Lynn, A flashback to the 1960s can be funny, can't it! I remember my dad had a can of DDT in the garage during that time frame. It was one of those pesticide cans that looked like a large tuna can with a long pipe-like portion that had a pump-sprayer type handle. You held it with one hand, pumped and sprayed with the other hand...and the stuff that came out of it smelled horrid. I do remember the can had a little skull and crossbones on it, which terrified us kids. We were sure we would die if we inhaled it. Laura, Well I certainly would use OFF religiously if I were allergic to mosquitoes like you. That's just an awful allergy to have. One of our sons' childhood friends reacts to fire ant bites that way and his reaction sounds similar to the way mosquito bites affect you. With him, there is so much swelling tht it looks like someone injected large red or purple grapes right beneath his skin. Although I obviously prefer organic remedies to chemical ones, I always have a can of OFF here (and sometimes two)and I will use it if I feel like I need to. Like George, I tend to spray it on my clothing and my shoes. When I mow tall grass in the pastures, I always spray my clothing and shoes with OFF because if I didn't, I'd come inside covered in ticks and chiggers. Mosquitoes don't seem to be bothering me much this year, but chiggers are everywhere and they seem to especially "like" me although they don't necessarily bother anyone else in our family. Sometimes when you're being bothered by pests, it is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. If I lived in an area where West Nile virus was a major issue, I'd probably spray my clothing with OFF every day that I worked outside. I was not saying people shouldn't use Thermacell or OFF or anything else....just that it is a good idea to research any product before buying it so you have a balanced view of potential risks. George, I remember those little mosquito coils. When we went camping in the 1970s, we used them. I don't remember that they were especially effective, but I was a mosquito-magnet type of kid and I don't think anything kept them off of me in those days. Dawn

My experience. I had a red cedar roof in Cody Wyoming, as many people do. It is a very different climate from yours- very dry for 6 months then piled with snow for 6. If well insulated roof the snow does not melt off the roof most of the winter. The shakes were installed by previous owner/builder who was a contractor in 1984. I put a new door in 2009, I believe. About 2000 I bought a couple bundles of red cedar shakes to put on the chicken coop so it would match the house. I was disappointed in the quality- some of them I could snap with my hands (female- just think what a guy could do with them!). Maybe if you purchased a thick shake it would last longer. On the other hand- the exterior was red cedar planks- those were like new when I sold the house two years ago, but I did maintain it well. Used oil about every three years which is a must in such a dry climate. (Due to poor quality fast growth wood used today, when I put a new roof on I used architectual shingles. Would have done metal but knew I would sell relatively soon. Have metal roof now, in Florida and will do so in next build too. Some insurance give credits for metal roof for fire reasons. In Wyoming/State Farm they would make me have a rider 'because of potential hail damage'. I hate insurance companies!!

This is structure you need for your house. It will take 5 years for growth to over grow this area with proper trimming each year. You need more height and variations for this to work. You don’t need a bunch of low plants. You need a couple taller, a couple mid height and a couple lower. Don’t spread a bunch of low plants out. You are better off having 4 clusters to start. One on each end of house (end area) and one beside each side of porch leaving breathing room from your foundation.

I enjoyed seeing pictures of Bird and Dove Bar. I rehabbed several pigeons and wrote about them in my Bayou Tales stories. One of them, named Hue, used to follow me all over the place. I had another one named Checkers that I found in a trash can at Lowe's. They had a trash can sitting out in the nursery section, and were cleaning up and dumping the sweepings into it. I glanced in and saw a live pigeon in it. She was covered in tar. Of course I took her home. I got most of it off of her, but her white, speckled black feathers were stained brown after that. A hawk got her.