Hi monte, It's unlikely you'll remember me; I was a newbie the last time you were around. I loved reading your how-tos, and they saved me so much time. On several occasions, I had a brilliant idea to devise something from scratch, but I'd find where you had perfected it already. Your mini blind container post was one of the very first I read when I joined the forum. I was trying to be green and opted not to print it out. Boy did I regret that one! As stage_rat mentioned, your posts have been much sought after. How many times did I search for "monte's mini blind containers" hoping they would magically fall back into the forum? After several years, I finally decided to create them from scratch. As it turns out, there's lots of flexibility in the measurements. (You already knew that.) I had good intentions of posting my own creations, and calling the post "Monte's mini-blind containers." Anyway, I'm excited to see you posting, and can't wait to see what other creative stuff you share. Seedmama

This would be a fun thing to do with young children this summer. They could trace, cut and help position the states, even put beads on for capitals. If put on a styrofoam board they could also mark travels. All kinds of posiblities. TFS, Jayne

Joe! Great to see you! Have done it a few times, on pecans, but lost track of the trees somewhere along the way.

>>When scooping up perlite, you should be in a well ventilated area -- preferably outside. i can't handle dust ...so i devised the following. i keep the bag open just a little and scoop it with large deep 1qt yogurt container to half full approx - keeping it at arms length and moving slowly :)))))...perlite thai chi at it's best ;) then i immediately run water into the container to wet the perlite (it sets like concrete) - once mixed with water it does not 'dust'. then you can stir it up and add to the mix. it's a good way to wet the mix slightly without adding water into it - it will still pour and not clump.