Cool, I filled a bowl with warm h2o and dunked it a few times and worked off the rest with a fork as korina suggested in another thread. I was able to get at least 90% of the peat off and hardly ruined any of the roots. I even put a wick on that plant! Thanks, I'll throw the plant in my empty 5.5 gallon aquarium that I use for starting various cutings. I laid down two leaves of each plant the day I purchased them. Those leaves are in a recycled container from my B-day cake! Come spring I'm going to be cramped with my veggie seedlings. These new plants sure help the winter blues, if you know what I mean. My new arrivals are sure going to like my old 10g that was previously setup as a terrarium for some dwarf ferns and some fittonia. Before that it was a fish tank with various aquatic plants. I did the hood myself and built the light system with parts gathered from HD's lighting section. When all else fails diy! Thanks for all your help. Rick. P.S. I'll let you know how the wicks work out.

Golddust- It was actually Carr-Feeley. When we took him there in 95 we went all the way to Milk lake. We got a late start this time and with the kids we did not want to hike too long so we only went two miles in. We have been doing a lot of day trips checking out places to camp more rural so pup can practice running free and returning on command. He had his first campout up at Sterling. There is a free area that used to be a real campground. Has portapotties and the areas are marked quite well but you can pull in anywhere you like. We went a little deep into woods and had a blast. We like Sardine but cannot take dog within 100yds? or so of water so we would have to stay at one of the primitives up the road and dh would have to go alone to Sardine. Last year we drove all around up there and fell head over heals. We took our huge ram 1500 truck up the logger road above emerald lake. We did not make it up to the lookout tower. Truck was just too huge to go that far for me. We spend vacation time down at Convict Lake and drove our new jeep up the 4x4 trail to laurel lakes. We did not have pup because we continued to Utah and they do not allow dogs in National Parks. We plan to go back to Convict with him though later on. His first big adventure was the long bumpy road to Bowman. Talk about a road needing some pot holes filled. It was really pretty up there. Once we aired down the tires it was much more pleasant. Doggy did not mind. Top down and ears flapping in the wind. What more could a pup want. It is amazing how much love a dog, or even a cat, can bring to our lives. This pup has been so much more work than our first buddy. Temperment is so much stronger. And being 17 yrs since we have had to raise a pup this has been a long 9 months. Dh is really having fun taking him to obedience classes. Due to schedules I took our first buddy and that was not good. He did fine but really needed my dh. This pup knows who his alpha is and they are really enjoying the process. Our first was an american with showdog parents. He naturally pranced and was so sweet but did have major separation anxiety when we ever parted. This one is a german who has an intense prey drive- just ask the chipmunk he nearly caught last weekend in the woods. He is one of the top jumpers in class so far and dh really looks forward to doing agility. He would do good with protection training but that is not my big thing. Dh would like to get the shutzen, whatever thingy. He has potential. I still have my Kiki girl's ashes. She passed a few years ago. Indoor kitty so I think she will stay with me until I pass. She was my heart and soul. I miss her meow so much. Having her spend her last night in my lap, letting out one last meow which she had not done in weeks, purrrrr love until the end. I could fit her ashes box inside the box of my shephards. She was tiny. But then again he was huge. DD seems fine with the weekend. She will be glad she went but I will never make her feel bad for not being able to participate. Being there was important enough. I started a shadow box for my dh's office. It is our buddy's collar with the tags dangling down. Inside the circle of the collar I am going to put the picture we took that day at the lake. It is dh's favorite. It is of him and his buddy-best-buddy sitting on a huge rock beside the lake. I will wait a while to give it to him, dh is a pretty quiet guy and now would be too soon. Thanks for all the lovely comments, it truly was a love story to share.

Our deck was formed yesterday, and should be poured tommorrow! It rained slightly today and yesterday so I am glad that we will pour the decking tommorrow! We have decided to go with pea gravel around the pool with flagstone inlays, with sundeck on the existing decking! We are having 2 umbrella sleeves placed along the deck and sleeves for a volleyball net for future use! I STILL HAVE NOT decided on pebble tec - vs - pebble sheen! I am driving my DH C-R-A-Z-Y and am leaning more towards the Aqua Blue pebble sheen because I am a chicken and don't want to take a chance on the bumpy feeling of the pebble tec! My DH has left the decision totally up to me, so it makes it even harder, however he did point out that he liked the "Tahoe Blue" Pebble Tec. But my theory with that is, I have been told by my PB and many others on this forum that the colorlogic light that we have chosen will probably not work well with a darker finish! smbnobles: thanks for inviting me over to sample the feel of the pebble tec.... I thought I would be able to swing by, but with the last week of school for my girls, things have been super crazy for me! We have had everything from end of the year pool parties, to teacher sleepovers and all the fun ends this week! We are getting closer to the finish line and I can use some down time!

I don't think you guys are getting the problem here. Matching isn't the issue! As much as I've ranted over it. I've found 10 colors that I absolutely love and are perfect. Until .... I get them home in the natural light. THEN, they turn turquoise, teal, or any way a green can blue. It's the light. I can't take that to any store I know of and have them match it. I've taken 10 paint chips to the store which they've made perfectly. Bring it home? Blueish in some lights. Ick. As far as the sheen, I like it in this instance. It's woodwork and the dining room can be somewhat darkened because of the porch outside. I understand the issues with a glossier paint. For being pissed? I was annoyed that yet again I was finding I was given the lip service "no" without someone actually taking the initiative to figure out the possibilities. So many can't think on their own. "No" is a good answer when "no" is the only answer. Even then, there are options. When my paint man actually looked up the formula, the high gloss was a base option. It wasn't a question of an inferior product. I am very open to information as to the whys of something. Automatic nay-sayers piss me off. I lived with one, who addressed every idea with, "The problem with that is...." rather than, "hmmm.. let's see what we can do." I choose to face all this crap I deal with optimistically, believe it or not. Or I'd probably kill myself. Or them. Even my Multi-Purpose Man has quit saying no. He asks, "Tell me how you see it?" BTW. So far, in the lights of two days, the color remains.... [drum roll] PERFECT!!! Thank you. [bowing left and right]