Debi, I wouldn't try to duplicate CN's mix - she uses a lot of bark, pumice, and I've even seen some leeca stones in her mix. I'm sure it's great for Hawaiian conditions, but wouldn't work so well here unless you like to water yours almost daily. A lot of people do use the orchid bark in with soil, which I'm sure works fine, but I still find that dries out a bit fast for my taste. Since I've grown so many succulents over the years, I prefer a mix that holds water longer because I've gotten used to watering rather infrequently... Brad, in my experiece, 'Pink Silver' is a slow-to-bloom cultivar, but I absolutely love it for the gorgeous foliage... All the pubicalyx cultivars are fast growers, and the rest seem to be more generous with blooms. I got my 'RHP' as a cutting in the summer of '06 and it's gotten so big, I had to move it up to an 8" pot this year. They're probably the best ones to start with because they grow so vigorously. Denise in Omaha

We went thru this with one of my GD's Had to stay in the hospital about a week. Another thing to watch for is if she is nursing, make sure the milk is enough. At that weight, it is critical to watch their weight. Also watch the amount of milk if bottles, and watch the diapers. If they are NOT wet, notify the dr immediately. Is she bottle fed? If so how much each time and what brand. My DD was trying to feed every two hours and it simply did not work as her milk was not rich enough. I picked up the baby when she was about 10 days old, and it scarred the H out of me as she felt like a feather. I said enough and gave her a bottle--with Daddy's ok and she drank almost 4 oz, that slept about 4 hours After that it was ok..Then another 3 oz and boy was that diaper wet. The Dr said I did the right thing.

Simple solution: Ask yourself this question: Can or will the shadow actually hurt your dog? Obviously the answer is NO? Now since you are the advanced creature in this environment you need to provide comfort and guidance to help the dog learn this is not something to fear and that it will have to be addressed. Someone here mentioned "not forcing"... unfortunately that is exactly what needs to occur. But please understand what "force" really means. Any time you do something that causes your dog to react in any way it is "force". Force isn't bad it is part of a dogs learning process. Now to solve your exact problem simply get your dog under control on a leash or hold its collar. Close physical contact is going to be necessary so that the dog feels comfort from you and will allow you to move it over the shadow. Now simply comfort the dog and move it over the shadow praising as you go. Do not allow the dog to escape dealing with the issue and do not stop and focus on the issue instead simply ignore that it is there and comfort your dog physically and praise through the process. Repeat this process 10, 15, 20 times or more, although I doubt it will take more than a few times before the dog realizes there is nothing there. The predisposition of the dog as you describe is that it lacks environmental socialization. In other words it fears what it does not know and because it has not been raised with direct acknowledgement of a "leader" it has to trust the instinct of fear to address things it has yet to identify as non-threatening. The lack of an owner to assist the dog in learning to deal with certain innate emotions allows these things that seem so ridiculous to become major issues. The Acronym: F.A.S.T. is a simple way to help your dog through environmental and situational socialization. F= Fear A= Anxiety S= Stress T= Trauma These emotions are often avoided by trainers or owners thinking that by not exposing the dog to them they are helping the dog. Quite the opposite is true. These 4 things will occur in the dogs life regardless of what we do. By avoiding them in training and handling of the dog we simple complicate the situation when one or more occur in the dogs day to day life. By allowing these emotions to be exposed and dealt with during training and interaction, at which time we can guide and comfort the dog, we can actually help the dog realize how to deal with them and accept them as a natural part of life. If we avoid these things during training then when they do occur the dog must react instinctively which could mean a dog hurting itself or worse yet result in aggressive behavior such as an attack. The basic "fight or flee" instinct. Hopefully I've kept this simple enough so that you understand how actually "forcing" your dog to deal with it makes it a much better dog and you a much better owner and leader.

On the ceiling, what kind of plywood did you use? usually luan is cheapest good looking plywood in HD, so that's what I have used mostly. Did you paint the designs with a brush or stencil them? stained designs are painted with a very small brush. How did you keep the stain from bleeding out to surrounding areas? Fist I make a stencil and trace the design with pencil and then fill in with stain, making sure that I have very little stain on the brush. What brand of stain did you use? I have always used Minwax --------------------------------------- wondering what to do with them. I would love to do this! Have you written up any instructions for how you did it? Or could you tell us please? What product(s) did you use? Decosup How did you transfer your design to the concrete? I drew the design on the floor with pencil based on smaller scale design on the paper Did you mask off areas? it was not necessary, as My husband cut the lines around the design before I stained and that prevented most of the bleeding issues. How did you apply the product? with the cheap foam brushes from HD What do's and don't's did you learn along the way? Don't too it on a hot day, the stain dries too quickly and you will not get as deep color. Thanks very much for any help you can give me! Where did you learn to do all this? Trial and error ;) Do you do this type of work for your job? Not yet at least, I have thought about doing it professionally but I am really lousy sales person, so this might for ever be just my obsession and hobby :) PS. I have a long e-mail I send to people that ask about my concrete work, so if you want to receive it, drop me an e-mail.