Hi Arlene, I've been making and selling pressed flower cards for a number of years and almost gave up making them because they just weren't durable enough to withstand the mail. Thankfully I came across "Perfect Paper Adhesive", which can act as a tough, flexible UV resistant sealant as well as an adhesive. It does a super job protecting pressed flowers and is virtually invisible. I use it to glue my flowers down, as well as to seal them. It can be found at some craft stores, or on my website. Happy Creating! Here is a link that might be useful: Perfect Paper Adhesive

I don't check in here very often either, but I posted the following some months ago: Thought I'd drop by and share my experience on this thread. I'm eight years post-menopausal. My main symptoms were hot flashes (w/night sweats) and emotional swings that included some impressive rages. At the time I was also having heart palpitations and some chest pains, and had been diagnosed with lupus. In addition, I started menopause about 35 lb. overweight and added ten more once it was underway. I argued with three doctors who wanted me to take HRT. I felt, as I do now, that for most women menopause is like childbirth: a natural process rather than a medical condition. Although my mother died before reaching menopause, I felt I would come through it in better shape if I didn't mess with nature. I added hawthorne with motherwort to my supplements, which helped with the palpitations, and took a couple of doses of a homeopathic remedy (essence of pit viper!) for the rages. Other than that, the biggest changes I made were to my lifestyle. I traded my "healthy" high-carb, mostly vegetarian diet for a low-carb, high-protein one and lost my excess weight. I upped my consumption of tofu and soy milk for isoflavones. I joined a gym. And I went out and got a full-time job. These many years later, I am no longer going to gym, but I'm taking up yoga. I had to quit my job to take care of my husband, but I'll eventually go back. Almost all the weight is still off. The hot flashes are long gone, along with the rest of the symptoms. I stopped the hawthorne, etc., ages ago, but still take vitamin supplements. I still eat (and enjoy) the soy foods. I'm often told that I look a lot younger than I am. My health isn't perfect, but I'm convinced HRT would have made things worse rather than better. I'm so glad I didn't listen to those doctors. Kris, another objection I had to HRT is that the most popular prescription, Premarin, is created from the urine of pregnant horses, resulting in a horrendous situation for the rigidly confined mares and the otherwise unwanted foals they are forced to produce on a regular and rapid basis. There are tons of books out there on alternative approaches to menopause. Try a search on amazon.com. Best of luck, Susan

Sorry you're having such a rough time. Sounds like you're using all the right tools. Are you sure the brush marks were not there when you started the project? Sometimes when I paint I think I've done something to cause an imperfection, then realize it was there all the time and I just painted another layer over it. Here's a little tip that helped me. When you dip the roller in the paint, you always end up with the ends of the roller overloaded with paint compared to the middle. When you go to the wall, hold the roller at an angle and roll those overloaded edges on the wall first (do one side of the roller, then the other). You'll get two heavy streaks of paint there, but then you've cleared off the overloaded ends and the paint will be evenly distributed along the length of your roller. Then immediately roll over those heavy streaks with your N or W pattern and blend in. A building contractor taught me this trick and since doing that, I don't get roller lines. Also, be sure you do 2 x 2' sections at a time and roll very lightly. Don't try to "squeeze" paint out of the roller by pressing hard. If your wall has a lot of imperfections, using a flat paint helps hide them compared to a satin, eggshell or gloss finish. But if you want the paint to be scrubbable, then opt for an eggshell. Also, it's my understanding that if you use a roller with a thicker nap, it will create more stipple which also helps hide imperfections. I did that in a bathroom where I had removed wallpaper and had a really hard time getting the surface smooth because of all the paste and some of the wallboard came off with the paper. Good luck.

Sounds like water hammer and the working pressure is surging for some reason. depending on the situation it could be an easy fix... Hope everything works out.