I will answer the questions that were asked of me, above. The sulfur that goes into the bottom of the "V" shaped hole is not mixed in with the dirt because I want it to be assimilated slowly, over a period of years. The only purpose of this application of sulfur is to counteract the tendency of the surrounding alkaline soil to raise the pH of my blueberry shrub. I don't know how effective this method is, I have never tried to prove that it accomplishes what I expect. The typical hole dimensions are 24 inches diameter by 16 inches deep. The reason for putting down sulfur in a ring, on the surface, is essentially historical and idiosyncratic. When I started growing blueberries, back around 1993, I did not have a local source of sulfur, so I was using white vinegar, 5% acidity, mixed with our local tap water, to lower soil pH. This method works, but the vinegar disappears in about a month, so you have to keep repeating the application over the growing season. It is not a practical method for lowering soil pH. When I finally picked up a pH meter, and found a local source of agricultural sulfur in 50 lb bags, I had maybe 16 blueberry shrubs already well established, and I did not want to dig them up, apply sulfur, and replant. So, I applied sulfur to the surface, and that is how I have been doing it ever since.

So, sounds like you're not competing with Mikey for who can have more plants. :D His hoyas are amazing (outside, and in his greenhouse)... I don't know how strong they'd be indoors, or even if they'd bloom as abundantly... I just bought my first hoyas this month... I have 4 tiny ones - and, it'll be years before I see flowers. Honeysuckle! Just LOVE the stuff. My neighbor has an entire fence full - and it wafts throughout the whole neighborhood. ... no room to winterize? ... aren't you in one of the warm zones? ... you could do so many fragrant plants that'd stay outside... I didn't hear you mention anything about roses... what's up with that? ... Every great yard deserves at least one rose bush. :) (I have 7 ...) :)

I'm doing great, thanks! so relieved that my final exams are done and I can be human again LOL. Then I'll probably keep the post on it to be sure that it is supported (i'll take it off probably in the spring), and I'll use some gift ribbon that I have to tie the post to the trunk, I'll just tie it on slightly looser than the green ties that are on now so it won't be so tight around the trunk. So excited that this mix will work out well for me! it took me forever to find it! the last place that I thought carried it in their store messed up, I drove there (it was a good 40 minute drive) and found out that they didn't have it! that it was a "misunderstanding" but that their on site worker could make me a custom mix. They showed me what her mixes looked like and they looked no different than regular bagged potting soil! LOL (Granted, I'm sure she had good knowledge on how to make mixes, just not the one I need). I politely declined and requested that they order me a bag of fafard 52, and the guy actually started to argue with me about how I need a custom mix for my citrus (this was after I had to convince him that yes, I was indeed growing a dwarf citrus tree in a pot in my house, and that yes this was possible, that many people do this and are successful at it). I tried to explain to him that the fafard 52 mix is a specialized mix that would work for a citrus, but he wouldn't take no for an answer, and told me he would contact the woman who makes these custom mixes and that she would call me about ordering the fafard 52 mix. That was several days ago and I still haven't heard from her LOL! I can't believe how rude they were! I don't think the guy took too kindly to me when I cut him off after he was trying to convince me for the 10th time to take one of their custom mixes instead, geeeeez! -_-;;; At that point I just drove away, feeling pretty irritated. I finally contacted the head customer service rep. on the Fafard site for help and she directed me to a place in Belleville MI (granted it's pretty far for me too, but at least I know they have them, I called and made sure they had them, and that they actually have them on site and not some other fafard product LOL), in the meantime I ordered a large bag of 52 online, to ensure that I have something to put my tree in LOL! it's been a rough couple of days, but I'm not going to allow someone to push me around into buying something that I didn't come there for, so I'm so glad I've finally gotten what I need. and my tree is still doing very well in the container it came in, which is great! I can't wait to get it settled in its container and once it has settled in after about a week or so, I can give it a little hit of the romeo fertilizer I bought. thanks for your advice! MSUgrl I'll post a picture once I get it potted. By the way, whats the best way to pot this little guy in the new pot? he seems really snug in his container, how can I get it out without harming it? oh, I also got another pot for it and its the right size :). MSUgrl

