Hi Amy About the best thing I know for brain fog times is to ...laugh. I am quite sure that, once upon a time in your past life, you used to be a very together person. It's a bit shocking to find yourself standing in a supermarket (as I have) not only wondering which store I'm in, but even which town, and why am I there anyway???! If fibro and lupus are new to you brain fog can seem highly scary. Well, it is, in the early days. After a while you can see it coming on and take precautions, such a leaving yourself notes. Or going through a routine to calm your mind. Autogenic relaxation works well for me. I was put on that by the occupational therapist at the hospital, so it's pretty mainstream. And remember - those folk at the rare plants place will just be so glad that people are still buying! Even if you're as daft as a loon (and you're not) your money is still good. If you think a white lie would help, for now, you can always blame the chaos on a mythical friend who's a serious ditherer, forever changing her mind, if you have to call them again!!! Or simply confess you're under serious stress at the moment, would they please be patient. Most people are either decent or indifferent rather than outright hostile. If the chemo is knocking you about so you can't bear the thought of food - ask your doctor for a referral to a dietitian ASAP. You might need to go on to smoothies so you can get nutrients in quickly. And, if magnesium/potassium comes up as a supplement - look for magnesium malate. It's a bit kinder to your digestive system. Also, if you like them, avocadoes can be helpful. Good vitamin E and very digestible. Meantime, there are six shrubs coming, along with spring. Hope the warmer weather brings you quiet times in the garden, pain relief and peace of mind. (It doesn't stay this bad. Truly. The more you find out about the way you are the better you can 'use your spoons'.) BTW - you might want to check out this blog, if you haven't already: www.butyoudontlooksick.com/ She has lupus - and explains about the 'spoon theory'. You're not alone at all. :-))

Shrink film saves a lot of energy on old windows, even if the space is more than 1/2". The film stops convective heat losses (air moving heat out through gaps), and these convective losses are huge compared to conductive losses. And they even help a lot on newer windows. I have a bay window that fogs up badly. I order some extra screens for the crankouts and replaced the screen with film. Then put some thin foam on the backsides to create an airtight seal. No more fogging and a lot of heat saved since these crankouts did not close absolutely tight (convective losses). Also, my middle bay window between the crankouts would fog - I made a storm from screen window storm frame and put shrink film on. This middle window is kept in place with some clear plastic tabs and there is also foam on the back to create a seal. The result is no more fog. If the convection within the space was wasting much of the heat, I would see condensation but I don't.

Odinthor - Just checked out Duc de Bragance since I don't think I've come across this gentleman before. Mmm...very nice. Not a great deal of info on HMF; did eventually find an obscure German site with v.g., detailed photos and what looked like excellent information, but my 'Translate' function wouldn't work on it for some reason. I did manage to glean that it fades to purple/violet and its scent is sweet/spicy and 'strong/strong exuding' - maybe that = wafting - but can vary a lot from am to pm. Is that your experience? I'd also love to know how big he gets for you (H and W) - he looks quite upright in the pix I've seen - and whether he's reasonably disease-free. I'm assuming he's a HP? Do you know if he copes with full (inc pm) sun? And, sorry, yet another Q - does he have some sort of main flush, or is it literally just scattered blooms all year? By the way, for those missing 'Preview' - you probably already know this, but in case anyone doesn't - if you just click 'Submit' you can then edit, like we used to do on Preview, by clicking on the little pencil that appears after you submit, top right; then Submit again when done. I don't know whether the uncorrected version stays on the screen for everyone else, while you're doing it - it would be better if it didn't appear, until we'd got it right. The jiggling thing - I've done some pretty long posts, and not usually had this problem; I wonder if it's because I break it up into paragraphs??...May be nothing to do with it, but just a thought.. Comtesse :¬)

Great photo! I love hummingbird moths! The host bushes I had for hummingbird moths died, so I'm looking to replace them. The fogging is ridiculous. It only kills mosquitoes in flight, and that's IF it reaches them. I know for a fact that the fog coming out of that truck only reached about 25' from the street into the yards, so the mosquitoes living in the back yards were fine. My evidence was that any host plant within 25' of the street would kill any caterpillars that hatched. Host plants in the back yard were fine. They also warned us to not have pets, children and the elderly out during the evening on the night they sprayed.