It takes a hard freeze to knock out an entire peach crop in one event at full bloom or before. In Amarillo I once harvested a few peaches off Surecrop after two nights in a row at 13F near full bloom. This is why some people try Xmas lights or wetting the tree a couple times at night and declare success. They would have made a crop doing nothing. Look at the chart numbers for 10% survival not 90%. All a home grower needs is a 10% set on most things.

Wouldn't a change in the diagnostic criteria for a disease result in a one-time jump in the reported rate of the disease (maybe over a few years), rather than a steady increase over multiple decades? For diabetes specifically, we know the average weight of Americans has increased considerably in the past decades. '' average height of a man aged 20-74 years increased from just over 5'8' in 1960 to 5'9�' in 2002, while the average height of a woman the same age increased from slightly over 5'3' 1960 to 5'4' in 2002. Meanwhile, the average weight for men aged 20-74 years rose dramatically from 166.3 pounds in 1960 to 191 pounds in 2002, while the average weight for women the same age increased from 140.2 pounds in 1960 to 164.3 pounds in 2002. Though the average weight for men aged 20-39 years increased by nearly 20 pounds over the last four decades, the increase was greater among older men: Men between the ages of 40 and 49 were nearly 27 pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared to 1960. Men between the ages of 50 and 59 were nearly 28 pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared to 1960. Men between the ages of 60 and 74 were almost 33 pounds heavier on average in 2002 compared to 1960.'' Granted, taller people tend to weigh more, but when I look at some height-to-weight charts, a 1 inch height difference for a man translates to only about 5-6 lb. Here is a link that might be useful: Weight 1960-2002

WOWZA, it's quiet here today. DeeMarie, welcome back. Can't wait to see your pix. Marci posted some for me while you were gone! Raeanne, I would think that right after the first of the year we should start seriously making plans. Maybe sooner? I guess I would ask Maddie to guide us here because who knows. I can't even remember the exact date! I am sending Kingfisher thoughts your way. LOL Today is my Siamese boys birthday. 12 and 10 years old. Boy time has flown. They are out in the livingroom rolling around in the catnip I got them to celebrate with. I will join them with a glass of wine shortly! I love watching them groove on catnip. I lead such an exciting life!!! The pumpkin festival in Keene, NH is this weekend. Our office carved pumpkins to spell out Equine Journal and it will be displayed on the tower at the top of Main Street about 9 tiers up. Keene is trying to break it's own world's record of 28,000 or so. This year we are going for 30,000! Check out the link below. The tower you see here is at the top of the square and is the tower our pumpkins will be on. QOD: My alarm is set for 4am Mon-Fri. and I am usually in bed by 9:30 and 10 is pushing it for me unless I have to. On weekends I try to sleep in which usually ends up being 5:30 or 6! Still it feels good not to have to hear the alarm. Here is a link that might be useful: Keene Pumpkin Festival

Ideally ..duct leakage would be 5% on the low side and 10% on the high side. Blower door testing duct blaster testing, both measure duct leakage. Flow hoods can also give the leakage amounts just using a different methodology. for a 5 ton system @ 400 cfm (cubic feet per minute) per ton would be 2,000 cfm of air supplied by the central system. It is true that most hvac systems are oversized, and that the amount of duct leakage on the average is 25 to 30% and this is for new construction. Older homes generally have more ductleakage. Sealing the ductwork at the plenum, supply boxes to attic flooring, sheetrocking & caulking return air chases.. all of these will reduce the amount of conditioned air that is leaking into unconditioned space. Energy Star's goal is 10% duct leakage, and the state program that I have been working with is 5% duct leakage. I can seal to 5%, but after years of testing..I know the common areas that are not sealed & so know where & how to best seal these leakage areas. It can be diy..but not to great success unless the ductwork is tested & leakage areas defined. Knowing were & how to seal is the key. One of the benefits of blower door testing is the identification of these leakage areas. Comfort Institute is doing good work. I don't necessairly agree with all of their methods, but agree with the concept. Aeroseal is good for homes where ducts are not acessable like in between floors, but aeroseal will not seal gaps over 1/4" wide. In most cases leakage is acessable & imho better sealed externally with mastic products. for the cost of Aeroseal someone who knows how to apply mastics could prolly seal 3 duct systems. I don't know your location, but I am in the hot humid south where relative humidity (Rh) can be as high as 100%.(and not raining!!) Our target Rh is 50%. Oversized hvac systems will not run long enough to dehumidify. Lots of dehumidifiers are sold here. Personally I'm always looking for a better way to do things. I was really suprised a few years ago to come across a study by Building Science.com comparing stand alone dehumidifiers located within the conditioned space to deumidifiers tied into hvac system and located in the attic. Their study showed very little difference in performance between the two, but a huge difference in cost. In talking with Joe @ his post katrina classes in my area one of the things I questioned him about was this study and the sq ft that a stand alone dehimidifier in the conditioned space would dehumidify. His answer was that one stand alone dehumidifier would dehumidify approx 2,ooo sq ft. I've used this sizing in several homes where cost was a factor. Rh at 50% was achieved within 2 weeks in most homes. The only problem is that these dehumidifiers as they remove moisture from the air need to be emptied or they will overflow. When layout allowed we would locate the dehumidifier in a laundry room and drain the dehumidifier into a sink or washing machine drain. It has worked very well for us here in south La. best of luck with your project!