Or...you could order the impress aluminum labels from the manufacturer for a very good price at http://www.amekron.com I find that they hold up way better than the flimsy ones from other suppliers that have only a single hole for the stainless steel wire. Since I've been using the Amekron labels I haven't lost one. The old ones have littered my landscape as they inevitably fall off after a few years because the wire works its way through the thin aluminum. Charley

Right now, I need a sump pump...and I live on a hill. More rain in the forecast, too. The weather pattern has changed here - normally an El Nino year means severe drought in Oklahoma. Not this season anyway. With our normally semi-dry to dry summers, I use the garden hose to water EVERY day in most areas and every other day in other areas that prefer dryer conditions. We have our own well, so I can also use the sprinkler without ill affects on my plants. It is just like rain water. The birds, butterflies, bees and amphibians love it too. When I hand water, the birds follow me from tree to tree, so I spray up into the trees and they chirp and sing for me. The occasional tortoise will come out of hiding for a long, cool drink, too. I set the mister on the tropicals and water-loving ferns etc. to keep them happy. This takes all day. I use soaker hoses under my veggies when it is very hot and very dry to prevent scorching and so the water will get down deep where the nutrients are and encourage deep roots. For under my Phlox and roses, &etc., I screw on a fan sprayer and let it run slowly, gently and deeply under them to prevent leaf-scorch, and do this as often as needed. I even water in the winter if it is a dry winter. Soil heave (freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw) is terrible here in Okie, and in dry winters this will kill plants and even small trees and shrubs. And of course, potted plants need a drink just about every day in the summer. That is how I have to do it here to keep mine alive year round. ~Annie

I collect tropicals and I like rare plants. I don't really keep track. I will go 3 mos without buying any then splurge a little when I find something 'good' lol. I know what I do and do not have...sometimes finding it is a different story lol. Chickens like to pull tags off of plants and out of the pots, so some of my older stuff like dragonfruits, I don't know which variety is which, but I know I have 8 different ones and I know the names of which varieties I bought haha. I have started using paint pens on all the pots and UV resistant marker and tree tags or metal tags on the taller plants so they can't get removed so easily. I spent way too much on water plants this spring but I hardly bought anything all winter so.... The seedlings that I have kept careful track of (ones I used paint pens on the pots) are my brugmansia seedlings and other hybridizing projects. I also use a spreadsheet so I know who begat whom on those. I usually give myself 3 times to kill something before I give up. If I kill it twice I will wait to buy it again until whatever conditions I couldn't provide the plant are fixed. Of course, if I get it again for free=that philosophy goes out the window. ~SJN

It's not the sheet rock that's giving me the problems...it's the baseboards. I think the PO's let their dogs run wild...or something. And then they just painted over the gouges...so I had to sand them before I even started to get the patching compound to hold. (And I am using 120 grit.) Patching with Ace Wood Patch. (two thin coats...not one heavy one.) Used a sanding sponge AND this new tool I found---3M's Sandblaster. LOVE that thing. It has a handle and everything. I have had tendinitis in both wrists for years...(since The Boy was a baby--and he's 20) and something about patching/sanding seems to aggravate it. While I'm not a pro...I'm no newbie. In fact, for serious settling cracks, I don't even use patching compound. I use Krack-Kote. Stays flexible and moves with the house. It can't BE sanded...one has to get it smooth at the start. Linked below...I highly recommend it for houses that have a fair amount of movement. (We have a lot here--clay soil and periodic drought/deluge cycles.) Thanks for the tips...it's good to know I'm not really doing it wrong...it's just my bum wrists. I've decided to farm the painting of the open staircase out...but I've got all the prep work just about finished...so I'm hoping it won't be heinously expensive. (Since good prep is 80% of any painting job.) I'll post pics when it's all finished! melanie Here is a link that might be useful: Krack-Kote's website