@dleverette When making 5:1:1 mix, I break-up the compressed chunks of peat so they pass through a 1/2" screen. I toss any sticks and such on top of the raised beds where they break down with time. Here's a tip you'll find very helpful. For large batches of 5:1:1, pour the bark onto a tarp laid on a flat surface, then wet the bark a bit. Then, add the screened peat and spread it over the bark. Add your lime on top of the peat, then put down the perlite and wet that. The trick is to use just enough water to make the mix damp when it's thoroughly mixed. Both peat and pine bark are hydrophobic (water repellent) when allowed to dry below about 20% of their water holding ability. This makes a dry 5:1:1 mix extremely difficult to rewet if you don't moisten it when you make it. The moisture in the mix diffuses, moistening the bark/ peat and "breaking" its tendency to repel water. Within 15-30 minutes of making the mix you can pot plants and water them in thoroughly w/o the frustration associated with trying to rehydrate a dry soil. FWIW, I don't use coir. As many times as I've tried it and cone comparative experiments, I've always had problems or been dissatisfied with the results. You might be interested in a comparison between peat and coir I wrote several years back: Peat vs. Coir Sphagnum peat and coir have nearly identical water retention curves. They both retain about 90-95% of their volume in water at saturation and release it over approximately the same curve until they both lock water up so tightly it's unavailable for plant uptake at about 30-33% saturation. Coir actually has less loft than sphagnum peat, and therefore, less aeration. Because of this propensity, coir should be used in mixes at lower %s than peat. Because of the tendency to compact, in the greenhouse industry coir is primarily used in containers in sub-irrigation (bottom-watering) situations. Many sources produce coir that is high in soluble salts, so this can also be an issue. Using coir as the primary component of container media virtually eliminates lime or dolomitic lime as a possible Ca source because of coir's high pH (6+). Gypsum should be used as a Ca source, which eliminates coir's low S content. All coir products are very high in K, very low in Ca, and have a potentially high Mn content, which can interfere with the uptake of Fe. Several studies have also shown that the significant presence of phenolic allelochemicals in fresh coir can be very problematic for a high % of plants, causing poor growth and reduced yields. I haven't tested coir thoroughly, but I have done some testing of CHCs (coconut husk chips) with some loose controls in place. After very thoroughly leaching and rinsing the chips, I made a 5:1:1 soil of pine bark:peat:perlite (which I know to be very productive) and a 5:1:1 mix of CHCs:peat:perlite. I planted 6 cuttings of snapdragon and 6 cuttings of Coleus (each from the same plant to help reduce genetic influences) in containers (same size/shape) of the different soils. I added dolomitic lime to the bark soil and gypsum to the CHC soil. After the cuttings struck, I eliminated all but the three strongest in each of the 4 containers. I watered each container with a weak solution of MG 12-4-8 with STEM added at each watering, and watered on an 'as needed basis', not on a schedule. The only difference in the fertilizer regimen was the fact that I included a small amount of MgSO4 (Epsom salts) to provide MG (the dolomitic lime in the bark soil contained the MG, while the gypsum (CaSO4) in the CHC soil did not. This difference was necessary because or the high pH of CHCs and coir.) for the CHC soil. The results were startling. In both cases, the cuttings grown in the CHC's exhibited < 1/2 the biomass at summers end as the plants in the bark mix. I just find it very difficult for a solid case to be made (besides "It works for me") for the use of coir or CHC's. They're more expensive and more difficult to use effectively. The fact that some believe peat is in short supply (no where near true, btw) is easily offset by the effect of the carbon footprint of coir in its trek to the US from Sri Lanka or other exotic locales. That's the view from here. YMMV Coir Study: https://sites.google.com/site/plantandsoildigest/usu-crop-physiology-laboratory/coconut-coir-studies Al

I feel like someone's naughty nine year old older brother whispering, "There is no Santa Claus." A label on a rose outside Paris doesn't make any identification any more accurate than this: "It's the same as the one with the label outside Paris." Whether either is the real 'Mlle de Sombreuil' is the question we need to ask. If we reach a consensus as to a name, yes, that's a help. You need to have studied the roses labeled in that and other European gardens to understand why I say that, and that's with all due respect for the great garden collections everywhere (and maybe all collections of anything everywhere). We all have labels on roses in our own gardens and know how they evaporate before our eyes. We all know that garden gnomes comes out at night and switch labels. We know that garden elves steal the remaining labels. We know that armies marched through the capitols of Europe several times between the late 1800's and the mid-1900's. Armies don't much care about labels on roses. Draw your own conclusions about the meaning of rose labels in gardens in Europe, in the USA, in the hands of US nurseries. To my mind, it is one more piece of evidence, but it is not the same as simple fact. An enormous collection of more than 3200 varieties and 13,000 plants would take at least one person full time to keep the database and labeling straight. I'm going to make a wild guess that didn't always happen. Rose names fall of the rails all the time. We need to keep our wits about us and refuse to suspend our powers of reason to accept a label when common characteristics of the class are missing. P.S. Maybe it is the real Mlle de Sombreuil. The original source material on this rose isn't very accessible to the English speaker.

Gosh... I wish I knew how to post a pic.... I have a few but don't know how to post them I smash the tp roll and make it flat. I open it up and bring the two folds together. When you open it, it should be square. Fold it again and on one end clip along the center fold about 3/4 of an inch. Open it and fold it on the opposite folds again and clip those folds on the same end. You should have four little flaps on one end. Open the roll up and you now have the makings for an open ended box. Take those little flaps and fold them inside the tube like you would close a box, tucking the fourth flap under the first. When I put these tp rolls/little boxes in a container, I hold them in place and fill the outer edges of the container first, this holds the tp rolls in place until I can fill them. I really push the soil down into the rolls with my fingers and leave a little dent in the center. I also make sure to bury them a bit so they don't dry out as quickly. Keep that little dent in there until you sow it... when you bury them, they can become hard to find! To put the markers in, I used a butter knife to separate the rolls and slide in the marker. I made the markers with old blinds.

I do work full time and getting alimony at least for a couple of years is pretty much guaranteed as the difference between our incomes in substantial and we've been married for 24 years. My dilemma is whether to go for the smaller down payment or not. In the future (post-alimony) I should probably refinance to make the house payment smaller, I guess? Julie, what I am trying to say is, don't count your chickens before they are hatched. While you may get alimony, it might not be what you think it will, and it also could depend on the judge and whether your soon to be ex fights it or not. I also should have had alimony. I did not have income for 7 years and before that had only brought in about $20k a year. The only reason I even had the part time job was because I needed money. This divorce was a case of domestic abuse where he was removed from the house; but while the judge was sympathetic to me, not when it came to alimony. In your case, if you can wait to buy the house I would unless you are 100% positive you will get a certain amount of alimony. As I said, do some research to see how often it is given out. Now lawyer advises to have biggest loan possible or husband can say there is no need for alimony, which would be 2 yrs. at most. Scenario - Right now your ex knows how much cash you got from the sale. If you do buy a house, they may ask to see the paperwork, what you spent, how much the loan is. If the divorce is nasty he can ask why you went for a house that cost that much when you shouldn't have. If he wants to, he may be able to show you bought a house you expect him to finance. I don't know your area, where you are from, or prices of houses, what you are looking to buy. I am sharing my experience so that you don't dig yourself a hole. I feel that renting for now may be the safest thing as was mentioned until you know exactly what is going on.