I never tried to photograph the shimmering... but did manage to get the Aurora. It was in Sept 05 and very, very late in the night. My wife and I were watching a movie and when it ended, we went outside for some fresh air and the night sky had what we call a moonbow-- a strange glow arching the entire sky, signifying an approaching solar storm. I knew the Aurora was going to kick up so my wife lovingly, if not totally annoyed, got in the car with me and my camera equipment. We went deep into the country-side away from lights and waited. I think we were out there for 2 or so hours-- and NOTHING happened. It was the exact moment that Carrie opened the door that she looked up and said, "Oh my God! Look!" The sky opened up as if on fire and we enjoyed an hour+ long show that was nothing short of a divine experience. It actually made us cry, it was so amazing. To describe it with words or images does no justice. But it was as if a great eye was directly above us. It swirled like a storm and then it would morph and pulse like a blinking eye. It was about half way through that the light pours down to the horizon, surrounding us like huge candles, dancing. The colors changed constantly, revealing reds, purples, greens, yellows, blues and oranges-- pretty much the entire spectrum. When the storm was finally over, the sky continued to pulsate, rhythmically for hours and hours. We stayed until the sun rose. We later found out that it was one of the largest solar storms ever recorded-- and we were so thankful to have seen it. Not that I doubted then, but having seen the Aurora, it was like witnessing the very presence of God. Sorry for all the photos... but I wanted to share them. The cold can be hard to bear if you're not use to it-- but having the chance to see something like this, requiring me to be very far North-- was worth all the shivering! Ryan

As a furnace repairman, it has long been very clear that there is a great advantage to having an alternate source of heat not dependent upon electricity to operate. Personally, I have and use a woodstove regularly, but gas fireplaces with self powered pilot generator systems are good. Since natural gas tends to be highly reliable, using either propane or natural gas is good. Two stories: A few years ago we had a huge windstorm that left huge numbers of people without electricity for days on end. One customer called me about repairing his gas fireplace, which wouldn't turn on. Upon inspecting the equipment, I found that the self powered gas fireplace worked fine, but the guy had a remote control installed in the equipment that operated on 120VAC --- so the fireplace couldn't be turned on because of the remote control. He was VERY happy that I could install a simple toggle switch to bypass the remote control, and seemed to have no complaints about having to get up to turn the switch on or off after five days or so of NO HEAT in his house! And then there was the guy in the ritzy neighborhood whose furnace had quit working. I think this was during the same windstorm as the last story, and the power had been out in the neighborhood for days. I fixed the furnace, and asked him if the neighbors found the noise of his electric generator which was powering the furnace to be annoying. He said that after the first day, his neighbor (with no power) DID complain about the noise. He sized up the neighbor and offered to let him plug into the generator if he had some extension cords. No further complaints! The guy was a real diplomat!

Are your clothes heavily soiled? Is that why you use such hot water on them? Otherwise, 85°F to 105°F water is sufficient for most loads (as you later discovered); and cold water (which is considered 65°-75°F) for very bright colors or those dark colors that may not be colorfast. Although a huge money saver over using the dryer, I found hanging laundry outside was my main contributor to fading. Now I primarily hang clothes to dry in the basement and avoid the bleaching from the sun. Clothes last so much longer when I hang them indoors instead of hanging outside or using the dryer. I agree with westvillager, over-drying clothing in a hot dryer will also fade them, along with the temperature of the wash water. All unstable dye is prone to fading - PERIOD, and not just from water temperature, type of detergent, but also from friction (with or without water). Even white cotton fabric can revert to the natural (less white) color of cotton, instead of the brilliant white it may have been new, after many trips through the washer and dryer. I have read where over-loading your washer can cause fading due to excessive friction. I also wonder if using so little water in washers today might also contribute to fading because the friction on clothes that have so little water to circulate in? Do you turn your dark clothes inside out? That is supposed to help as well. -Grainlady

