Ron, So you use liquid organic fertilizer. That's what I wondered. I had poor experience with just solid organic fertilizer in the past, although it was in an overly wet SWC. "How old is that urine? What doasge do you use?" The age varies from just created to several weeks. Doesn't seem to matter to much. After about 2 days the pH goes above 8, so it is alkaline. Which might be an advantage when using leaves. I dilute it about 1:5 HLF:water. Don't keep track of dosage. Whenever the leaves look a little yellowish, I add some. Same with the Foliage Pro. Also if the weather is cold, I don't add too much HLF, even if the leaves are yellowish, since when it heats up, much more of the nitrogen becomes available quickly. It does take a lot of HLF to hurt a plant. As an experiment I kept overdosing a small 1.5' tomato plant in the ground to see what it could take. It took 2 cups of undiluted HLF poured right onto the stem base to kill it. The tubs are 18 gallons, big enough for a tomato. "Isn't it high in salts, even diluted?" It has much less salt in it then Foliage Pro. I spilled a little of each in separate trays and let them evaporate, just to compare the salt concentration. "I am skeptical, mainly because pee kills things, and contains all the toxins your body flushes out. I'd have to say that draining in your "pots" couldn't be the best thing.." I had a friend who drained directly in his flower pots. Whenever the neighborhood garden club came over they always exclaimed on how great his flowers were & asked for his secret. He delightfully revealed his secret to their dismay. My wife now asks me to do the same. There's a lot of university research that's been done in Sweden on this subject, that was discussed over a year ago here. You can search on urine and my name to find it. They have villages in Sweden where the city collects the urine and gives it to the local farmers.

We have a small quantity of stone (280 SF) and we opted for a thin natural stone (TNS) by Buechel rather than the Cultured Stone. Reason why was how it looks up close, as we are using identical stone on our FP and the exterior. Cost-wise, this natural stone (Chilton Weatheredge)was nearly $16/SF per 100 SF pack vs. the Cultured Stone was just over $8/SF. The limestone sills for the natural stone were cheaper than the Cultured, but it was still basically 2x the price. Installation is the same regardless for us, as per our installer, there is no difference between working with the two. And the weight of the TNS is comparable to the Cultured Stone. Hope that helps! (and jaymielo, that is a beautiful home!)

I know these sold really well when I worked at the drugstore so they must be ok. Right? I wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion, Debby. Lots of things are sold, and sell well, that aren't particularly effective. And in some cases they can be harmful, depending on the individual. I looked up Swiss Naturals and saw that it contains a variety of ingredients including Chinese herbs that are said to help during menopause. I never tried those particular ones, so I can't comment. It also contains soy extract. I've read that it can be somewhat risky to get phytoestrogen (as from soy) through pills; it's better to consume them in food. I did eat a lot of tofu and other soyfoods during menopause, and still do. I had good results from taking Motherwort (an herb). I took it in combination with Hawthorn, which helped regulate my heartbeat, which could get pretty wild during that time. I also consulted with a good homeopath, who prescribed a remedy for my mood swings, which were beyond wild. That helped a lot, too. Good luck!

Weight hasn't changed so much, but my energy levels have taken a nosedive. My "back in the day" equivalent is that I used to swear I'd never stop working out consistently. I was fit as a fiddle and proud of my body. I had energy to burn. When I heard older women talk about not being able get themselves to exercise, I thought they lacked willpower. I looked down on their flab. . . . What an ignorant young woman I was. I'm still a good weight, but don't have the tone I used to. The thing is, I know I'd feel a lot better if I was exercising regularly, but my lack of activity seems to have made it even harder to get going. A vicious cycle. I have an appt. next Wed. to meet with my dr. to review my hormone test results. This is for bloodwork -- est, prog, DHEA, thyroid, ferretin (iron). I'm curious to to see what my levels are. Next week I'm also meeting with an allergist for a series of skin tests. Never had food allergies before, but something new I'm dealing with along with perimenopause. I've heard that folks with thyroid problems can have allergies. It's such an issue because I can't tolerate allergy and cold medicines. They just make me feel awful -- something I don't need in addition to hormonal stuff. So, I'm hopingl to find out what foods I need to avoid. I don't care if it's my favorite, I'll drop it like a hot potato. Tina