Radha You can just dip some out occasionally to thin it out . It is pulling nutrients from the water so IS keeping algae down. Only thing I've found effective for mosquitoes is fish. Can't imagirigfileurl" value="/forums/load/ponds/msg0509223631221.html"> Your Name: Your Email Address: Zone (optional): Subject of Posting: Message: Optional Link URL:    Name of the Link: Information about Posting You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account. Please review our Rules of Play before posting. Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos. After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it. Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use. We have a strict no-advertising policy! If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum. If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help. Learn more about in-text links on this page here Return to the Ponds & Aquatic Plants Forum Most Recent Posts More Sourdough Discard & Baker's Kaffeeklatsch â¢Â by plllog Sewing your own curtains â¢Â by linelle Blooms..... â¢Â by jane__ny For those who remember Towel Pig â¢Â by clergychick Access movies from Desktop PC on LG 32LM6200 3D TV â¢Â by Markwinstanley What to do with this inherited orchid? â¢Â by jane__ny Where to find? â¢Â by islay_corbel Your Seed Catalogs â¢Â by cottonwood468 O, woe is me... â¢Â by andi2928 lemon fruit starting to color up -- but is it lemon? â¢Â by Bullieblack Explore GardenWeb Ann's Cream Cheese Babka Perfect for Holiday Baking Feeding Hummingbirds Will they survive the winter? ItsTheDetails'...

cissado, I assume that your CC means Credit Card ... and I'm wondering if I missed something, as I didn't think that there was a reference to credit cards in the present discussion. Sparksals took her bequest cheque, drawn in Canadian dollars, to a local financial agency (in AZ?) and was rather distressed that they wanted a rather hefty fee for the exchange. It was suggested that she have the money exchanged into U.S. funds in Calgary, as they have a large number of U.S. folks up there and do that all the time. As she said, the exchange rate had the Canadian Dollar increase in value relative to the U.S. one in the meantime, so she ended up getting something better than US$22,000. for her CA$25,000., rather than better than $19,000. which she was offered originally in her area. __________________________ Sparksals, As you begin (to learn about and) investing, especially when you have small amounts, mutual funds are useful vehicles. In the meantime, I suggest that you begin to learn how the money markets work, with a view to buying your own stocks directly, later. In Canada, the managers of equity-based mutual funds usually charge more than 2% of the funds managed annually as their management fee ... in the U.S., it's usually aound 1.5 - 1.75%, I think. Still, when long-term average rate of growth runs around 8%, that means that the mutual fund managers are pocketing a substantial portion of that increase ... and they get their percentage, even in years when there is no growth. I'd suggest that you visit the business and investment section of a major library and ask the people who know that section of the library to suggest some materials for you to study. I think that the 332. section will have some useful materials. If they have the Value Line evaluation system, that gives an in-depth study of a large number of companies. There's another program of investing that is comparable to mutual funds, but the annual fee is much lower, called Exchange Traded Funds. Quite a number of mutual fund managers use them, some rather extensively You can buy one issue that includes shares of a number of major companies in, say, financial, or medical, or mining, consumer, transportation, utilities and other sectors. Or you can buy a piece of a number of shares of major companies in a number of countries or areas of the world ... look under "ishares" in the NYSE listing. As the management is much less, their annual fee is much smaller - usually about 0.5% or so. While the rates of return on your CDs remains approximately the same over a number of years, there are a number of companies that have increased their dividends annually for many years ... I think that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) have increased theirs every year for the most recent 40. And their rates of payment usually run at a similar percentage rate, which means that, usually, the share prices have advanced, as well. If you look at any financial paper, you can see the symbol that the stock market uses to designate each stock, and the prices that each is selling at currently, plus, usually, report of their recent earnings, and the dividend that they pay. If you go to a financial section on the internet, e.g., I use Yahoo, and if you go to www.yahoo.com, near the top of the page is a box with a number of topics. Click on "Finance", and when that page comes up, it offers a substantial amount of info on the general market. There's a box that says, "Get quotes", and if you enter the symbol for a given stock (e.g. "F" is Ford, "GE" is General Electric, it will give you the range of prices that people paid today for that stock. At the right there is a chart that shows the various prices today, and below it you can click on "5d" to find a chart showing the prices over the most recent 5 days, "1y" to show the price ranges for the most recent year. Above the box there is a choice that lets you choose "Line" (which is likely the one that shows), showing the closing price of the stock over a given period. Or, you can choose, "Bar", which will show the high, low and closing prices daily for whatever period that you choose. Over at the left, near the top, is a choice, "Historical prices", and you can choose daily, weekly, etc. for what length of times that you choose. You'll get a list of open, high, low and close prices over a length of time ... and dates and amounts of dividend payments (most pay quarterly). EnCana (ECA.TO for pricing in CAD in Toronto, ECA for pricing in USD on NYSE) is, long term, a good stock, mainly involved with natural gas ... I don't know whether investing in it just now is a good idea (nor do I mean to imply that it isn't), but if your time horizon is several years, I'm pretty sure that you'd be happy with it. I hope that this gives you some ideas of how to begin your adventure of learning about your investments. Learning how money works ... an interesting hobby ... *that pays well*!! ole joyful

