Making a light stand is worth it. Overdriving the lights is not worth it if what you are using them for is tomato seedlings. I have done that. I have two banks of six fluorescent tubes each and all of them are overdriven. Before, I could raise seedlings from the day I put in the seeds until they were ready and almost too big to plant out in five weeks. Now, I can raise seedlings from the day I put in the seeds until they are ready and almost too big to plant out in five weeks. So, no gain there if it is for tomato seedlings. The better move and more useful is to ensure there is enough light by strapping several shoplights together. As you can tell, three shoplights together is six tubes. Also, I use Philips T8 tubes. They are TL 865 Plus, which is a 6500 degree Kelvin color temperature, almost equivalent to sunlight. They were expensive at the time I got them because they were a new product and not widely available. I believe now you can get them at places like Home Despot for a better price. That part is worth it and the significant part is the 865 designation which gives you the size and color temp. Other numbers are longer life or less mercury, etc. etc. If you can find them, that's OK too.

I can deal with most of the bugs we have around here as they are only a minor annoyance except MOSQUITOS! They make it virtually impossible to enjoy a summer evening outdoors here. Trying to garden on a humid day is a nightmare. Standing outside talking to neighbors can get really annoying. There is no way to really get rid of them w/o using nasty pesticides or sprays that I don't really want to put on my body nor my kids! Of course, we have other bugs that can be a pain. We have occasional issues with ants, but none that are bad. This summer though, for the first time, we had them in our kitchen, which really grossed me out. Fortunately, an ant trap took care of it so it was over rather quickly. I also had pantry moths once and that was a total nightmare. Had to throw pretty much everything in my fully loaded pantry away and discovered them while making dinner so had to stop everything and immediately start binging as I was so grossed out. I had one or two minor outbreaks after that but with traps and putting everything that attracts them in airtight containers, I've had no problems since. But mosquitos....just no way to safely get rid of those unfortunately!

My old hutch/china cabinet has glass shelves and it came with clear plastic holders. The back of the holder hooks over the back of the shelf and the front of it sticks up a bit to hold the bottom of the plate as the top of the plate leans against the back of the cabinet. Somewhat like a "Z" that fell forward if you look at it from the side. I've never tried to buy any, but I'm sure if you search on line you'll find something. Good Luck!

Hi Clare~~I don't really have anything concrete to tell you, but I am literally going through the exact same thing. My DH's company CLOSED in October, and since he is 58 years old and was in the financial market, there is no hope of him finding another job, so we are trying to figure out how to semi-retire. For the first few months, I thought I would pull every hair out of my head. Thank God, I work full-time at a job I absolutely love, so that is a huge help. However, I, too gave him a few months to settle into a different type of living, but lately, I am getting very aggravated because since I work all day, and then come home to cook, do laundry, etc., I find that he sits at the computer or TV ALL day and does nothing. I am ready to run away. Our third son, who still lives with us (20 yrs.old) is bipolar, and my husband suffers from depression. All I can say is that you need to get out of the house a few times a week and work it out with him to help with your son. If you don't get alone time, things get tougher. I find that I am looking at my DH differently because I feel like he is just lazy. I know things will work out eventually, but if you don't make some time for yourself, it will definitely get harder. I'm sorry that I don't have anything more valuable to tell you. Hang in there, and like others have said....."in good times and bad times". Take care.