Hi, you should go over to the stained glass and mosaic forum. There are several artists there who make the most amazing things out of diamond lath and or hardware cloth and mortor. They hold up in the weather as these folks are from all over. I haven't tried it yet, but its on my list (making a sculpture). Good luck with your lizard. I think its a wonderful idea! I suggest that you go to the bottom of the sg&m forum and search for scupture, or lath or Rianna (the woman who taught some of them her technique for making scupture) before you ask a general question. They have answered peoples questions before. Then once you've done some research, ask more particular questions. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Stained glass and mosaic forum

Kimmsr now that I know what we had...I agree. But my husband does not do well with any insect. Our house is sprayed to keep bugs away. So he was putting something on it. Until I found out what would treat them. We set it outside and treated it. We've had hard rain...and a possible tornado. We have some people from the weather center coming to our area to check out the damage. Many homes with trees. We were fortunate to be spared...though two large branches that hang over our sunroom wa torn off. But were tossed into the ravine beside our home. Running on a generator... The hibiscus was knocked down...but seems alright. With all the hard rain surely all insects are gone.

I just want to thank everyone for the help and advice. Dh and I have decided to go ahead with the full re-model. We won't be changing the layout but we are going to replace flooring, cabs and counters. I've decided NOT to use the maple slab from my barn. I'm going with granite all around. I REALLY want to remove the soffits but I took a peek today and there is duct work through out! I'm really having a hard time with this.. just looking at them makes me want to cry. I just don't know what to do to make them blend in. They aren't just typical soffits that are near flush with the cabs.. they come out almost 2 feet from the wall, and 10 inches from the cabinets. They also have some funny angles that might make crown molding around the cabinets look odd? I'm going to post over on the kitchen forums to try to get more feedback on the soffits. Thanks again.. you all helped me with the motivation to for the 'real' makeover!

If there are translucent flecks in the leaves, then I think it is most likely insect damage. Spider mites, maybe? The only things that bother my thyme are leafhoppers. They cause those sap-sucked flecks, but they fly all over the place when I touch the plant so I feel as though you would have noticed them if they were present. Variegated leaves can burn easily in the sun, but it will not cause the flecking. If you're sure that it's spread to your other herbs, then I don't think it's a disease. The only diseases likely to affect all four of the plants you mentioned are those caused by Rhizoctonia solani and the water moulds. You would be seeing the symptoms develop rapidly stem-by-stem, and they'd involve heavy leaf loss or wilting. If you've got healthy leaves and damaged leaves on the same stem then it is unlikely to be one of those diseases.