Keep in mind that every family is different and dynamics can change or be amplified after the death of a loved one. Estate law varies from state-to-state. I've included a link regarding Louisiana Estate Administration. I suggest you google Louisiana Estate Law to learn more. I am the executor of a relative's estate. I won't go into details, but it is still a huge mess and it's been almost 3 years. Here are a few things to keep in mind..... The conventional wisdom is that if there's a will, there won't be any problems. That is not true. In your case, your father could contest the will. Sure, the lawyers could say he won't be able to get anything, but the estate would still have to defend itself in the legal proceedings and court if it goes that far. Any expenses outside of "normal" probate expenses are not covered under the probate fees of an estate (in most states, the amount of money the probate lawyer and executor gets paid for their services are determined by statute). These fees will have to come out of the estate. And they can add up very quickly - just because your father won't get anything the estate still has to file motions and respond to what your father and his attorney file. Depending on your father, he could just drag things out to deplete the value of the estate. So depending on your father (and any other relatives or interested parties) they can contest the will and let me tell you that unfortunately I have found from experience that the costs associated with someone who doesn't have standing can get quite high. Just because there is a will, doesn't mean things will go smoothly. And, just because an attorney drafted the will does not mean there won't be problems. An individual can take a will they drew up to an attorney and have the attorney use that as the will (with or without changes) because "that is what they want done." The individual thinks that the will makes sense and that's that. Again, depending on the will, the circumstances of the estate, etc. the intentions of the individual will not be realized and there will be problems with the estate. Case law evolves and what was the "norm" years ago when a will was drafted may now have unintended consequences. In my family, a family member drafted a will and took it to a lawyer. It was a huge mess. In hindsight, the lawyer should have made suggestions regarding the wording of the will (for all we know he did and the advice was ignored). When wills are drafted, they sometimes are done without taking into consideration changes in family dynamics - the death and remarriage of family members, etc. The will was drafted at one point in time and it can be difficult to make contingencies for every possible situation in the future. From your post, it sounds as though your grandmother doesn't 100% understand how her wishes will be carried out by her will. In my experience with my own grandparents, I found that they had varying levels of understanding of how their will would dictate the handling of their estates, and in reality some of that did not come to fruition. It is your grandmother's estate and she can do what she wants. I don't know how your family dynamic is when it comes to discussing money, wills, etc. You could suggest to her that you both go to her attorney so you can make sure that her intentions are carried out properly. In my family, you didn't air your dirty laundry in public, and that included discussing these issues with an attorney. If your grandmother is more "old school" and this is the case, her attorney could be under the impression that everything is fine and there is not going to be a problem when in fact there could be major issues. I suggest you check if her attorney specializes in estates. Sure, any attorney can draw up a will, but you want one who knows this area of the law. If her attorney does not, then I would suggest to her she ask this attorney for the name of an attorney who specializes in estates or find one who does. If her attorney is not an estate attorney and he was your grandfather's attorney, friend, etc. she may not be willing to find another attorney (loyalty is great, but there is a place for it). I would use the analogy that you wouldn't use a cardiologist to deliver a baby to justify finding an attorney with this area of expertise. Since she has discussed the issue of the will with you, there's a chance she will be open to taking you with her to the attorney. IMHO I would think the lawyer would have given a copy of the will to your grandmother to give to you if you are the executor (in my case, I was named executor after another family member on two wills and I was given copies for my files - I guess different attorneys do it differently). This is about protecting your grandmother's wishes and making sure that she will be able to have the means to carry out her intentions if she gets into a situation where she will no longer be capable of making decisions. I hope your grandmother is doing well and her wishes are carried out as she intends. Good luck.

I cut the plants off the stalks, leaving what they were attached to and just sort of stuck them in little pots with orchid planing soil -which looks like is just bark and vermiculite. They were looking good but last night I think they were discovered by some slugs. I am soaking them and I'll put them back in their pots. Oh, and I fertilized them with some very weak fertilizer. I need to get the little wooden baskets. They're pretty fugly as is, between the chewed up leaves and their temp pots. I'll post pictures when they are looking a little better.