joepyeweed, Thanks for the link to the book, it looks like a good thing for winter reading. The plants that I can identify: 1) English Ivy - recently learned that Cornell University Extension classifies this as an invasive for this area. Since it covers almost half the property and is in the process of pulling down several trees and a good-sized chunk of my neighbors stockade fence, I would have to agree with them. But given the difficulty of getting rid of it and my limited timeframe, most of it will be staying when we sell the house. 2) Maple trees - two Norway maples that are >75' tall and more volunteers than I care to think about. These are the primary culprits in the lack of sunlight that affects the lawn area. Aside from the two large ones, many of them will be coming down, especially the ones along the fencelines and any that are less than 4" in diameter. 3) Several evergreen shrubs that were likely part of the landscaping when my in-laws bought the house back in the early sixties. Now in varying stages of health, none are native and all are UGLY. Most if not all of these will be going away. 4) Rose of Sharon - a handful of these exist in a massively overgrown state and will be going to the municipal compost facility as soon as I can reach them. Call it a personal prejudice, but I do not think there is a plant that I dislike more than these. Probably a leftover from my teenage years when my parents had both sides of their property lined with hedges of it that I had to trim regularly. Aside from those, the rest are whatever has found its' way into the back half of a 1/2 acre lot over the past 40 years. Future plans: Though I *do not* intend to go in with a brush-hog and a barrel full of RoundUp, I *do* intend to cut a loop-path through the ivy so that I can get to the entire yard. Although I cannot see all of the yard through the trees/ivy/scrub, I can see at least two dead trees and MANY windfalls that need to go away. Once I can get to the entire yard, I'll take a closer look and see what can be done with what is there. Aside from the items mentioned above, I'm trying to keep an open mind about what stays and what goes.

Well.... I guess I was delusional about both outdoor and indoor fans were running. They indeed, but I was not paying close attention to the fan outdoor when I first started noticing the air sent out was cold. When you asked me if the fans were running, I was having the impression of both fans working during the two good days. The thermostat triggers the fan when trying to work, yet the outdoor unit did not do anything (no compressor-kick-in sound). No sound at all... I checked to see what could be the solution online. I narrow down to tow possibilities, other than not getting power from the power company: bad transformer or contactor. They don't cost much, and I could probably replace a new one myself as the defrost control board I did. However, the problem is that the heat pump company is not longer existing. I was lucky enough to find a defrost board last year and this time, which two HVAC companies told me they could not find. I guess moving the top panel which the fan attached to affecting the wires or cords of the fan or for some reason the compressor was damaged... well....gotta call the pro, as you suggested. BUT....it's hard to find a real pro though.....I seemed trying almost every HVAC companies locally.... Anyhow..Klem1..thank so much for your help. You've done everything you could to help me. This post was edited by chueh on Sun, Jan 12, 14 at 11:46

Socks, I have almost finished one sock for DH, with another to go. I use size 2 needles and cast on 72 stitches for his size 11 feet. He has a high instep and this seems to work ok for him. I usually knit both socks at the same time on two seperate needles (magic loop) or, before I started magic loop, two sets of dbl pts. I found if I started them at the same time, I could start them at about the same place in the repeat in the self-striping yarn, so they came out almost identical. If I use a 100g ball, I use a digital kitchen scale and rewind the ball to 50 g, then finish rewinding the rest into a second ball. I don't knit fast either! Tami

I just got my album (it is a CM passport tapestry album) and no I didn't so much get it because of anything but the fact I know I can get more pages for it when I get home. I haven't started yet but I have wednesday off so I think I will get right into it all day. I will be scraping my pictures of my year in the USA so far. starting with me arrival. Wish me luck I haven't done this in a while :o) Felicity