Really good to get confirmation on this tree, bahia. And yes, I have a Moro I planted last year. No flush or flowers, yet, same with the Bearrs lime and the Pixie mandarin, so I'm going to pinch the tips to force new growth. Plus put down fertilizer. Hoping we're all done with this crazy cold weather, so my new growth doesn't get nipped. Here's what I've got in my little home orchard for citrus right now: Two oranges of unknown variety (probably Valencia of some variety, were in such bad shape when I moved in in Fall '09, I couldn't even tell what type of citrus they were, one still may not make it) Moro Blood orange Cara Cara orange Meyer Improved Lemon (survived the neglect and has a gazillion lemons right now) 3 lemons of unknown origin (probably Eurekas, don't think they're thorny enough to be Lisbon; one might possibly be a Meyer, no fruit on that one, yet) Melogold grapefruit Cocktail grapefruit Rio Red grapefruit Oro Blanco grapefruit Bearss Lime Pixie manadarin Algerian Clementine mandarin Gold Nugget mandarin Page mandarin I think I've probably got just about everything that interests me, and more than enough fruit for our little family, plus most of my neighborhood, lol! Hoping my Moro, Bearss and Pixie start doing something. The grapefruits are pushing out huge numbers of gigantic blossoms and have some fruit already setting. Apparently they really like their spot in the garden. They are up at the top of my back yard, north side, facing south, and very protected from north winds by my neighbor's house which is perched up higher than my house, plus a row of lovely olives on the west side, which help to break the prevailing ocean breeze (we're about 7 miles from the ocean, in a canyon that faces the ocean, pretty cool). If I have time, I'll snap some pics of my areas I have planted my various trees. Patty S.

Thanks, reefisher. I went to Clausen's and picked up a Mellowgold, which is almost the identical same tree as the Oro Blanco, as well as a Cocktail and a Rio. The Rio is really going to be an experiment, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what spot in our yard will be the very hottest, and that's where the Rio will go. the Mellowgold and the Cocktail are spotted up on the north slope (which faces south). We have a rat problem, too - they ate all my Anna apples this year - so I'm going to talk with Berrett Pest Control to see what kinds of control we can put into place to try to control the rats and keep them out of my trees. I bought a Moro Blood Orange, a Pixie Tangerine and an Algerian Tangerine, too, so they will all be targets for the rats. They leave the lemon trees and usually leave the Kumquats alone (although not always with the Kumquats), so hopefully, I can get traps set and try to keep the population down. We back an 80 acre abandoned orange orchard (very sad story), so they come in through the back fence, even though I've got 3' snake fencing up against the wrought iron. They're sneaky devils. No fence will really keep them out. Patty S.

Hi Packerfan, We are new to this, also in So Cal, and just posted our new pool build stats with some questions today; (North County San Diego pool + putting green). I'd love to see more pictures and any helpful websites you found in the process of building your beautiful pool! Nancy

Hi Katherine, Your pool is gorgeous! I have no idea if you're still monitoring this, but I came across your post while searching for information about installing a fastlane in a niche for our pool installation. Our PB has never installed a fastlane before and they are unsure about how to cover it inside the niche. Do you have any information about how this was done with yours, and what the cost of the cover might have been? The niche and supports have been built in our pool, and the PB says they can have a stainless steel person create a cover for the niche, but they will charge us $1000 just for the cover. Seems a little high to us! Any information you can provide would be very helpful! We're REALLY far away though - in North Carolina! Hope you're still enjoying your beautiful pool.