I'm THRILLED that there's so much rain in the more northern parts of California, not to mention that the snow pack in the Sierras has increased. This is critical nor only for gardens, but for water consumption and food by people and animals for the rest of the year. And, the rainy season is not over and there may still be more to come. So far my garden, with only two episodes of rain about a week apart, has probably at most had half an inch of rain. Nevertheless, it's made quite a difference, especially since it was cool and often cloudy in between so that the soil didn't dry out much after the first rain. The roses that were pruned are all leafing out, and I suspect we may have an early spring flush because of the high temperatures earlier. I'm afraid I'm going to become a camera fiend then because this bounty is so unexpected, and I think many of us were in the back of our minds anxious and worried pretty well non-stop before the rains finally came. I know I was. I don't know what next year will bring but I'm going to enjoy fully whatever the garden will have to offer in another month or two. Everything we value becomes even more precious when there is the very real possibility that it might be taken away from us. Ingrid

I think that I was really lucky! I managed to get about 18 sprouts out of 50 a few years back. Honestly, I was expecting a miserable outcome and took it more from back burner experimentation perspective. I started off with the month+ stratification period with the seeds in a loamy soil mixture in the back of the refrigerator. (trust me ... my roommate wondered about the quart size zip top bag at the back of the frig.) Every so many days I would take it out and give it a bit of a shake and put it back. Then I forgot about it ... almost three months later I looked at the bag and found around 18 seeds had proto-leaves! Ended up giving them away to people who claimed to have a green thumb and were doing bonsai but I assume that they didn't survive beyond that state as they seemed so fragile. Good luck!

We didn't do a tub, but did do a custom neo-angle shower with surround in cultured granite(from a cultured marble vendor). The sequence actually took quite a bit of time: 1) Durock the walls, set the subfloor. 2) CM vendor came in to measure for the showerpan, NOT the surround. 3) 1 week to create the showerpan. They installed it, then measured for the surround. 4) Another week for the surround and inserts, which were then installed. 5) Then, and only then, did the shower glass vendor come out to measure for the glass, which of course took another 2 weeks to install plus a day to dry the silicon caulk. So it was a month after we did the order, until we got to use our new shower! Love it, though - people are sure we've got a Corian shower with matching double integral sink vanity. They have no idea we saved at least 30% using cultured granite.

You said your daughter has had 'all the tests and nothing unusual has come up.' Do you know if blood work was done as well? My 24 year old niece has had several seizures, and after ruling out Epilepsy or a brain tumor, they discovered she sometimes has extremely low blood sugar. She now eats little bits throughout the day, rather than 3 main meals and has not had a seizure in about 5 years. Hopefully they will solve your DD's episodes and I wish her well.