The WSU link for fact sheet #83 must have changed. Here it is: http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/documents/MasonBee.pdf Flora2, the paper straws are optional but make it easier to keep the houses clean from year to year. I bought my straws for this year (my first) but then saw that some people make them out of baking parchment. I have seen houses made of blocks of wood, including chunks of tree trunk, with 5/16" holes drilled in them. Also metal cans or wood boxes with bundles of straws inside. I made mine out of a 2x4 but I think the holes are too short so I'll make a deeper one next year. I bought bee cocoons but many people just put out houses and the bees appear! I may try that in another location.

Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal

Remember the steel hangers I mentioned upthread? I'm so incredibly sad--Bed Bath & Beyond stopped selling them!! We went in for another reason, and I said, "Let's stock up on a bunch of those!" No more. Now the only ones I've seen that are close are the chrome ones at Container Store and a few other places, but I don't like the chrome. Oh, well. Clothes are very easy to put on them and to remove from them..... perhaps some folks don't like good quality hangers that really do their job....hang onto clothes until they're meant to come off. Isn't that a little "some folks" a bit of an insult? i'm not an inferior person to you just because I don't like Huggable Hangers!! ! I like hangers that let me slide the clothes off the hanger easily. The smooth steel hangers I have "do their job" the way *I* define it. I've never heard from Joy Mangano that they were supposed to swivel swiftly, just that they may be turned in either direction to suit your needs. Ummmmm. . . . can't ANY hanger be turned in either direction? If someone went out of their way to tell me that, I would probably assume that this had to be a slightly unusual feature, and I'd think you meant "without taking them off the rod," which would mean swiveling. That's a very clever little piece of marketing--mentioning this basic trait of ALL hangers implies that it's some sort of extra.

Spa jets that blow water and not air are usually plugged in the jet with debris. They make specific tools for this but you can reproduce one with a 1/4" x 36" or rod available at your hardware store. Sometimes a coat hanger works but usually is not rigid enough if the jet is way back in the wall. If you imagine the pupil in an eye, that's how delicate yo u need to be to hit the hole. Run the rod down the "pupil" of the pipe (hole in the wall) and if you feel it go into the jet a rush of debris will shoot out and hopefully your jet will work. The pump needs to be on in spa mode.