@ Andrew- A lot of questions, lol. Ok, so about the mangoes: I do think Carrie is a condo variety, but more importantly, you should read this article (assuming you haven't already) from Fairchild about mango pruning/maintenance. It represents the cornerstone of my strategy to keep them going in the north: http://www.virtualherbarium.org/tropicalfruit/mangopruning.html In the Fall, I usually pull them in only when the temps are predicted to drop below 34 degrees. Of course, the longer they are exposed to those temps, the more likely they will bloom. Hence, all of the blooms I got this Winter (they were all out until November.) The Squirrel issue only affected me last Summer. Usually I use bird netting (I have a lot of cherry trees and blueberries) to keep them at bay, and it works fine. For some reason, I didn't think they would go after my one peach tree since they didn't touch the other one. *shrugs* As for the lychees: Not all lychees are equal, nor are everyone's taste buds. Taste seems to be a highly subjective thing, so it depends on what variety you tasted. If you ask Lycheeluva, he will, overwhelmingly, recommend Mauritius. I tend to like Brewster/sweetheart the best, and I'm sure Harry will definitely have a more informed opinion on this since he has so many varieties at his disposal. I got my lychee trees in 2007, and the Emperor seems to be on a 3 year schedule. Other cultivars are more consistent like sweetheart and Mauritius. It varies by cultivar a lot. The Emperor is easy to pollinate because it has primarily M1 male flowers (they are the first to bloom). This is in contrast to cultivars like sweetheart that tend to push females out first, then follow with M2 males. That is problematic since a lot of the females will drop before the males show up. Cross pollination (with regard to pollen) is essential to get the best/steady yields. Of course, there are other variables in there too, but flower order is key to having available pollen for us northerners. So, that being said, I would probably recommend a sweetheart since they are high quality/flavorful fruits with consistent blooming cycles. If you could add another cultivar, that would be advisable to get the cross pollination. I would also recommend tasting as many different cultivars as you can to get an idea of which is your favorite. I know, easier said than done. I recommend chatting with Harry about his choices before buying too. @ Simon- There you go making me blush! I'm not sure how consistent the Emperor is in ground, but the volume of pollen can't be discounted. Probably a good choice for pollinating your sweetheart. Hey, how is that Kaw Luk doing? You know I have a standing order on an air-layer from you when it gets bigger ;) Maybe we can exchange air-layers one Kwa Luk for one Emperor? Maprang? I've read Jay and others chatting about it, but never tried one. I'll have to put it on the tasting list. @ Sb- Thanks, I'm holding the torch high. There's nothing like taking a picture of flowering lychees with snow in the background. Any new pics in that nice greenhouse of yours?

Carrie, glad you're seeing some bluebirds. It seems the Indigo Buntings are within their normal migratory pattern as they move north to their breeding grounds. But that still doesn't explain why so many of us are seeing them for the first time this year. Here's an excerpt (with more at the link)- Spring Leave wintering areas in late Apr and May; arrive on breeding grounds late Apr to early Jun (Trautman 1940, Taber and Johnston 1968, Payne 1991). Considerable variation in timing of migration: some individuals still on wintering grounds in Guatemala through April; others appear in Louisiana late Mar through early May (Lowery 1974, Rogers et al. 1982). Moving with the buntings to band them in spring migration and recover them on their breeding grounds (he had no recoveries), Nickell (1966) noted some buntings arrived in their breeding areas in Michigan before the last buntings arrived in migration in Texas and Louisiana. In spring migration buntings are seen over water approaching the northern Gulf coast. Migrants arrive on the n. Gulf coast from late Apr through May (Burleigh 1944, Nickell 1967, 1968). 11 males recaptured during spring migration in inland North America were also found on breeding grounds late May to Jul. These birds tended to arrive earlier at mid-latitudes when the distance to their northern breeding site was greater. Five recoveries in Fig. 4 suggest a flight over Gulf of Mexico followed by a stopover to feed near the southern coast of the U.S., and a later northward flight to the breeding area. On northern breeding grounds, arrive over a period of several weeks. In Missouri and s. Indiana, males first appear at breeding sites in late Apr; in s. Michigan, in early May (Carey 1982, Quay 1987, Payne 1989, 1991). Overlap in arrival dates of age classes is considerable: although adult males arrive earlier than yearling males on average, less than 10% of the total variance ina rrival dates in May in s. Michigan is variance between the two age groups; > 90% of the variance is within age groups (Payne 1991, Payne and Payne 1996). Females migrate later on average than males, and although arrival dates of females are more difficult to determine by direct observation than the conspicuous males, there is a two-week difference in the arrival dates of the first males and the first females. Time of arrival is thought to result from differences in time of leaving the wintering area: premigratory fattening schedules in Jamaica indicate a two-week lag between the onset of spring migration of males and females (Johnston and Downer 1968). In Jamaica, groups of 40 or so birds remain together all winter, and banded birds observed near a feeding station from Dec to (more often) Feb stay through mid-Apr; a few sing before departing in spring migration (Johnston and Downer 1968, Downer and Sutton 1990). - Continued at link - Here is a link that might be useful: Indigo Bunting Migration Patterns and Maps

Teppy, In my gut I know that I will not do as good a job as you did if I try to paint on my own. You have excellent taste and are very meticulous. Me....not so much. I do have a laundry room I can experiment with if I need to. I am definitely going to get a quote from a painting company, think I found one, that paints woodwork, cabinet and such. They do a lot of work for builders and had excellent pictures online. I have to get an exterior quote as well. When I get closer to actually beginning I'll post before pictures. I tried previously but couldn't figure it out. Maybe I'll take a look again this weekend. Yes, there is enough room for walking if the seating is added. It would be so nice for entertaining, cooking with the kids, kids doing homework etc. We have an eating nook that accomodates only a 48" round table comfortablly so the extra space would be nice plus it's just more social. I want to compare the painting cost vs. refacing. I'm actually hoping it's not that different because then the KD w/the refacing company could be the GC for the whole job whereas if we go the painting route I'll have find a GC on my own. Will defenitely try to figure out the picture deal so I can post. Thanks for the responses. Z.

The warning label is NOT about lamp size. In order for the manufacturer to place the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label on their fluorescent fixtures, the supply wires must enter the fixture over 3" away from the ballast. This is because UL requires that ALL wires within 3" of a ballast be rated for 90C. This 3"/90C UL requirement is the source of the requirement in NEC 410.33. Yet some fixture sizes and/or designs don't allow for that minimum 3" spacing , so UL allows the UL label on fixtures where supply wires enter within 3" from a ballast -IF- the manufacturer also places a label requiring 90C supply wire only. You don't need to add a box. Just pigtail a length of 90C wire to your house wires in the box, and bring the higher rated wires into the fixture to supply the ballast.