Dorothy, We only dropped down to 3 degrees and the pond froze over on top but not all the way down. All our fish must have survived just fine (I didn't see any floating dead bodies when the ice melted). I've heard of people putting them into rain barrels but haven't tried it myself. Jo, I fold them up and stack them on a high shelf in the garage. I've never had anything get into them or into the floating row covers stacked on the same shelving unit. If the thought of pests or rodents getting into your stored stuff (it hasn't happened to me, yet....) bothers you, you could buy a storage bin with a snap-on lid and store them inside of it. I do pick up things carefully (most of the time), but that's because I'm more likely to find a coppehead or a rattlesnake than a spider. Either last year or the year before, I picked up something off the ground in the garden and something that was underneath it stung me or bit my finger. It hurt worse than anything (except possibly childbirth) I've ever experienced and I was petrified it might have been a snake. When I finally stopped jumping up and down and screaming "Ow Ow Ow", I looked at my finger and there were no fang marks. In the meantime, Tim was using a stick to lift mulch and stuff and see if he could find the culprit. My finger and hand started swelling and turning red so I ran inside and took children's liquid benadryl (to get it into my system ASAP). The redness and minor swelling persisted for a couple of days, and my finger and hand hurt for almost a week. I guarantee you that after that occurred I was once again very, very careful about picking up anything. I think it likely that a scorpion got me, or perhaps one of those big yellow-and-black hornets. Both have stung me in the past and the pain was similar. It was a good lesson to me to watch where I put my hands in the garden and one I will not soon forget. You can discourage spiders in your shed by spraying with a Spider Web Eliminator product. There's also a product called Spider Not that you might liket. I used to have to order them online, but now I see them in some local stores. I'll link one below to show you what I'm talking about. I spray the garage, sheds and back porch (formerly a screened-in porch and now a sunporch) with a spider web eliminator a couple of times a year. In general, I don't worry about spiders at all except for the venomous ones like Black Widows and Brown Recluses. We have about a million spiders an acre here and I appreciate all the non-venomous ones because they help control pest insects. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Spider Not and Spider Web Eliminator

All of you are starting to really anger me. Tracystoke with her post:"yawn ,yawn ,get out and about and sniff smells" is about as disrespectful and rude as it gets. The others nitpicking and thinking they have all the answers and solutions to secrecy's desperate cry for help. I understand that he gives reasons why he can't do certain things that are suggested to him. Why is he being accused of making excuses. I see cold heartless responses and "You are the problem" when met with lack of an instant "Eureka!!!" moment default everyday suggestions that really can not work in his situation. He has and told us he has been diagnosed. He has to battle a mental illness. He is depressed. His home situation is deplorable. Does everyone think he really is possibly lazy, or doesnt want to have a job or bother looking for one, etc. etc. etc.??? HELLOOOOOO! He is reaching out for advice and telling someone with his illness and home situation to go get a job, or stay with someone else, etc. just doesn't cut it. I am sure some of the people mean well. I myself am on disability, with a couple illnesses with no cure. By the way, I also have Narcolepsy. I am stuck in an abusive situation just to keep a roof over my head and not end up homeless. Secrecy, I have a couple suggestions, and will understand if you have difficulties with them. Just try your best. The first good thing you are doing for yourself is asking for help, and sticking to your guns and not dropping off this thread and giving up (at least to as far as I have read). You do sleep so much with depression, let alone any other problems with it. If you can, try to get on several different additional forums such as one for Mental health or depression, looking for work is an insane undertaking at this point in your life. Does everyone really think that if secrecy gets a job how can he actually function with the mental and physical state he is in? Number 1, try to get help with depression, maybe getting medications, help with how to COPE with your home situation. Number 2, try to get from Mental Health doctor a referral to a sleep center to get tested for Narcolepsy. If indeed diagnosed with that too, medicine will do wonders and get you in a regular sleep cycle. If you don't have it, then,you know depression is a big factor. I am not going to guess or diagnose, just adding on to what you have told us. If you try and work with Mental Health, (therapy/meds), learn to cope with home situation (for now, not forever),(through therapy and/or support forums) - ask the people at mental health if you can qualify for their housing. Most Mental Health facilities in just about every town in the US has rooms, group homes, apts. set up for their patients. if they don't, I know they have referrals to agencies that will help. I wish you the best of luck and many blessings for your recovery from the nightmare you have been living in. Do not give up! I have a list of how to help or not help people with chronic illness written by Not Done Living: DON�T assume because I look well that I feel well. Looks can be very deceiving. Many days I look great, but I feel terrible. DON�T tell me you know how I feel. No one knows how anyone else feels. Two people with the same disease may feel totally different. We all have varying thresholds of pain, and pain cannot be measured. DON�T tell me about your great-aunt GERTRUDE and her illness, and how well she managed in spite of it. I am not AUNT GERTRUDE, and I am doing my best. DON�T tell me, "It could be worse". Yes, it could be, but I don�t need to be reminded. DON�T decide what I am capable of doing. Chronic physical illness doesn�t affect the brain. Allow me to decide what activities I can participate in. There may be times I might make the wrong decision, and if I do, I�ll know it soon enough. DON�T be upset that you cannot ease my pain. It won�t do any good for both of us to be miserable. DON�T ask me how I feel unless you really want to know. You may hear a lot more than you are prepared to listen to. DON�T assume because I did a certain activity yesterday that I can do it today. Chronic illness and pain is ever-changing. DON�T tell me about the latest fad �cure�. I want to be cured more than anything, and if there is a legitimate cure out there, my doctor will let me know. DO learn everything you can about the disease. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to know what to expect. DO realize I am angry and frustrated with the disease, not with you. DO let me know you are available to help me when I ask. I�ll be grateful. DO offer me lots of hugs and encouragement. DO understand why I cancel plans at the last minute. I never know from one day to the next how I will feel. Chronic illness is like that. DO continue to invite me to all the activities. Just because I am not able to bike ride along with the gang does not mean I can�t meet you for the picnic at the end of the trail. Please let me decide � If I cancel activities, please do not stop inviting me. I do not deserve to be shut out or forgotten and left alone. Do not give up on my life, I have a hard time doing that myself.

