(I answered on the original thread as well). I find that blooms on my established, mature Malaguena last several days even when it rains. Its bloom life is average for a modern rose. The blooms I showed were several days old when I took the pictures. I have no patience for roses that fall apart right away and wouldn't still have it if it did so. I have found that the bloom size has increased in the past year or so with maturity of the bush and are over 5 inches across. Celeste

these things are fairly simple items. if u swapped tubes, and you know for sure the tube is good, then the ballast is probably no good. It is worth buying a new ballast, because the new one will be reliable quality, and will last forever. make sure it has normal or high ballast factor, and is NOT an energy savings one. the problem with buying a new fixture, is that it may come with an energy saving ballast that will not light the lamps up as brightly. also, the design of the reflector varies, some have better reflectors than others, so there are lots of things to consider. Another possibility is the actual lamp socket may be cracked and not making proper contact. I normally get many years of use out of my fixtures, but I usually pay good money to start with, so I don't have to keep rebuying after a few years. But if you don't mind throwing stuff away, then just buy another cheap fixture from Wally World and you'll be all set. Keep the box, and if it stops working bring the whole thing back in its original box, claim that you just bought it, you lost ur receipt and that you want it replaced. Wally World will do this for you. If the Chinese are going to sell us junk, then you might as well get them to replace it for free when it breaks. Remember, there is no Chinese equivalent for the word "honesty" - it translates into Chinese as something like "fool" "dupe" or something like that, so that is what I would suggest - keep the box, and keep bringing it back and having them exchange you a new one whenever it fails. Tell them you bought it 2 weeks ago, even if it was 6 years. Eventually they will get the message - build quality, or go home.

Well, it isn't flavorless, nothing is flavorless, not even water, but it doesn't taste obviously "porky". It turns white in the jar but is actually a pale yellowish when I first strain it through cheesecloth and put it into the jars. It turns white when it firms up. I freeze mine because it will turn rancid if left out long enough. You can also just ladle off the melted part as it melts, and strain it, you don't have to wait until it's all done. As I mentioned, the water will cook off but the fat will rise to the top anyway, so it can be ladled off and strained as it melts. I get a better result when I grind the fat instead of just chopping it up in pieces, but do not let those bits cook. It will not all melt, there will be small meaty bits left. That's what gives it the pork flavor. You can take those bits and fry them until crispy and they'll be "cracklins" which can be added to cornbread. Good luck! Annie

Yum, Dawn, that all sounds delicious. Elery and I usually make a sweet Italian every year, and we never have enough. Just because of this thread, I dragged out a pint of home rendered lard I had in the refrigerator. It was not frozen. It was still firm enough that I had to cut it into pieces to get it out of the jar. Left on the counter next to a piece of butter from the same refrigerator, the butter was far softer than the lard after one hour on the kitchen counter. I did make some pie crust for beef pot pie, so I'll make a new thread, as this one is getting long. This is what the lard looked like right out of the refrigerator. I couldn't scoop a spoonful, it broke off in shards. Even after an hour on the counter, I could pick up a chunk with my fingers. My pie crust was neither slimy nor wet and it rolled out easily without tearing. It was flakey, both top and bottom crust, when made into a beef pot pie. I'll start another thread with pictures of the technique and the finished product, so that the OP can see where there may be a difference in her lard and her finished product, or how it may differ from mine. Hydrogen not included, of course. (grin) Annie