Well I bought my stone, water pump, water basin, & moss on Saturday & put it all together on Sunday. It is a little ghetto looking right now because I have green wire wrapped around the rock to make sure that the moss is held in place. The rock is a medium sized chunk of lime stone. I went to 5 locations looking for rock, they either had none, or they had the massive boulders that were hundreds of dollars. The final place I visited had lots of small & medium sized stones, So I picked one out & haggled over the price (they had the nerve to ask $50 for a rock that they could have picked up out of a field or construction site). So I got them down to $20. I purchased moss at a pet store in the amphibian section, & a small pump from Home Depot. I had to chisel a bit of the rock away to make it stand up without wobbling. I do not have the right equipment, so I could not drill a hole for the tube, so itÂs just tied onto the stone with more green wire. I'm going to give it a month or two & then put the first plant onto the rock. I am realizing that I need to find a fairly compact growing Phrag. as the stone is not as large as I had planned on. Any ideas? -Ray-

Felix, I have tubed the Ichatucknee, and it is something you could not pay me to do again. I would go DOWN it, but only in my canoe! First of all, I was FROZEN solid by the end of the trip. I wore ALL my clothes, including long jeans and shirt, and still was numb with the cold. Funny thing, the AIR can't get cold enough for me. I can go outside in 25 degree weather for quite awhile before I begin to feel it. But I can't get in 72 degree water without turning blue! Secondly, I was so scared every time the tube went close to the grassy bits where I couldn't see what was under me, I nearly died. I LOVE camping, hiking, sleeping in tents, and being ON the water in a boat or canoe. All of those things are great. But I do NOT want to be IN the water with gators, snakes, sharks, rays, piranhas, electric eels, giant groupers, stinging jellyfish, orcas, giant squid, crocodiles or anything else that is bigger than I am and loaded with sharp teeth or painful stingers. My sense of it is I can usually take care of myself on land, but in the water, I'm out of my element and those things with "sharp pointies" are IN theirs. That gives them an advantage I don't like. As I say, the snakes in Florida NEVER seek out people. The same can't always be said of those critters in the water. Hooray for terra firma! Marcia

I had the same problem - my sunscreen always ended up getting in my eyes and stinging -- I asked my dermatologist about it and she said the physical sunscreens shouldn't sting - it's the chemicals sunscreens that sting. She recommended Elta MD UV Physical SPF 41 - she sells it from her office but you can buy it online. It's a little expensive but I love it - it's tinted too so you don't need foundation. I never have the stinging eyes any more. But any physical sunscreen (one with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide - this has both) should stop the stinging problem.

Anne,I know exactly how you feel. We had our basement flood twice with sewage when an new sub division was built and hooked up to our old sewer system. I was terrified every time it rained! After a neighbour got it really bad she went down to city hall and took the mayor a gift in a mason jar! Soon after that they fixed our problem. Even now though with new sewers we still get a small wet spot on our carpet in the rec room after a heavy rain. We went down yesterday and picked up anything we could because we heard about heavy rains coming. We never did get them, yet.It has taught us to keep the basement clean though! Sure hope you are done with it and all is now well!