Went back and looked at the photos I took of the first year I put a garden in by the house. I agree myself with some of the doubts of the 12 ft. high stalks! Hehehe! Most of the stalk heights were around 10 ft. or so with some being less. Was late when I put this topic up and seemed to me that the stalk heights were much higher than what they really were. Time has a way of playing tricks on the mind I think! LOL! Sorry for that. :) Someone mentioned urea in the soil. The previous owner before I moved in, had a dog kennel with wood chips as bedding, where the garden now resides. I think that may have had a good effect on the first year or two garden results. The plants then, looked better than they do now. Each year I usually add dead leaves and other yard waste to the soil in the Fall. A few years ago, I did add a few hundred pounds of processed cow manure into the soil which seemed to help that years crop. I do remember the beans that were growing in the same patch of soil as the corn was, really had a nice rich green color to the leaves. The nitrogen fertilizer I use is 38-0-0. I also try to keep the plants watered about every 5 or 6 days. I usually just dig a small hole in the ground near the plants and see how dry the soil is to let me know if the soil is really dried out or still moist under the surface. The ear sizes the first year or two were nice looking and long. Seems like each year the majority of the ears that I get are getting shorter. Sounds like to me that it may be related to a soil nutrient deficiency. I have been toying with the idea of using a good amount of compost and seeing what kind of results I can get. I am definitely sold on the soil test idea. Would be interesting to see what it looks like now. I had one done around 4 years ago. Thanks folks for the help and suggestions. It is really appreciated. :)

Hi, I have chemically stripped many square feet of flooring during my preservation carpentry career. The first one was a 32x36 ballroom floor. It literally could not be sanded because the whole thing was pitch pine, and would clog the abrasive on contact, so we stripped it with methylene-chloride stripper. In my own house I have stripped one room (M Br.) with Kutzit stripper. If you wear chemical gloves and a VOC respirator there are no physical effects, except to your knees. I have not yet tried Soy Gel, but I wanted to bring up one potential disadvantage to some of the safer paste type strippers. I have used citrus strippers and notice that they never totally evaporate on their own as do the liquid M/C (kutzit) strippers. This could be a real headache if there are gaps in your floor boards (and what old house doesn't have gaps?). I see the scenario of having to manually clear the goop out of hundreds of feet of floor seams before being able to apply the finish. If I'm wrong about soy gel (and cripes, I really owe it to myself to try the product, having heard good things about it here at GW), let me know the error of my ways! Casey

If you want to use a chemical product, then I like EZ Way because you don't have to clean up with a separate product or with water. It does not contain methylene chloride. But it stinks to high heaven and can almost only be used outdoors. There are several "natural" type strippers that have little odor - Organic strip is one I can get locally - and require water clean-up. Those work, but usually more slowly. I'm not sure if removing polyurethane vs. other finishes poses special challenges. If you have a heat gun, you might see whether that works, but obviously watch carefully for fire risk. I agree a cabinet scraper is an excellent tool to use, just on the dry piece. I will warn that your ability to use it well depends on your ability to sharpen it properly. But I suspect you'll need one of the other methods. And if you are softening the finish somehow, then a pull scraper can be the best for removal. And lots of 3M pads and paper towels! I have done a lot of stripping, and have never yet sanded to remove finish. That is just a way to create dust. There is a lot of discussion about stripping paint on the old house forum, and maybe here too. KarinL

