Sounds like you've really thought this project out thoroughly! I think I follow what you have planned. The main criticism I have is with the 6-mil film you plan to use. Having used 6-mil myself for several years before arriving at the product I use now, I can say that it's flimsy and easily prone to tearing. Commercial gh's that use inflated film covering will use 11-mil on the exterior, and, if they're trying to cut costs, will use the 6-mil on the inside because it doesn't require as much durability. By attaching your film just on the edges of the structure, you'll be asking for trouble. 6-mil stretches, and no matter how tight you pull it, it'll still flap in the wind. Also, with so much potential force focused on a single attachment point along the edge, it'll be prone to pulling free...unless you somehow roll it a couple times around something to evenly-distribute the force. The problem with the wind blowing over it is the element of "lift." Depending upon the wind direction, even with the ends open, the covering will alternately want to rise, then snap back down against the frame. A few hours of windy conditions is all you could ask of 6-mil. Even though the cost is higher, I'd highly recommend the 5.2-ounce translucent tarp linked below. It's 12-mil, and has a woven fabric of fibreglas "tapes" inside the plastic for strength. It's like iron, doesn't stretch, and can withstand just about anything you throw at it. Since it's stronger, and heavier, you'll have less of an issue with it tearing free from attachment points. You also may be able to get away with wider spans, saving you on some rebar. Another plus is the light diffusion through it -- no possibility of burning tender plants/seedlings. I'd have much greater confidence in this material meeting your needs, only attaching it along the edges. The one weakness as I see it for your application is that the largest width available is twelve feet. FarmTek has two products that would be suitable for this purpose. The first one is their Super Tape Seaming & Repair Tape, which is $22.95 for a 3"x60' roll, or $32.95 for a 6"x60' roll. The second is the Premium Repair Tape (product #105383), which is $71.95 for a 4"x100' roll. I'd feel safest sealing both the outside and inside edge, with a 6" overlap of the tarp. Hope your idea for securing the framing against possible racking works OK. If it didn't for some reason, you could retrofit easily with a support line and stake on either end. If you can find a good source for purchasing the wrapping material (to cover the rebar) you described in bulk, that's probably a good bet. I know FarmTek sells something for this purpose, but I'll be darned if I can find it now. The only thing I'd suggest is to use a good-quality tape. I know duct tape is a popular do-all, fix-all, but it performs miserably whenever moisture and heat are present! For this reason, you may want to consider a wire-wrap over the packing material, as an inexpensive material to tightly secure it. Removing the covering in the summer will expose all your handiwork to the elements, so that's another thing to consider. All that work to wrap your rebar may not survive unprotected. Hope there was something helpful here. -Bruce Here is a link that might be useful: 5.2-ounce fabric at FarmTek

Cecelia - We need to hook up! : ) Have you tried to find any other John Cook roses? Of his 24 or so roses it seems like Radiance and her sports and Enchantress(e) at ARE are the only ones not "extinct". I made DH drive while I peered in yards and weeds where John Cook lived and where he supposedly landscaped the yards of some of the big, old homes in Baltimore hoping to discover some of his roses, but all I got was depressed. : ) Linked below is a bit of info about a garden planted with John Cook's roses in 1941 which was later moved to Druid Hill, Balt. in 1989. There are gardens planted by the zoo in Druid Hill but the woman I spoke with said all the Cook roses died and they just have a few OGR's there now. Sad. Regarding fragrance... Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller and Betty Uprichard all are supposedly fragrant. I smelled my rose the other day and there is a fragrance, but it is light and perhaps a bit sweet, but most often it smells of black pepper. My nose is used to smelling roses known for their fragrance so perhaps I'm expecting too much. Good luck getting cuttings from the old rose, I'd love to see some pics of it. Here is a link that might be useful: John Cook info

WE did cut the house off, but the pipes did not drain Or so it appears. Maybe there were low spots or something, or we turned the water off late. Usually we just drip our pipes. Our plumbing is complicated because we are not on city water but on a rain water cistern. I think we had several compounded happenings. We were dripping the faucets but noticed loosing pressure and I mentioned a faucet that would not turn all the way off. My husband decided that the leaking garden valve had to be fixed immediately as it was really freezing, and the water filters had to be changed because of the low pressure, and cut off the water and made the system still. But we thought it was drained. . We did the repairs and charged the system and then the pressure started loosing and then the water stopped. He cut the water again and let the waTER DRAIN, AGAIN, BUT IT DID NOT ALL COME OUT. I DON'T THINK ANY OF IT CAME OUT. My DH is the original gadget Man and often he will go at things at the wrong time . We now have a new air hose at the port of entry and we can blow air (it is not far from a 5 HP air compressor) through the system to push the water out of the system. We also have triple the amount of insulation but the faucets are still exposed. Our building does not have any skirt . It is a modern architecturally designed structure and my husband likes that raise floating look. So do I. I have been pushing to make a room under the building around most of the centralized plumbing area under the bathroom and kitchen sink. Maybe he will begin to see the sense in this. He won't see it from outside but maybe it will hold the warmth of the ground and building for longer. My winter garden is in raised beds in the ground. I got it through last year with minimal death, but not this year.

As per my May 14 post: For the last couple of months, I've been adding two teaspoons of citric acid to the main compartment along with my detergent. Every load. The dishes have never looked better, even more so than when using Lemi Shine as directed... The main ingredient in Lemi Shine is "fruit acids" a/k/a citric acid. You're also getting some fragrances and fillers. I've cut out the middle-man and now just buy straight citric acid -- C.A. is about a tenth of the cost of Lemi Shine, works better because of it's "pure potency", yada yada... Here is a link that might be useful: Just one seller of Citric Acid...