Karyn only if the Teenager will help in the garden lol And I take Jake (?) ...with his highs, he can do a lot of things around the house too...indoor painting is coming up and will you believe it...I am not done with the house outside yet either ha ha ha Glad everyone had fun. Just wait till we play the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG game ha ha ha ha From Pictures for GW friends Going out today :-) Hugs Lucy

Hahaha. Ed, you are too funny! I agree that the first is certainly Catalpa. You are supposed to be able to tell the difference between the native Catalpa bignonioides and C. speciosa by pod length. Both are in your area. C. bignonioides pods should be ~10" long. C. speciosa should be ~14" long. Unfortunately, the non-native C. ovata is also in your area. It is distinguished from the native Catalpas by being hairless under leafs. Are you looking for honeylocust? I have one growing close to the house. I love it, because it attracts many insects which in turn attract an amazing assortment of warblers.

joanne- I think Dectron would be overkill for your application. From your earlier post, it sounded like you have a budget for this project and a Dectron system, although very effective at delivering perfect humidity and temperature, is also expensive. Yes, these systems are basically dehumidification units that use energy recovery techniques to minimize energy losses from outside air introduction as well as conditioning the air, both heating and cooling. Supplemental heat is used in addition to heat pump heating capacity when outdoor temperatures drop too low. The supplemental heat can be electric heating elements or other alternative fuel heat. If the Dectron rep was speaking of just an energy recovery unit (not sure what was meant by air to air heat exchanger), then the expense will not be that much, but this device will only exchange heat from the indoor air to the outdoor air and will not have any other heating or cooling benefits. These devices are used to introduce fresh air efficiently into a space but they do not heat or cool the air. Not sure if you are still on a budget. If not, Dectron and others make fine systems for efficient, automated and accurate temperature and humidity control in high humidity environments like indoor pool enclosures. If budget is a concern after pricing these systems, I would recommend a residential packaged HVAC unit. These units are affordable and can be retrofitted into your pool enclosure afterwards with very little ductwork required. These systems have been used for years in mobile homes and older homes where indoor duct work is non-existent or indoor space does not allow ducts. This system can be controlled with an indoor thermostat like in your house and can also be retrofitted with a engergy recovery unit that will introduce fresh air into the space. A good HVAC person locally should be able to price a residential packaged unit with energy recovery unit (called res-pak unit in the industry). The downside of this unit is temperature and humidity will not be as closely controlled but if you also match the res-pak unit with a thermostat with humidity control, it will do a very nice job with a lot less coin than a specialized de-humidification unit. The advantage of this approach is you don't have to make the decision now and can wait until the enclosure is in service and then decide what level of comfort control is needed. One other thing to consider is a radiant floor heating system. Although there will be no humidity control with this system, the feel of warm concrete on bare feet is comforting and these systems can be roughed in prior to concrete for very little money and finished at a later date. Hope this helps.

Have you heard the German tradition of the Legend of the Christmas pickle? An ornament is in the shape of a pickle and placed on the tree. It wouldn't have to be a pickle, it could be another shaped ornament. This works best if a tree is heavily decorated........... To get back to the legend. It was started to make everyone, especially children really admire and appreciate the ornaments. They are asked to find the pickle in the tree and the first one to spot it gets a prize. I guess the pickle was used for it's colour as it would be harder to find it in the tree and kids would have to hunt longer. I have seen a pickle ornament in some of the stores and if you check ebay, you will see tons of them for sale.