I used a round gourd to cover with tufa for my pumpkin. However, my first attempt had a major flaw. After I applied the tufa, the gourd absorbed all the water and expanded quite a bit, cracking the uncured tufa. My second try was to drill a hole in the bottom of the gourd, fully soak it for several hours, them apply the tufa. The gourd, this time, shrunk away from the tufa as it cured, and I was successful in making my pumpkin. Learn as you go. I made a nice sphere using a basketball. I left a small hole near the inflation area, deflated it, removed it, (after it had set up real hard!) and patched the hole. This was a good way for me to do it. The firm basketball works great, but don't work in the sun, it will expand, and cause problems, and don't forget, deflate and leave in or remove it later. .

OUR CELEBRATION was deeply moving, sad, fun, hilarious & sweet... all rolled together. The 4 primary paramedics who worked with me on my daughter's last day showed up, and cried as grown men (God I wanted to reach out from my own soul to hug them, as another grown man, and father.) At one point in the ceremony (just prior to our spreading some of Dagny's ashes on Lake Washington,) Joanne was reading a poem, and explained the meaning behind Dagny's name. LITERALLY... as she explained its Norse meaning of "new day"... the clouds which muted the sun all day to that point SPLIT... and rays of sunshine broke down directly on the dock platform we were all standing on. It was one of those gasping-inspiration moments, like an amazing magic act... had everybody talking about it afterwards, like we had planned it that way ;~) Later, at the cabana, when we were reading eulogies sent in from family & friends who couldn't attend, we opened up the opportunity to everyone to share anything they wished; We had a 3 year old girl ask if she could "dance for your daughter Dagny" (so I announced to the crowd her request,) and we caught on video an impromptu "jazz dance" by a 3 year old little girl, in honor of my daughter... (the whole time her Mexican mother feigned with her hand on her forehead saying "ayyyayyyayyyayyyyyy...") A fellow community member, Ti Piper, had sent me a special contribution... 30 rubber-ball clown noses... along with a back-story of a social group he belongs to, and how they face a death of "their own." So, at one point I shared Ti's story, and had another 4 year old hand out the nose-balls to everyone present... we all put them on (giggling like idiots... including the Pastor,) and told a few more stories of love. We got lots of pics... potentially some good video coverage... I'll see if my webmaster/tech-director can cobble together a nice presentation at my personal website we can later share with those who couldn't make it & sent in their "spirit RSVPs." Thank you... very sincerely. Dave Donhoff

Just to add. The link that Beekeeperswife gave you is really good. I actually called Peter about 4 years ago and he was very helpful. He told me NOT to buy a mattress but to try a topper, which we did (the memory foam one). It got us an extra year and I was impressed that he didn't try to steer us into buying a mattress. Seemed like an honest guy. After I bought my latex (which is organic Dunlop BTW-the firmer type) I contacted him again about my back problems. He told me that I should have bought a different mattress after explaining my problems. Well, too late for me. I would give him a call and speak directly to him for some ideas. I still can't figure out if I need a firmer bed or what is the problem. I do know that it is important to tell people how you sleep (back, stomach, side). I lie on my side. I am 53 so I don't know if it's just years of conditioning my back to a firmer mattress. I also have a lordoctic spine so I feel like a softer mattress just lets the back become more lordoctic. Very impt. to always buy where you can get a refund. I know Bloomingdales has great mattress sales in January and I think they may allow returns. Savvy allowed exchanges, but not refunds and they feel the slant or sag isn't deep enough. So we are stuck. But my bed also came in layers as someone else described and it weighs a ton. Also, I think the Sealy Spring free is not natural latex and I know Peter recommends it. A mattress topper in firm would be my choice for now for you. Remember, the firm softens up. It really is a crap shoot. I was thinking of the bed that has air in it. Running out of ideas myself!

I like the sound of those vents you bought. Where did you get those ? I’ve posted some pictures of my vents. One opens in which happens when the exhaust fan turns on. Pro - opens automatically when it is hot and the fan is on. Con - opens automatically when the wind blows so I have to barricade it shut during the cold weather. Solution - mechanical vent opener which is next. The one that opens out WAS supposed to open automatically as the temp got hotter with one of those openers with wax in them Although they work great for their intended purpose. It is challenging to get them to operate the way I need it to. I have installed pullies trying to get them to open properly but didn’t have time to finish that project so they stay closed until the warm weather then I prop them open. Work in progress but that’s the fun of it, right ???? The fan I bought moves some air. The switch shown in the pictures works flawlessly. I set mine to turn on at 120 and off at 100. As you can imagine - it is on a lot during the hot days. It draws in the air through the vents but if the air is hot to begin with then it makes it tougher. Some day ....... I’m going to put in waterproof worktops and then install some sort of misting system. Evaporative cooling (swamp coolers) are effective for their specified purpose. I insulted the roof, North wall and the east side with bubble wrap. I have a 30,000 BTU kerosene heater (am upgrading to Natural gas someday). I have 10 (50 gallon) drums filled with water and painted black. Those are for my latent heat. They absorb the heat from the sun and heater and then dissipate it back to the GH when the sun goes down. Hot goes to cold. Some think they don’t work but they work for me and they were free. Even in the Winter - if they freeze it is still fine because water generates BTU’s when it changes state from ice to water. You mention the roof vents. They are hard to get to. The only way I can think of is to remove the one next to it to gain access. That will be hard for me because they are siliconed in place, have double clips and a screw in the center. Yes, I did get carried away when I built my GH. I made a complete unistrut structure and then built the GH around it. It has held up tp 60 wind gusts without losing one panel. The frame can’t go anywhere because it is up against the unistrut. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. A friend of mine put his up and it blew down after just two weeks. I did plant through rough last Winter but just some cold veggies like Spinach and lettuce. Once it was too hot for the exhaust fan to cope - 140 + in the GH then I only planted watermelon in there. I may try something else this year during the hot summer.