Randy, Well, I guess it is a good thing the rain gauge is not broken, so you can keep track of the rainfall. (What else can you do right now....can't mow the grass!) Our creek has not come up into the woods yet, but it is running like crazy. Some of our neighbors are warning me that we may see the creek start running backwards this summer as backwater from the Red River flows backwards into the creeks. They insist this has happened before.....in the 1980s and in the 1950s, but the concept defies logic for me? I just emptied 4" out of our rain gauge this morning....and this is rain that has fallen since I emptied the gauge at about 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. Keep in mind that our professional guessers had forecast a drying trend with the rain tapering off over our area this weekend. I guess that is NOT going to happen. lol Actually, by Thursday evening they were backing off the earlier "drying and clearing out" prediction, because the upper level low was re-establishing itself over us. I am so tired of this. Dawna, I wish I had written down the rainfall totals every day this month because our mesonet station has gone bonkers....I think it was damaged when the Gainesville flood occurred. Our rainfall total is USUALLY pretty close to that of the NWS cooperative observer who lives about a mile from us, but this year the totals aren't as close as usual. So, I have been keeping track of the differences in his rainfall total and mine (in my head) and when I see his monthly total for June, all I have to do is add the difference to get our number. For what it is worth, we had a little over 14" of rain in June 2004 and I did not think we would EVER approach that total again. Well, we just might surpass it in 2007. I know this rain could end any day, and it might not rain again for months....so I am really TRYING to appreciate the rain and think of it as a blessing from the Lord. I certainly have not forgotten the drought, the wildfire season we barely survived, the water bills that were so incredibly high and YET the plants were dying and the ground had massive cracks in it anyway. I remember all of that and I am truly grateful for the rain, yet I am just sick of it anyway! Y'all, I now have large limbs crashing down out of some of my trees. I don't know if they are so heavy with water and new foliar growth that it is causing this, or if it is being caused by the wind that comes with some of the thunderstorms. Either way, it is a mess. I remember 100-year-old pecans and oaks falling over in Fort Worth in the early 1990s when a prolonged pattern of heavy rainfall left the soil too wet to support them. It was awful. I would hate to see that happen here, but I am starting to fear that it might. I NEED some sunshine and blue skies. Dawn

Is the leak in a horizontal line? If so, he probably he cannot get it to seal because of residual water. Standard advice is to put a piece of soft white bread in the line. The idea is that the bread keeps water away from the joint, allowing a good seal. Afterwards, the bread can dissolve to not cause any problems from being in the line. I have what I think is a better (but closely related) approach. I spoon a bunch of flour into the line. I then shove a pile of it an inch or so up the line with a dowel close to the same diameter of the pipe. The flour has the same effect as the bread, but it does not have to "dissolve," as it is already a fine powder.

GuitGirl, I read some of your blog. It's a scream and I love it, especially the part about saying what you really think and needing your own space. I have a tendency to earn myself a bit of criticism at times too. I'm on another forum that has a "talk about anything" section. As seems to be human nature, the topics often get to be about politics or religion. Since I am currently in this say what you think frame of mind, I often do so, then question myself about it later. I think after years of keeping my feelings bottled up, it's all spewing out like a shook-up uncorked champagne bottle. The problem is it spews on me too, lol. As for your sleeping problems, this is my experience. I was having a terrible problem with sleeping almost two years ago. I made an appt with a new gyn (whom I love now) that did a series of hormone levels, plus adrenal hormone levels. My DHEA was so low it was almost undetectable. During times of stress as we age, sometimes the adrenals get over-worked and their hormones get screwed up. Cortisol levels go up, and DHEA levels go down. High cortisol levels in the evening will cause sleeplessness. She (my new gyn) put me on a DHEA supplement, and within a couple of months, my sleep was back to normal except for occasional hot flashes, but I could go back to sleep after those flashes occured. She has had to adjust my dose of DHEA down because my levels got too high, and that causes problems too. Anyway, you might consider getting your doc to check adrenal hormone levels and see if that's the problem. I don't recommend taking DHEA without physician supervision because, like I said, it can cause problems if you get too much- serious problems. Good luck. Mrs H

Thanks. In all honesty the roses weren't that hard to move. Except for the Lady Banks. The Vitex(Chaste Tree), bottlebush, Gardenias, and the Lady Banks about killed me though. I would actually say the majority of my roses aren't modern. I have a few, but the majority are old or at least old style (David Austin). I am glad Love Song didn't die on me, it literally took about 10 months of removing suckers. Of course I had let two big suckers grow for about 9 months before I realized they were suckers and not Love song.