UPDATE: So it took me a total of two days to properly douse each hosta accordingly. My god do they spread. I discovered them Saturday afternoon and by the time I was done yesterday night the ones I had left for a day had almost doubled. Either way, all plants that needed to get hosed, got it. I will reapply in 7 days and then again 7 days after that. From there on I will use the water treatment for prevention and maintenance. Steve . Thank you for the advice with the Lady Bugs. I won’t waste my money since I wouldn’t be releasing them indoors. Kind of makes sense now that you mention it, silly me. :) I did order earthworms this year for Bed#1 to start them working in the soil and compost. A lot easier to contain something if you bury it, ‘eh ? Miss Mocc . You flatter me with your kind words. Yes, they are my children for all intents and purposes. As any parent can sympathize, when your kids get sick you make ‘em better. Granted I would never spray a human child with insecticidal soap . . . wait . . . maybe I would . . . that is a different thread all together. :p I know aphids seem small fry in comparison to what I could be dealing with, but a nuisance is a nuisance and given my overly dramatic nature, any ant hill gets renovated into a mountain after I am done with it. A wise friend advised to NUKE ‘EM . . . and so I did. Phil . You are indeed blessed to be able to garden in a more “natural setting” than I, who is unfortunately in the heart of suburbia where the soil is back filled with field stone and the bored housewives (no offense) spray raid on anything that crawls. Ken . Unfortunately I had to spray the entire plant for some. I guess I can suffer a year without my blue wax if it means the plants will be healthier overall. But, thank you as always for your sound advice. If I didn’t have them hiding in every crevice I might have been able to spray more strategically. But I was also going for overkill. I am a newbie after all. :) Miss Babka . Thank you so much for the info about the nozzle. I looked over the website that Ci_lantro provided and agree, I will most definitely be soaked after using this, but the design is genius. I am committed to a three week soap treatment, but plan to administer future maintenance with this lovely new toy you’ve shown me. WW . Thank you for your support and keep up the good fight. We are all in this together. :) Sandy . I intend to do just that after the soap treatments are done. I will be ordering the special nozzle that Babka recommended to get the job thoroughly done. Jan . That handsome guy is ‘Cascades’, one of my top ten personal favorites. There are a bunch of posts recently about it where I posted other pics. Hope I can enable you to give him a shot in your garden. :) Don . leave it to you to make me laugh amidst panic. Thank you, Sir. Ci_lantro . Thank you sooooo much for the link. This made my life a lot easier when I began to search for it via online retailer. I wasn’t about to hold my breath that my local garden center would carry something this specialized. Hostafrenzy . I will take you up on that offer. Did you ever go back and look at those posts ? They are literally seconds apart. That was uncanny timing. You are right, I do baby them. Maybe a little too much, but I am still young and my enthusiasm it peaked. I can’t help but obsess over them. For some it seems to help ::cough Andrew cough::, but others I’m finding like to be left alone (Mikado). TJ . I agree with you 100% and plan to use the water treatments in the future, but since this was the first infestation and a pretty bad one at that, I am not taking any chances. Like Steve said, the soap is organic and does not persist, so I don’t have quite as much guilt. Again, thank you everyone for your support and gracious information. We are made stronger by what doesn’t kill us. Granted it was only aphids, but the hysterics this caused me might as well have been palpitations. Ludi

I use the 5/4 IPE, but many others on this site appear to be happy with the 1x Ipe. 16" O.C. on the framing should be fine. I go 24" O.C. on the Ipe and have even gone 32" O.C. with the 5/4 with no noticable bounce. I have used the hidden fastner systems, Ipe Clips & EBTY. They looked good initially, but I felt there was a lot more movement in the material. I now use Headcote trim head screws exclusively and I feel a lot more comfortable about the product that I deliver.

Sorry to hear of your grandmother's passing. I am glad that she got to see and use your beautiful quilt. I also like your photo. I do genealogy and always appreciate the great value of family photos. Do you have the names on the back? I have seen so many old and new family photos without the names and it is such a pity. Later generations will appreciate seeing the names and how each is related to the others. TFS. ~Geraldine

ChiefNeil: Waterlox is very similar to oil based polyurethane. The difference is that it uses phenolic instead of urethane resins and tung oil istead of the lighter colored oils found in most oil-based polyurethane. In general Waterlox is less durable than oil-based urethane but is much easier to repair. It also has less of a plastic look to it and in fact is a very attractive finish with its deep amber color. I don't like it on lighter woods but otherwise it looks great. It is considered safe for incidental food contact (meaning no chopping) but the government requires that for basically all finishes, not just those for woodworking. I would have loved to finish our floors with Waterlox but since it will not be allowed under 2011 governmental VOC regulations I went with a catalyzed waterborne -- Bonakemi Traffic.