Thank you, everyone, for your support. I did have a good cry (several, in fact) and am feeling more calm and accepting, I guess. SS is doing pretty well right now. It ended up being mostly just the usual; he came home filthy (he hadn't changed his underwear, bathed, or brushed his teeth all weekend), hungry (he had chocolate milk and two pieces of pizza as he wasn't allowed a third piece all day Sunday), exhausted (he's allowed/encouraged to stay up very late -after midnight- until BM goes to bed and then she takes him to sleep with her). Also as usual he was pretty much ignored except when dragged around on Sunday to be shown off to relatives (and we think used as an excuse to get invited to dinner). He tried to discuss some of his concerns re Christmas with BM; fortunately she didn't scream but also apparently didn't listen/ask questions/express concern. She again told him there was no money for presents or "a Christmas"; he finally told her that he didn't want to come and she just said "You are". Our attorney has told us that one withheld visitation occurring after a mod petition has been filed almost certainly will have no effect on anything custody wise and at most might result in a fine. Make of that what you will. :-) SS is feeling better since he was informed of a certain decision that DH did not make lightly. He requested to speak with his counselor again as he's been very upset about it all. I spoke with her briefly as we're always trying to make sure that the right thing is being done, and to be sure that we're not inadvertently influencing SS (it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a poker face when tales of BM are being recounted). She agreed that it is possible that BM has something planned that doesn't involve ruining SS's holiday out of spite - but she didn't really believe that any more than DH, SS or I do. SS was convinced that not only will she not get him anything, as she told him, but that she will deliberately stay up very late so that Santa does not come to bring him anything either. His other concern was that since Santa has never left him any presents there, nor is he mentioned, obviously (to him) Santa does not bring his BM anything because "she's bad". So he also worried that if Santa brought him presents but left nothing for BM that she would scream at him. He said something very concerning to me on the way to counseling yesterday. He told me that sometimes he wished he were in heaven so he didn't have to see BM. When I questioned him he said his main concern was that what if it was all wrong, what if "bad people" were allowed into heaven and then he would still have to see her anyway. He has promised me if he has more thoughts like that to discuss them with me, DH, counselor, teacher, anyone. Unfortunately he told Sunday school teacher that BM was mean to him and screamed, so they discussed in class about honoring thy father and mother, and it was explained to him how he should behave better so she is "not so stressed". I cannot fault the woman because I am sure that she was imagining a typical "I asked the kid five times to shut off the TV and come to dinner and then I yelled" kind of thing - but poor SS. It really makes me wonder how many kids who are sexually or physically abused are asking for help and the adults are just not hearing it. We also confirmed other suspicions this weekend. BM's BF is in prison for parole violation; he's a career criminal. But as soon as he gets out they'll be married and live happily ever after, with custody of SS, and both of us paying CS. Anyway, that being the case in fantasyland, BF's mother is often over visiting and SS is encouraged to call her GM. (Strangely not step-grandma, nor "my mother's future husband's mother". Huh.) Anyway, we found that, well, her record is not quite as extensive as her son's. The years of drug possession charges (in addition to others) are not particularly surprising to either DH nor I due to the fact that SS had already told us that she is "funny" because she always thinks that "bugs are on her skin and in her hair". We haven't even started to figure out what to do with that mess yet. To wrap up my very long update, the pet may/may not be doing better. She's on steroids; vet said she might show a brief improvement for a very short time and then it's rapidly downhill. She is showing improvement so DH and I are holding out hope for a miracle (or a misdiagnosis; we opted out of the $1500 tests so it was more of an educated guess to her condition). Meanwhile we are taking advantage of the fact that everyone at the moment is feeling OK to do holiday stuff together; if we could just freeze an evening in time for a while I think I'd be happy.