Dog Bowls: I was visiting with a bunch of young professionals involved in dog rescue, and they were discussing the fact (?) that plastic dog bowls can cause a dog's nose to turn pink. I would not have given this any credence except that they are engineers - rocket scientists to be exact - and tend to analyze things before repeating them. They claim it is a chemical reaction as the nose touches the bowl. My dog bowl system: I was experiencing wrist pain and realized how much wrist movement is involved in handwashing the dog's bowls. I bought a third bowl for the dog, and now I pop both his food and water bowls into the dishwasher at night. The dog gets a fresh clean bowl of water at night, the two used bowls come out of the dishwasher in the morning. One bowl is used for food and the clean bowl sits on the counter all day until evening when it is filled with water.

I know I started off this thread asking how often you clean your litter area, but I wanted to come back and update on the litter box. It was time for new ones. I looked at all the suggestions here and the measurements were too similar or exactly what I already had. (I wish they wouldn't slant the insides of most boxes!) Reviewers of the The Nature's Miracle ones were commenting how the plastic is now flimsy and the top breaks when changing litter. I still almost ordered the corner one because it was at least a litter wider than what I had. After doing a little more reseach I settled on this big mamma jamma. Meet the Petmate Giant Litter Pan. Petmate Lots of review photos, but someone submitted one with their five year old kid in the box to demonstrate the size! My child also fit in the box and was happy to test it out. :) People mentioned the photos just don't do it justice and they were surprised how large it was in real life. I found that to be true. I do wish the front wasn't curved and I'm not sure what I'll use the sides for. Perhaps a container of disinfectant wipes. The side areas are much wider and deeper than I expected as well. The plastic has Microban antimicrobial protection and is nice and thick. Even though the sides don't look like it from photos, they're high. The inside is shiny because I sprayed non-stick litter spray inside. (OT note - Walls aren't black they're BM Caponata.) I didn't buy one of those washer pans for underneath. I figure if pee does end up out of the box, whether floor or pan, I'll have to clean it up either way. I do want to get a new scatter mat. I saw a few that looked promising on Amazon. For now I put a puppy pad underneath. I see on the packaging it says there's 'built-in attractant' soooooo.... hopefully that's not an issue. Dogs and cats are different. I'll find out. I was going to order a washable one, but liked the idea of disposable in this case. Happy with my Litter Champ too. Love that the scoop hooks to the side and doesn't touch anything!