My mom had a terrible experience with a clogged duct and had to have multiple procedures to clear it up. I remember her having gauze crammed in an incesion in her left breast. They left the end of the gauze dangling out like a sick candle wick of sorts so they could pull it out and change it untill the infection had cleared.....scary! I very clearly remember her picking a scab off of it once and having LITERALLY a gallon of puss come pouring out of it. It was off putting to say the least. Doodledoo, when I was taking childbirth classes the instructor was excellent, and really knew what she was doing. At the end of our last class she told us this, "Breastfeeding does not hurt if it's done properly. If the nurses tell you it hurts, make sure you see the lactation consultant because it should not hurt." But when I had my baby it hurt like he!! to say the least. The lactation consultant was on vacation, but her fill-in told me, "Honey, it just hurts some people". Every nurse, every visitor, every doctor told me the same thing - sometimes it just hurts. So I just assumed the childbirth instructor was wrong, until one nurse came in toward the end of my stay (I had some problems and stayed longer than some moms). She told me it hurt her really bad, too, but the regular lactation consultant helped her, and it doesn't hurt if it's done correctly. This nurse couldn't tell me how to do it (it had been awhile), but when she was on duty she'd come in while I nursed and hold my hand and cry with me (yes, it hurt that bad). At the end of my third week, I couldn't stand it any longer. I called the hospital crying and got the regular lactation consultant. She told me to come in, and I packed the baby up (even though I wasn't supposed to drive yet) and went in. It was an amazing experience. Everyone else (except the one nurse) acted like I was a whiny baby. But the lactation consultant didn't even ask to see my chest. She stuck her finger in my baby's mouth, her eyes teared up, and she said with the deepest compassion I've ever heard, "Honey, I know you hurt, I know you hurt. Let me see your chest." By this time my nipples were cracked, bleeding, scabbed and infected. Just the weight of a light summer shirt hurt. I had to bite my knuckles and hands to keep from screaming when I nursed. The lactation consultant leaned over, took my wrist in her hands and pressed it gently. She said, "That's what it should feel like when you nurse. Let me show you." As she positioned my baby, I flinched and prepared to bite myself to keep from screaming. She positioned the baby at my breast and held his tongue and jaw in place, and it felt like a butterfly landing on my arm. Absolutely no pain. It turned out my son had a problem with the way he sucked. I gave up breastfeeding anyway. I was going to have to have a helper every time I breastfed - one who would learn how to position the baby's tongue and jaw and hold it in place. My family didn't have any more vacation time, so I quit. I don't regret quitting - I was exhausted and needed to get well more than my son needed to breastfeed. Anyway, when I had my second child, I knew better. I had her at a different hospital, and she hurt me, too. Again, the nurses and the lactation consultant said, "Honey, it just hurts, you just have to toughen those nipples." I smiled sweetly and said okay, and had my husband make me an appointment with a private lactation consulting firm. As soon as I checked out of the hospital we headed straight for the private consultant. They didn't have the absolute amazing genius of the one who helped me with my son, but they gave me a lot of help. I nursed her through her first year and started weaning her at 13 months. My nipples never got very sore, never bled, never cracked, never got infected. My daughter had a problem with her palate that caused the problem, but no one at the hospital even checked. Here are my suggestions if you want to breast feed: First, the vast majority of doctors don't know beans about the comfort issues of breastfeeding. They are great about illnesses, diseases, etc., but not breastfeeding. Second, if you use nipple shields (I did with my 2nd child), just be aware that you can get mastitis more easily that way. The lactation consultant I had with my second child told me after I finished breastfeeding to make a circle out of my hands and encircle my breast with both my hands at the very top (like way up under my arm). Starting at the top is very important. Then slide the circle of your hands down your breast, squeezing gently. I can't remember exactly why, but I think you're massaging the milk out of your ducts. Also, another thing you can do is this: before you start to nurse, do the above-mentioned massage. This should get the milk massaged down so you will let down faster. I don't know if I'd do that right away, but after the first week I would. This shortens your nursing time a little, because the milk lets down earlier. I'm glad I breastfed my daughter. Our budget was tight and it's lots cheaper. It was also way easier in the long run (I was a SAHM). A few diapers and wipes and we were ready to go, no bottles, no formula. Breastfeeding is also an enforced rest time for the mom - I would have been up cleaning and doing laundry while everybody else bottle fed the baby. If I had had more children, I would have breastfed them even if I worked, because I enjoyed it. I never thought I would - I always thought it was a little icky, but I enjoyed it after the first 3 months. It is pretty icky to me at first - all the leaking, etc. till your body gets used to it is just unpleasant (to me). I am a firm believer that every mom should do what she thinks works best for her situation and her family's. If you ever decide you don't want to breastfeed, then don't. My oldest is just fine and he was bottle fed after the first 3 weeks. But please don't put yourself through the he!! I went through and your mom went through because people tell you it just hurts sometimes. If that nurse could put my son on my breast without hurting, then I know breast feeding doesn't have to hurt. I will say that my breastfed daughter has a much better immune system than my bottle fed son. That may just be coincidence. Anyway, I still don't regret quitting breastfeeding him. That was just too much pain to endure when there are bottles and formula. I tried not to write a book here, but my heart just goes out to any woman who might hurt so badly while breastfeeding, and if I can spare somebody a part of the agony I went through, I want to do that. I wish you a safe childbirth and a healthy, happy baby.