Oh.... It's GRRRREAT Goldenpond... but really hard to tell which one... is having the most FUN !!!! The Stone.... L@@KS Fantastic !! but the joy on the tiny tots face... is priceless..... I will just tell you.... God is good to give us children... but... To Give us GRAND CHILDREN>>>> THE TOTAL ICING ON THE B I G C A K E ! ! ! ! Yea ! YEA !!! Thanks for sharing the pics & Instructions ! God Bless ! SusieSunshine

Well, the roof rats may, indeed, be the cause of the demise of your tree. I see a large amount of bark chewed off, which means the tree may have been girdled, thus cutting off the supply of nutrients traveling up to the tree's canopy. I agree with Mike, here (citrange). It could also be due to Phytophthora infection which can cause foot-rot as Mike mentions, as well as traveling up the tree (the odd discoloration on the branches and bark). Whatever caused the bark damage at the base of the tree (roof rats, a weed whacker, sprinklers hitting the trunk of the tree and the bark simply rotted and fell off) are most likely the cause of the death of this tree. The other concern I would have is how close the tree is to your house and roofline. You are providing those roof rats a clear path to your roof, and thus your attic. Which is where they love to live. We have a serious issue with the Norway rat (also known as roof rats or citrus rats). I would make sure you remove all trees or vegetation from the sides of your house the provide a "ladder" to your roof. Plus, the roots aren't good for your house's foundation and plumbing, either. Set traps or bait stations around your house to reduce the rat population (they carry disease as well as damaging your fruits, and what you're seeing with your lemons is clearly rat damage. They eat the sweeter skins of your sour citrus, and will hollow out the insides of your sweet citrus - classic rat damage). They are unhealthy pests, and you need to get rid of them. Bait stations can be set with non-kill through bait, so you do not kill birds of prey, just know that there is not antidote for that type of poison, so don't let dogs or small children get into the bait stations. Patty S.

I found this thread not only interesting, but it was also the kick in the pants that got me to do something about the repeatedly failing water intake valve/solenoid on my Miele Optima (G2420-SCI). The unit was installed new in 2008-2009. We moved into the house in early 2013, and by August that year we experienced our first failure. I do not know if the valve failed in the interval between 2009-2013. I called the local factory authorized installer, and they came out promptly. As I learned after the 2nd failure, they didn’t replace the entire hose/wire/valve, but simply cracked the case and wired-in a new valve. They charged me price of entire unit. Eighteen months later, same problem. I found some info on retrofitting the Miele valve with a GE valve, but I guess I was too timid to try it then. So, I called Miele and explained the problem. They comp’d me 33% on the new part, and this time they changed out the entire assembly. It worked fine until July ’16 when it developed same problem. This time they comp’d me the entire part and did another replacement. Every time they checked the inlet water temp it was below 130 degrees. The new part installed in August ’16 has barely lasted 8 months! We tried to use the machine over Easter weekend, and it came up with the same humming sounds of no water coming in and then popping off the “F12” fault code. After embarrassingly spending/wasting $1000 on 3 valve replacements, I finally decided to look back into the GE valve, and that’s how I got here. I was a GardenWeb member for years before Houzz, but lost touch, until I found this thread. Good x2. I followed the instructions on the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LaqSO-Oyuw I opted to use the GE WD15X10003 valve as per the video, and not the WD15X93, mentioned earlier in this thread. As far as I could tell online, the two units are functionally comparable. The bracket and molded switch housing of the X93 are somewhat different, necessitated by the fact that the X93 is designed to be tucked into a cramped under-washer position in a GE system. It is also about $10 cheaper than the X10003, but the X10003 was available by Prime on Amazon, so I could fix it right away. I would guess that any of a number of these valves would be fine, since they would sit on the floor of the under-sink cabinet, and not require specific in-machine installation. The water inlet connection on the GE valve is a 3/8” Female iron pipe thread (FIP). My water source connector is a S/S flex hose with a 3/8” female compression fitting. To mate them I needed to pick up a 3/8” male-male brass connector with one end MIP and the other a compression thread. Connecting them was no problem, but getting them leak-free at the MIP-FIP connection was a bit of an issue. One has to hold the valve in one hand while tightening with the other and it’s hard to get a good grip on the valve portion. I used plumber’s tape first, but on the second try I used 1 wrap of plumber’s tape and a thread filler-sealer called “Hercules Block.” It’s a somewhat messy blue paste, but it did the trick. The wire connections were straightforward, just as explained in the video. I test ran it twice yesterday, and it worked normally, just as the OEM valve, and so far, there are no leaks. The time between failure and repair was only 3 days (not the typical Miele 3 weeks), and the out-of-pocket costs for valve, connector, sealer, electrical connectors was $40. (not $450+). The satisfaction of DIY, and un-shackling from the burdensome, confiscatory Miele system?....priceless. My only regret is that I should have done this after the 2nd failure...or the 3rd...slow learner, I guess.

Phenobarb does not seem to be any less safe or problematic in cats than it is in dogs, though some cats are notoriously harder to pill and may need their phenobarb compounded. It is a far superior drug for seizure control than is valium, but he may seem doped up at first with phenobarb, too... but it will only be temporary! Starting a pet on phenobarb does not mean they have to be on it their whole lives, but more often than not, seizures come back if you stop seizure meds in epileptic pets. But before you get to that point, blood work is pretty important, particularly an Felv test. Seizures are less common in cats than they are in dogs, and sometimes are NOT epileptic in nature... leukemia virus, FIP and some other brain infections can lead to seizures as well. Testing for Felv is usually straight forward (though rare cats will still be positive for Felv but test negative every time... makes diagnosis very difficult unless you get a bone marrow sample, though I am not suggesting you go that far at this time... pretty expensive!). FIP testing, on the other hand, is not straight forward... and so hard to interpret that most just hope that is not what is going on... not treatable anyway. Brain tumors can only be picked up on MRIs and cat scans, but are not common in 5 year old cats. Toxoplasmosis and a few other much rarer parasitic infections can lead to seizures, so that might be a test your vet will recommend (have yet in 27 years seen one, though). And rarely liver disease can lead to seizures, but most cats 5 years old would be ill and showing other symptoms... Good luck with treatment! Get off the valium though... not a good way to control seizures, as you have already discovered.