Woody, you need to get rid of the chipmunks. They are a carrier of deer ticks, possibly more so than deer. Where there's two or three, there's so many more behind them. Gosh, they breed like crazy! We've gotten at least 75 this year, and that's only when we see about six at any one time. They just keep coming! NH is one of the worst states for Lyme, so it's pretty serious here. We have a son with a genetic disorder, so we have gone so far as to spray each year for ticks and mosquitoes. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but we can't take any risks. I've watched my garden over these years and still see all sorts of bees, including honeybees, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. No ticks or mosquitoes though. I actually had a therapist tell me that some in the naturopath community up here think spraying is a good idea, even though it is chemical, compared to the risks of so many tick and mosquito borne diseases that are out there. We also have Triple E...deaths associated with it in NH. My mom recently met with a company that sprays for ticks, and they have issues with chiggers (seriously, that would be grounds for me to move! LOL!) and they have been applying a natural spray mainly consisting of garlic. They have seen a great reduction of ticks. Whenever I've worked in their garden I would have multiple ticks on me throughout the day, and many times find them on me on the plane ride home! Yikes! So for them to say they haven't had any ticks on them since this garlic treatment started makes me think it must really work. Seems to keep deer away too. Our spray regimen does as well because there are aromatic oils in it. If you check with a local pest company they might have organic sprays that might be worth looking into. Over the course of a season it is quite expensive though. But, if you don't pull ticks off you regularly after working in the garden, maybe you don't really have a major tick problem? We started spraying when every time I came out of multiple areas of the garden I'd have four or five ticks crawling on me. And I wasn't even working in tall grasses or woods. I guess the good thing about Lyme is that you have a bit of a warning with the bullseye, so there is time to get meds before running into real trouble. Deer ticks are tiny so tick checks are so important. Although, I have such a head of hair (I suppose much like your dog, only blonde!), I don't think I'd ever be able to find any ticks on my head........ Good luck with whatever you decide to do. T2D (Susan)

hello :) ... I had 3 "The Fairy" rose bushes that had to be moved. I moved them about 6 weeks ago. They were several years old. I didn't get a lot of roots (some almost none) and so am treating them as cuttings. They are in pots under the porch and are coming back slowly. There is new growth. My original plan was to plant them back out in the fall but the state of the roots worry me. How can I protect the roots over the winter? Is replanting in the ground out of the question? Do I need to wait until next spring? Thank you ... (I will be asking other rose forums the same question ... I need to decide what to do in the next couple of days.) ps: I wrapped the roots in burlap to make it easier to re plant them but the burlap has rotted :( ps: i'm in USDA zone 5 (near Toronto)

My son purchased his home several years ago. At that time, he knew that not having a railing around the flat roofed addition seen in the picture below was both a liability hazard and against code because the door up there allows access to that area. He wasn't concerned because he lived by himself and had no intention of using the area as a deck. Recently though his insurance carrier did an inspection of his property and notified him that he must correct the situation or his coverage would be dropped. There is a rubber type roof on the area and there has been no problems with it. My son would like to avoid compromising the roof with the installation of any posts for the necessary railings. As you can see, there are also gutters in the way of attaching posts on the outer edges if that's even possible Any suggestions how to remediate this problem would be greatly appreciated. Cross posted in the Home Repair forum

Thanks for you responses. Too bad my son didn't think of changing the door out to a window when he had new windows and new siding installed last spring. i just remembered that he actually used that door once. He had bought a new dresser that didn't fit up the bend in the staircase so he had it hoisted up on that roof and got it into the house through that door. I guess he may need that door to get the dresser back out someday if he moves, although he could include it in the sale of the house. He will have to look into the cost of turning it into a window vs installing a railing. Vith, Can those post bases you linked really be sealed well enough to not cause any leaking?