I used the polymer to plant the Newhall garden in 1989. From personal experience, do not mix up a largish batch of it without wearing a face mask. The dust will rehydrate inside your body and won't come out. I figured if I hydrated it with liquid fertilizer, it would provide some feeding for some time. Then, I got the "bright idea" of hydrating it with fish emulsion. Stupidly, I admit it, I hydrated a forty-four gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck trash can full of polymer/fish emulsion. Except, how much can you actually USE in one day? Picture it...summer, mid California desert, high nineties to low triple digits, no shelter, only a large trash can with a lid in that heat.... The next day off when I hit the garden, there MUST have been something dead! It was the trash can. I dug an enormous hole to fit the whole, slimy, "dead" mess. It took quite a bit to cover it and I figured something was sure to dig it up, but nothing did. Several years later, we had a strong El Nino. The ground broke open and black 'slime' oozed from the cracks. I figured it had to be something pretty terrible as this was "virgin" ground where no homes had ever stood and no crops ever planted. Polymer... It was mixed, wet, into the soil in 1989. It prevented all gopher activity in the areas in which it was used all the way though 2007 when the garden had to be dismantled. Digging up well established plants, I found the polymer still hydrated with roots grown through it. Fortunately, there was NO evidence of the "dead" fish emulsion. A friend told me he successfully used the polymer against the gophers. His theory was they would eat the polymer along with the roots and it would absorb the fluids in their intestines. You can extrapolate what probably happened internally. All I can swear by is, gophers were frequent issues in all the beds of that garden EXCEPT those planted with the soil polymer. I would use it again, IF I could buy it wholesale as I could in 1989. Then, I was able to buy a whole pound of the stuff for $15. A pound goes a LONG way! Kim

Cactii are tricky here ... Most of us shut down the blinds when it gets this time of year so window space is scarce .. outside it is so hot many cactii just can't take the heat .. they shrink in front of your eyes even if you water four times a week ? ( some do not like our sun at all ) Many cactii are cold sensative in our area. Only a few in nurseries really capable of doing well in our colder winters. Place any cactus in the ground and water it .. and you better watch drainage very carefully and /or heavy soils. Cactus roots need to breath. Pots .. especially small clay pots dry out lightning fast in summer. I sometimes seal clay pots with poly urethane. My hunch ( in other words my guess ) your cactii in the front may be to dry ... or the soil to tight or just plain too much sun. Check out the ground and see what is going on ... Cactii need water and air. Pots are the best ways to keep cactii here if you can find the right place outdoors or create a sheltered green house like environment. Good Day ...

Wow - We got a surprise when we called the doctor to have a prescription sent to get the back up inhaler.... (SD lives in NC and we live in VA). We were going to have it sent to CVS and use our insurance to pay.... BUT!!!! Doctor tells us - SD was being weaned off of the daily asthma inhaler. That it was prescribed at BM's request as precaution for what she said were daily asthma attacks and wheezing each morning..... (which we have never seen or experienced when she is with us at any time) At any rate as of November SD is to no longer be using the Asthmanex and will be re-assessed in a year. Doc says he was asking SD if she had ever had wheezing or tightness in the chest - and she stated no. Mommi just gives her the meds every morning and night - and told her it makes sure she sleeps well and wakes up good. ?!?!?! What the hell ?!?!?!?!? Of course DH did not tell BM this when he called her back after speaking to the doctor. He simply asked BM about making sure all medications SD has been prescribed come for the Thanksgiving visit. (she has a couple allergy things she takes - allegra and nasonex for kids.... BM swears every sniffle or itch is due to a severe allergy that could kill SD if she does not take meds to prevent.) BM's response is that she just took SD to the doctor and she could not get the asthma medication because it was to expensive and she has to wait until the doctor changes the type so she can afford it. But that will not happen until the Monday after Thanksgiving. (Which i think is a lie just so DH will not say anything as to why the medication will not come again this weekend visit)................ I am upset as I don't feel SD should have been put on this med unless she had a documented asthma attack with the doctor or emergency room. My daughter (14) has asthma and uses albuterol or the rescue inhaler - as it only usually bothers her in the winter time. I would not want any child inhaling medication into their lungs on a daily basis that is not necessary... these meds all have side affects. BUT the lie about the situation is what is most disturbing. BM is still trying to medicate SD when it is not necessary.... I think she does it for attention. DH has a call into SD's doctor again to see if there are tests for children that can diagnose asthma - at the age of 6. So we can make sure if the meds are actually needed or not. Before going forward with confronting BM on over medicating SD again.

O.T. Do not disrespect or underestimate small kitchens. The original kitchens on my tract house street were horrible by current standards, but these twinsie little pullman kitchens with doors on both ends nevertheless allowed post-WWII moms to make family meals from scratch, can and freeze garden produce, and host card parties, garden club meetings, and extended families at holidays. I've been told as much by the older residents. DH and I remodeled the original so nicely without adding an inch of actual space that it served me from 1976 to last year when we finally took a sledgehammer to it. Guests at my dinner parties joked that it was like the clown car from which so much entertainment emerged even if it appeared to hold so very very little. But I had to have rules and one was that no one could be in the space with me when I said I needed to be alone. We installed a long countertop which allowed me to plate things before serving and which accepted mounds of dirty dishes afterwards. Cleanup was also a one-person activity. No one was allowed to stand around to talk; guests could stand at either door if they really wanted to, but no, no, no, do not come in. The work triangle was a long obtuse triangle that covered the entire room. But the zones were there, crisp and sharp and functional.