Thanks for the nice comments. I love the new bottle tree as it sits outside our bedroom window and we enjoy it often, especially on sunny days. :o) I purchased the bottle tree through the Gardener's Supply catalog with a coupon Carol found. I paid a bit more for it but it is so strong and sturdy. I'll post a link. Jan, I see the "ghost bird"! Went outside and looked...no bird! Hmmmm... There is an empty bird's nest up above on the top of that ladder trellis. I just couldn't remove it as the bird had worked so hard to make it. A natural garden decoration. :o) Thanks, everyone! Bear Hugs! Kirk Here is a link that might be useful: Bottle Tree

I posted this in another forum, but I read your thread here and am wanting to try your method. I am very green at this I will say at the start. I have planted some flowers and shrubs before but I just planted them and said now grow and I walked off. Some did grow. Now we have moved into a small town and I am building a backyard garden. I am pretty good at building things. My "Hardscape" is nearly done. Now I am having to learn how to plant and take care of plants. The names are killing me, I don't know one from the other. I planted some Encore Azaleas last year. Some of them nearly died that I put under two big Oak trees. The guy at the garden center looked at them and told me to cut them back. I did and 3 died, but 12 are doing well in my greenhouse. I took the cuttings, maybe about 4" long, put them in root tone and planted about 250 two months ago. Some, maybe 20, are still green and seem to be putting on new growth. not a very good percentage. I had some Holly at another house where I had to trim them back. I tried the same rooting thing and none are going to live. Today I cut back some Lavender plants plants that I cut back. I have put root tone on cuttings that are about 5" long and planted them. Maybe I will have better luck with them. I don't know what I am doing, but it's not costing me but time, I am retired and I am learning. So I am looking for suggestions. I also read another thread about "misting". I am guessing that plants that are being rooted must be kept in a more humid environment than I am using, but I am not sure from what I have read so far. I don't drink anything from 2 liter, but I do drink a lot of Gatoraid from 20 oz bottles. And I drink Sunny-D, maybe either of those bottles would work. Here is my question, is this bottle method providing the increased humidity and how ? Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

I have told people that my son didn't latch on in the first weeks, he attacked! My twins were premies who spent 20 and 31 days in the hospital, so I wasn't able to bf them at first. Then they had the usual premie latch-on problems, mostly due to having their tongues against the top of the mouth, and probably some nipple confusion from their hospital time. They weren't succeeding, and would get frantic, which made them even less successful. Meanwhile, I would get engorged and my breasts would get so hard the babies *couldn't* latch on. But I was determined I was going to bf them, so I kept trying and my nipples got sore and then really sore and then downright painful. I pumped for them while they were in the hospital, and then pumped when they got home just for relief. That said, premie twins are an extreme case. We had obvious latch-on problems, *and* my breasts were (are) getting twice the attention that yours are getting. My two suddenly got the hang of it at about 2 months past due date (which made it more than 3 months of age, but really only 2 months of trying). My friends who are nurses say it often takes 2 months to get bfing to really feel successful, although we weren't exactly talking about nipple pain in that conversation. I actually still have some pain on the right side because of a small cyst in the nipple--but the cure would entail excising the cyst and no nursing while the incision heals, so that isn't going to happen. To complicate matters, the right side is my "generous" side that sometimes shoots a stream of milk, and both babies bite down when that happens, trying to stem the flow. I yelp and pull back, and then the poor baby gets shot in the face and we go through what I refer to as the "duck and run" manover. Then I do some mopping up and try to get the frantic and angry baby calm enough to latch on (attack) again. This is even more complicated (and hilarious) when I am tandum nursing--both babies at the same time. Anyway, think of this as training. When you first start training your body to do something new you get sore muscles and joints, maybe a few blisters. It takes a while to work out the kinks, but if it is important you keep going until suddenly you realize your muscles aren't sore anymore and your blisters have healed. You're almost to that point. After that, you'll just have the joy of watching your baby's face while he nurses, of him watching you, and soon he'll be grinning up at you around your nipple. Trust me, you'll fall in love all over again! Catherine, mom to Richard and Patricia (b 9/20/01)

Hi, I'm conducting research for my ebook about using vintage seltzer bottles as home decorations. Please help me gather ideas by completing a brief survey. I'll send anyone who completes the survey a free copy of the ebook when I publish it. The survey is here: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/490926/ad7afd2d16df Thanks for your responses, David Object Mythology Featuring vintage seltzer bottles from Argentina