I'm going to try this again, having lost it yesterday. :( 1.) Michelle has beautiful gardens full of carefully considered combinations that please me greatly. Your front entry project looks sensational and I can't wait to see the door and the storm door you select. I'm sure it will be terrific. I'll bet you really miss the Little Miss when you wander through the Secret Garden. 2.) I see the Grim Reaper has paid to calls to people I like so much and I'm sure the spectre of departure hangs heavy in those homes. Brenda, I am so sorry to learn of your loss. I don't know how you feel, but I know how much I love my brother and how special memories shared between only we two are. And so it must be with you. I think hurling yourself out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft will be a perfect way to blow off some energy. You know, I STILL laugh when I think of your description of middle aged flesh flapping in the wind as you plummet toward Earth. Lol. V., the world would be a better place if all people who undertake the responsibility of one of those base creatures carried it through to the bitter end. It's comforting to know our ranks are not as thin as so many news stories imply. I'm sorry Sunrise's condition was not attributable to too many berries. I'll beat Wrecks, "just because". 3.) The Green Man makes a sensational Best Man, Woody! Wow, I really like him... really plucks at the appreciation for all things formal that lies just below my "devil may care" surface. What a thoughtful gift. I went to a wedding on Friday, too. Don't get sick at this time of year, it's too early and too nice outdoors. 4.) Weather calamities have layed waste to Deanne's beloved containers but the recovery was swift and diligent... great save! I had to chuckle at the mental image of you buzzing around fretting and grooming the victims. Good to know all is well once more. :) I suspect also that there is some serious baby withdrawal happenin' on the Farm (though I have no idea why! ;) ). I smiled at the chubby leg and foot nicely adorned with the bracelet. First thought to cross my mind was, "did we all enter this world with such perfect skin?". What lies ahead for your family is the conclusion of the awful "first year", 'bug. Good friends know how to help, sometimes just listening and reassuring is all that's required. Praise be good friends, huh? (and dogs to beat). I know I will spent some time in reflection on Sep't. 8th., as will every other Idyller... solidarity, baby! Actually, I think I'll put some wine in my IUVI glass and toast Reed's perfect life and all the love that was lavished on him in too short a time. Woody and Julie will like this one. We have dear friend who has two dogs, aka The Wrecking Crew. She is now a very regular visitor to the Compound and whenever she comes we do some obedience work. And yesterday we worked them pretty hard. We did "down/stays" and then we worked on "polite greetings" in lieu of the full frontal assault that usually occurs. It took a solid 30-40 minutes to get both of her dogs introduced in a quiet, controlled manner, lol. Poor Rex was beside himself; whining/yipping, and fussing. But he was much more controlled than her dogs were. When they'd done what we required we turned them loose to run, rassle, and go into the "pool". Later, while we were preparing dinner and eating we worked on "down/stays", patiently correcting the Commando Creep by putting the Crew back in their original d/s sites. Wrecks has that one nailed... he lies down and chills out while we're eating and working in the kitchen. We have volunteered to take the Wrecking Crew for the entirety of Labor Day weekend and let me assure you there will be some very serious obedience work (and beatings) over those 4 days! Hehehe... bbbwwwaaa! Charming story of TCS, Julie. Time and beatings is all it takes. :) I have to quit blabbing and get to my latest JulieJob, hoeing out the screen room under the deck, and some screen washing.

Hi, The heater is 1500W heater but tand they have a thermostat and three power settings. I think there is a heating element at the top and bottom so you can select one or the other or both. I think the poly is 7mils and only one sheet. There is a difference of about 16F unheated from inside and outside and I put the portable heater in when we had a 6F night and the bananas froze. I think it got below 25F that day. I've had the heater on since. If it is 40F outside it can get into the high 70's on a clear sunny day. I plan on putting the citrus on heated benchs and inproving the insulation and experimenting with some solar collectors. I could put poly panels inside to I guess.

I hope I don't have to switch to lilies now that my heart is set on how nice these hostas might look if I am lucky. I don't recall any around growing on slopes like mine offhand now that you mention that. I agree that lilies which I just got into withstand drought and less fussing better. That terrace has always been a bugaboo to me. I've got some rocks but not quite enough, and bought a bag of them for a french drain last year, used them all, more heavy work hauling them, break them down into buckets working out of the back of my car, but I might do that. I think I've got more rocks in my head for dreaming all this up lol. Or . . .you gave me an idea. I have enough pepsi bottles on hand, some I used for rose propagation, I could try to open them up to make a horeshoe-shaped catch basin, and shove those in the ground downside prob could go at a couple or 3" and see how it works first. Milk jugs would work, too, except if I don't make a plateau for them, they might slide into the hostas, or scatter, esp when empty, and I don't mind trash picking. All mine are in use for stuff I learned over on the winter sowing forum or being saved for that next year, do buy gallons but they last pretty long with just one person & not much cooking lately. Granted they aren't on a slope like this, but my other hostas didn't get much TLC especially the ones behind the garage which is a difficult spot the way the drainage, accessibility and soil are (needs amending and levelling). I only watered them every 3 days or so the first year, have to haul it, hose doesn't reach that far, once a week if they were lucky the 2nd, and they at least look nice and healthy, probably would get larger if sited, re-mulched, and treated differently. Was reluctant to get into soaker hoses and irrigation drips, but did a little homework on that last year. But if they are going to require this much fussing assuming they get established, I'll prob move the survivors and go with the daylilies. If the roots grab and take hold, they should be able to withstand a little more and hold the soil as well. Brainstorming this dilemma has been very helpful, and I'm grateful to all of you for your expertise and suggestions. Haven't seen my neighbor, sure hope she isn't mad at me, I'm kind of a loner, but I'd rather not have bad feelings over my impulsiveness, not considering possible consequences, and a smallish hosta division. Hard work is difficult for her, too, it all started when I dug out a whole bed of daisies in front, they didn't bloom long and the only good thing about them was they sure choked out all the weeds and everything else. She saw me and wanted them, and was pretty tuckered out after she got done setting them in, had already thrown 2/3 of them away, at least 20 years younger than me and a job, 3 dogs to walk and horses to boot. I have to face it, my age and back are against me, and I may not be able to keep up with all my grandiose plans for a relatively small yard. Oh dear, another long one. Well you can always hit the ignore key :-).

