Brandy, I wouldn't have been very happy with those neighbors. Here in our county many ranchers use prescribed burning as a management tool but, while many are careful to burn only under the right conditions, some others are not. Many, many of the wildfires (I'd say most of them) in our county are from so-called controlled burns that become uncontrollable. It is extremely frustrating. It is one thing if someone burning under expected "good conditions" and with a plowed firebreak, etc., has the weather unexpectedly change on them and their fire escapes from their control. It is a whole different thing when people show total disregard for the conditions and for the danger they're exposing other peoples' property to and just go out and burn off a pasture just because they decide to do it "today" no matter the weather. Also, everyone, FYI---very high to extreme fire weather conditions will return later in the week. Rainfall at this time does not do much to reduce fire danger because cured, dormant vegetation doesn't absorb that moisture and hold it so the vegetation dries out quickly after the rain stops.

OkiePokie, Sorry. I never came back to this thread in 2011 and answered your question. My hoophouse is 12' x 24' and even with 50% shadecloth (Aluminet) on it and with all 4 vents and both doors open, it is too hot to use in summer. Without a fan running, it hit 140 degrees this summer, and with a fan it still was incredibly hot. I mostly use it in the cool season. Of course, inside a hoophouse during the day, it is going to be hot because of the greenhouse effect, so I have to run a fan...and that is with shadecloth on the hoophouse. In Feb.-April of this year, even on cloudy, overcast days and with shadecloth, open vents, open doors and a fan running, the greenhouse was over 100 degrees. It is too bad it doesn't hold that heat at night. The issue with hoophouses made with a single layer of greenhouse plastic is that they are just as cold at night in winter as the outdoor air unless you're running a heater in there. A hoophouse with two layers of plastic sealed together with an inflator that blows air in between the two layers of plastic might stay a little warmer, but mine only has a single layer, so I am just guessing at that. I think even with an air-inflated double layer of plastic, you'd have to run a heater on cold nights or even on cold days. Plastic alone just doesn't hold in the heat, and I never expected it to. Before we built the hoophouse, we already had a glassed-in, unheated sunporch that is toasty on winter days but cold at night. I mostly use the hoophouse to raise seedlings for transplant into the winter/spring garden. I start them inside on a light shelf, and move them out whenever the weather permits. The hoophouse is an intermediate step between them growing indoors in a very controlled, heated, environment and going outside into the elements. Before we built the hoophouse, I would have to carry the plants outside to harden them off in ever-increasing increments of time, and then carry them back into the house, garage, potting shed or sunporch to get them out of strong wind or to protect them on a cold night. This past spring, which was admittedly warm very early, I moved the plants out to the greenhouse in late January or early February and never had to carry them back inside, except for pepper plants, which stayed inside until March. On a few chilly nights, I draped Agribon over them inside the greenhouse to give them a little cold protection, but they did just fine in the unheated greenhouse at night even when the temperatures dipped down into the low 30s and upper 20s. The Agribon is what kept them from suffering freeze damage. I've used it in the garden for years on cold nights, and it is wonderful. A large hoop house that is not heated will not stay any warmer than low tunnels, and I know that because I've used low tunnels for years. Hoophouses don't have insulation, although you can purchase and add bubble wrap type insulation. Busy One has some on his greenhouse and you might be able to do a search here and see what his looks like inside when he has the insulation in for the winter. I know he posted photos to show me when my greenhouse was still in the dreaming/planning/building stage. I haven't tried using large containers of water, for example, as solar collectors to see if they'd help the hoophouse stay warmer. I might try that if it ever cools down enough this fall for me to grow some winter crops in the hoophouse. We were in the 100s last week, and are in the upper 90s still and the greenhouse is still in the 110-120 degree range every day. My hoophouse hasn't been exposed to a lot of strong wind yet, but withstood 62 mph winds during a severe thunderstorm with no issues whatsoever. It also has withstood straightline winds in the 50-55 mph range that brought down some trees in our neighborhood. Carol, I have some of my hoops up, but haven't put the covers over them yet. I do have a row cover floating over the snap peas, but I'm letting it float without hoops. I probably will put up row covers over some of the hoops next week if the grasshopper population doesn't start dropping off like it normally does at this time of year. So far the hoppers are only eating purple sprouting broccoli and sugar snap peas. They have put a few holes in the leaves of southern peas and bush snap beans, but not enough to hurt their productivity. Normally we are seeing fewer hoppers at this time of year, but in this oddest of years, we are instead seeing more and more as new ones keep hatching. My cool-season crops probably would be happier if I'd drag out the shade cloth and put it over them. They are hanging in there pretty well, considering the high heat, ultra-low humidity (we bottomed out at 12% a couple of days ago, but only went down to 18% today) and gusty winds. I'm surprised how well they are tolerating the heat, all things considered, and I would have put shade cloth over them from the beginning if I had realized that September's daytime temperatures were going to continue running 10-15 degrees above average. Late today some of the lettuce and kale looked a little wilty and I had to promise to water it in the morning so it wouldn't sulk. As soon as it cools down some more, I'll move the container plantings to the greenhouse, but at the rate we're going, that's not going to happen for a while yet. Elected4life, I see that you are new here. Maybe you need to go back to the "instructions" and note that no advertising is allowed in any of the forums. I do not mean that in an unkind way, but this is iVillage's forum and that's their rule. Dawn

Oh Yes! I discovered hooping in March and in one month lost one inch off my waist. Using the hoop has completely reshaped my midsection. In fact I won a "fat to fit" contest at my gym, which was based on percentage of body fat lost. I only lost 10 lbs, but went from 28.9% to 19.1% body fat. I posted about hooping several times on the Home Decorating forum (Conversations side). I have several hoops now, but started with the 3 lb Acu hoop like the one pictured above. My most recent hoop is the travel hoop from Hoopnotica.com. I also got a couple of videos from them. If you buy from Hoopnotica use this code for a discount - TS0926. I can't say enough good things about hooping. It is a fun way to exercise that I can do at home while watching TV. I find it very enjoyable. I am 52 years old and wore a bikini on my last vacation to Mexico. Here is a link that might be useful: Decorating forum thread

I have been hooping every day, in short sessions- 10 minutes- ( although I am still starting, stopping and picking up the hoop) Sometimes I hoop more than once a day. I noticed the flexibility of my spine has improved! Last night we went to a concert by our fav band Telesma and I danced like crazy - really dancing! In the past,I moved rather stiffly to the music as best I could. Additionally, I was able to dance the whole hour of the second set! Yay!!!!