The part about WATERING SPARINGLY is important enough to warrant repeating. With leaves removed, your plant will only use a small fraction of the water it used before defoliation. Using a 'tell' to tell you when it's time to water (or withhold it) is a good way to stay on track. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

I made 4 double layer nuzzles with a filter pocket. They are a PIA. They fog up my glasses, hot, reduce breathing and muffled talking. So I made 2 out of a pkg of reusable wipes I had hanging around. Single layer, light, breathable and cooler. I probably will have to make two more cause sometimes I'm out several times a week. Unless visibly dirty I just rotate them.

Thaks, Judi, yes sarcasm. If masks weren’t effective, medical folks wouldn’t wear them. I never see cloth masks anymore. All appear to be k95.. I just saw in our local paper that covid cases doubled here the last week in July. Which is a bit odd beccause the weather was idyllic and nearly every event and gathering has been outside.The local health department is again recommending masks.

I can finger-spell, slowly, and know a few signs (thank you, Sesame Street!) but I wish I knew more. I’ve been signing at least “thank you” since April. But most of the Sesame Street words I know are from “the letter of the day is Q”. So as long as the queen is laughing quiveringly at a quick question, I’m good. But seriously, why was the employee pulling out his phone? Also seriously, I need a tracker-finder for the phone. Today, looking for babybel cheese, I finally asked the deli guy. He said they are in Dairy. They weren’t there, and not near the cheeses in deli. Every grocery store is different. Isn’t there a “Google maps” for store items???