This info was compiled from the David Liddle catalog: Minimum Temperature Something we will all find quite handy!! Here is a compiled list of base temperature tolerances of some hoyas. This information is taken from Liddle's Nursery Catalogues of the past few years. It is a list of "base temperature tolerances"and is the lowest recommended tolerance. It should not to be taken as typical growing conditions. C = Cool. Lowest temp. 50 deg. F. I = Intermediate Lowest temp 60 deg. F W = Warm Lowest temp 70deg.F COOL IML 6 australis ssp. australis 'Silver Valley' Qld. IML 256 " " " 'Brookfield' IML 46 bella IML 1437 bella, albomarginate form IML 201 calycina ssp. calycina IML 51, 158,98,43,44 carnosas IML 186 compacta 'Krinkle 8' IML 444 fungii IML 54 globulosa IML 154 kerrii IML 45 lacunosa var. pallidiflora IML 377 lacunosa var. lacunose IML 139 linearis IML 185 longifolia IML 149 motoskei IML 50 motoskei IML 269 obovata IML 352 pauciflora IML 148 polyneura IML 87 pottsii 'sp. Chiang Mai' from Thailand IML (all pubicalyx) IML 59 serpens IML 48 sheperdii IML 461 HSI 037 IML 90 lanceolata INTERMEDIATE IML 1418 aldrichii IML 24 anulata (as well as IML 84 and IML 1120) IML 414 archboldiana (as well as IML 541, 560) IML 217 arnottiana IML 5 australis ssp. australis (as well as IML 7) IML 1 australis ssp. tenuipes (as well as 565, 144) IML 772 benquetensis IML 224 bhutanica IML 228 bilobata IML 775 bordenii IML 1216 brevialata IML 724 burtoniae IML 554 callistophylla IML 418 camphorifolia IML 372 caudata (as well as IML 965) IML 189 cembra IML 1352 chlorantha IML 545 chlorantha var. tuituilensis IML 1101 chuniana IML 329 cinnamomifolia IML 734 citrina IML 716 coriacea IML 1164 curtisii (as well as IML 1160 H.curtisii from Thailand) IML 892 davidcummingii IML 1185 deykei IML 482 dimorpha IML 71 diptera (also IML 261, 266) IML 83 diversifolia IML 337 dischorensis IML 1377 dolicosparte IML 298 eitapensis IML 415 erythrina (as well as IML 511) IML 713 erythrostemma (as well as IML 1428) IML 1007 excavata IML 391 finlaysonii IML 118 and 423 flavida IML 1278 greenii IML 1116 halophilla IML 832 and 904 heuschkeliana (both the pink and the yellow forms) IML 107 inconspicua IML 187 incrassata IML 1163 incurvula IML 1054 ischnopus IML 1580 kanyakumariana IML 394 kentiana IML 834 aff. kentiana IML 92 limoniaca IML 708 and 930 litoralis IML 1161 lobbi IML 987 loherii IML 15, 16, 17, 220 and 449 macgillivrayi IML 441, 1043, 1181 macrophylla IML 152 magnifica IML 735 meliflua and IML 124 meliflua ssp. Fraterna IML 465 merrillii IML 182 and 153 multiflora IML 198 naumanii IML 240 nummularoides IML 234 and 1003 obscura IML 1316 odettaea IML 559 pachyclada IML 421 padangensis IML 97 parasitica IML 454 parviflora IML 391 pentaphlebia IML 968 picta (syn. Pubera) IML 161 polystachya IML 18,20,22,37,39,86,353,489 pottsii IML 728 purpureo-fusca IML 78 pusilla IML 1342 retusa IML 1395 and 1424 rigida IML 192 samoensis IML 518 schneei IML 1127 subglabra IML 1177 thomsoni IML 62 tsangii IML 146,79,738 verticillata (ridleyi), verticillata (acuta) and verticillata IML 452 vitellina (syn. Fuscomarginata) IML 358 vitellinoides (syn. meredithii) IML 100 sp. Aff. micrantha IML 380 sp. Aff. chuniana currently in circulation as H. chuniana IML 831 sp. Philippines - thought to be the same as H. sariae WARM All of the Eriostemma section of Hoya IML 80 anulata (USDA354247 - flowers white with pink corona, leaf edges undulate. IML 23 australis ssp. oramicola IML 171 australis ssp. sanae IML 1012 clemensiorum IML 382 collina IML 238 cominsii IML 168 cumingiana IML 955 dennisii IML 1330 densifolia IML 1155 hypolasia IML 222 imperialis var. rauschii IML 88 latifolia IML 1098 megalaster IML 768 mindorensis IML 1575 mitrata IML 559 pachyclada IML 1096 and 1083 patella IML 231 ruscifolia IML 229 subcalva (BSI 1) IML 1024 waymaniae