"Hi Anthem, and Happy 4th!" Same to you. "You don't know how much money I have. I have a lot." Good for you. All relative I guess. Glad you have a lot, buf if you have a lot, why do you fret over supporting other people ? If you have a "lot" why don't you give away most of it to the beggars with sores that seem to be so important to you ? Why are you asking others to forgo their desires when you yourself have "a lot" ? "You don't know what kind of house I can afford." You are correct. Nor did I ask or care to really know. "Maybe nicer than yours!" To each their own. Again subjective, but I seriously doubt it. "My reasoning has nothing to do with "libertarian" principles." Good. "You don't sound like a libertarian BTW you sound like a Republican" OK. . . So what difference does what I sound like ? I never said I was a libertarian, democrat, or Republican. What relevance does my political leanings have ? "...if only these terms weren't so boring and narrow. I'm an unaffiliated voter myself." Good for you, but I fail to see why that has any relevance or why you it enters this discussion. "I think you lack imagination. I don't believe humans cause global warming but I do believe in finite resources." Finite resources, yes. Humans don't cause global warming ? You're kidding right ? Maybe not directly but absolutely indirectly. Without humans, there wouldn't be anywhere near the carbon footprint that we have now. "My objection to the OPs post wasn't actually related to his elaborate (and evidently dysfunctional) wiring scheme, but to his personal environmental footprint. Try really hard to imagine the moment when technology development stops keeping up with rampant overconsumption of non-replenishable resources." rileysmom, your stated immoral objections have been noted before. It appears that anyone who spends (or apparently capable of spending) more than what you think is a reasonable amount is immoral - and that you feel the need to tell others that their are needy people in the world. I'm not sure it has to do with environmental footprint either as you don't really know his environmental/carbon foot print and/or otherwise. But seriously I don't see your concern for environmental footprint as you don't mention it anywhere. You started off as you did before over the fact that someone else spent more than what YOU consider acceptable and called it immoral. Here, let me refresh your memory "I was wondering: does anyone else think the OPs house is practically immoral? If you have enough money for 11 refrigerators (just had to have each and every one of them, huh?)". . . . Now its environmental ? "If he'd added a paragraph or so about using ICF construction (do you know what that is?) I'm quite familiar with ICF. ICF works really well for "simpler" houses and is a nightmare with more complex houses. Complex houses might be immoral to you, so that would preclude that issue for you though, right? Besides there are quite a few diverging opinions on using concrete and by extension ICF. While less wood is used, it isn't any more energy efficient than a well built/insulated house. I think the discussion of "green" revolves more around energy efficiency than the actual material being used. It's just that people choose to use insulated concrete forms because its cheaper to attain the same level of energy efficiency than its counterpart - but again with significant drawbacks (especially when it comes to flexibility or automation, which the original poster did do (or attempt to do)). "low VOC finishes" low-voc is definitely human healthier, but it remains to be seen if it has any real relevance to environmentally healthier. The majority of low or no voc paint has enough enviro-unfriendly ingredients that no matter what you do it isn't environmentally better. It's just less voc's being emitted into the household. "or even...energy star appliances" I don't know his appliances or items, but usually anyone who is into automation is going to have fairly high-end appliances which almost certainly are "energy star" appliances. By the way, energy star is a MINIMUM standard. It's such a poor standard that I am not even going to get into it. It's meant to establish a minimum standard so that the average consume shopping for a refrigerator isn't going to be ripped off by an energy inefficient refrigerator. Most anyone who spends big bucks on autmation is going to be buying in the subzero, viking, GE monogram, Liebherr type of level which are all well beyond energy star minimum ratings.. . . "for all 11 refrigerators and 4 dishwashers and maybe 2 laundry rooms) I'm sure his megamansion wouldn't have chapped me quite so badly." And that gets back to the basic question - Why does someone doing beyond YOUR levels dictate them being immoral ? People can spend what they want. If you haven't walked a day in their shoes - why are you calling them immoral for building their house ? Hey, you only need one toilet in a house. How many do you have ? Is it immoral for you to put more than one in your house ? It's all relative depending upon where you are coming from. I just don't get where you think everyone who does a bit more than you, or spends more than you, or is less energy efficient as you is "immoral". "Note this has nothing to do with how much it cost to build and how much it is appraised for now." Not what you said earlier. Should I refresh your memory again ? "Well, I do get a laugh out of something I read somewhere at some time...maybe The Economist? predicting that these whopping huge houses eventually will all be subdivided when the gated communities become the gated slums. Probably this subconscious thought prompted my comment about the poor and downtrodden." I really doubt it in our lifetimes or the next. Most of these won't last beyond a generation or two. And even then, it gets much more complicated with property lines. You're more likely to see teardowns than you will of change of use. The reason you see "mansions" (true sense of the word) in the past being used for multi-tenant is in high-density areas. You don't see today's megamansions in high-density areas. you might call them high-density, but even if everyone bred like rabbits and doubled the current population - it wouldn't change suburban america. Perhaps if you increased the population 10 fold, but we're talking many more generations beyond now.