in my genes.

Hi-- I'm not into gardening, but I AM from Maine, and came across this thread while doing a search on another topic! I'm usually found over in "That Home Site" helping people in the kitches, bathrooms, and flooring forums (I'm a ceramic tile contractor). I came across this thread, though, and thought I'd check it out, and there are so many places mentioned here that I've done work-- from MDI to Vinalhaven and Rockland, To Ogonquit and Wells-- I feel like my "cyber life" and real life just clashed head on!! :-) I used to live up about 1/2 way between Ellsworth and Deer Isle in a little town called Brooklin, but for the last 8 years, I've lived in the Lakes region, presently in Bridgton.

To soundproof your room you will need to use a combination of materials. The following video link is a brief demonstration on blocking sound: http://acousticsfirst.com/educational-videos-the-barrier-and-the-bell.htm We use a mass loaded vinyl called BlockAid. (http://acousticsfirst.com/blockaid-vinyl-sound-barrier.htm) This can be added to structural composites to increase mass without loosing valuable space and can be used in conjunction with resilient channel, isolation hangers and acoustical sealant. Always line cavities with insulation. This prevents resonant frequencies from ringing in the cavities and increases the STC (Sound Transmission Loss). To keep structural noise from transmitting through the structure, be sure to isolate materials using resilient clips or resilient channels. Sound and noise can be transmitted structurally through any materials that touch without some type of resilient material between them. Once your structure is complete, you can use acoustical treatments within your music room to absorb sound and improve the quality of sound in the room. Even though acoustical panels do not block sound, they will help reduce the overall sound pressure in the room, much like the fiberglass batting that is used with the barrier material in the video. A drywall ceiling may sag if the contractor did not use drywall meant for ceiling applications. Be sure to check with material supplies to confirm that you have the correct material for your application. Here is a link that might be useful: Soundproofing Demonstration

You should thank Pebbles for giving you another view because there may be some parents you haven't heard from as yet who don't feel the way you do. It's important to understand that if you are to be effective in changing this situation. It may flatter your ego that you've been ask to "take it to the streets" as you say. I wouldn't go about it that way. I'd take a quiet, methodical approach and attempt to build a consensus with a specific alternative plan of how this *should* work -- a plan which is reasonable, will not sound like you are trying to take over the school and dictate how they should be running things (not your responsibility after all though you can certainly take your kids out of the band), and a plan that has a prayer of being adopted. You can make this into a diva vs diva situation, polarize the community, get everybody screaming, upset a lot of the kids even more and end up in a fight that goes on and on with everyone dug in. Because that's how these things usually go. Or you could quietly call someone who knows municipal and public law, an accountant, a travel agent, a child psychologist, a couple of other parents (maybe one a teacher) who know how to keep their mouths more shut than not, and produce something concrete. Figure out how to get your plan out there to be legally and logically considered, a plan that will benefit everyone and be reasonable. But I will bet that if you are emotional about this and go on about it and turn it into a crusade it will be less effective than it might be. We have a lot of that where I live. Somebody's always screaming about something and even when it's worthy you just tune them out. The bottom line for me -- and I say this as someone who has no children in the school system so I don't know what this sort of thing should/would cost -- it sounds very much like the school board members in our city who were having "meetings" in fancy hotels around the country and traveling there to meet with various educators on other issues and it was a complete reprehensible boondoggle -- free vacations. Or the school superindentant who ordered a $3000 leather couch for her office. In our community the tabloids get hold of the $3000 couches or the $125 catered lunches and people don't stay in those jobs very long because after 1 or 2 front pages and public humiliation and photos that make them look like they're taking the perp walk, there's pressure on the mayor and the school board to act. Public education in this country is a disgrace in many states. And while band is certainly an excellent and creative activity and a great experience I'm sure, I'd rather see that kind of money go into books, facilities, enrichment programs, special education. I'm sure many parents feel the same way (and of course some won't). But if it's not done in the right way the principal and band director are going to marshall their forces and roll right over you and the other parents without even looking back. Then it's your kids who will suffer.