So.. if we have fireblight in the summer (which I do on both pears and apples) what is the best thing to do to save the tree? And then what exactly should we do in the winter to prevent it? I've cut off many branches already (while sterilizing my snippers between cuts) but new areas show up (or were there in early stages which I did not see). Poor things are looking pretty sad and I'm seriously thinking of taking out all my pears and apples (only 2 of each) and using that ground for something that actually produces food. We don't really need more fruit anyways. More herbs and greens maybe. Thanks, Ron

Just to add a comment about our fireplace insert experiences. In a previous home in Colorado we had a earlier model Lopi insert, one without the EPA-approved improvements in burn efficiency. It did a fantastic job of heating the downstairs walkout basement, AND when we had winter power outages and the gas furnace wouldn't come on, the kids would all sleep in the family room around the stove, AND you could cook a pot of soup on its flat top. We never had to pay for soft wood (plenty available for free for scavengers) but bought hardwood to make a good burn mixture. When we took over my in-law's smaller suburban home in Idaho we put in another Lopi insert, this time with the EPA-approved efficiencies (double-burning of smoke) and a blower of course (yes, with a power outlet next to the fireplace) and a good stainless-steel chimney liner. People are surprised how small the unit is, but it does a fabulous job of heating the whole upstairs. You can get a heavy stove-top water kettle to put on the flat area and help humidify the room. Or simmer a pot of soup for supper. We added to the general cost by building a stone chimney breast and a wide raised hearth (something we realized we needed from our previous insert experience, to corral the wood boxes and the general mess from the wood). And put a thick wool rug in front on the hardwood floor to catch any sparks when opening up the door to attend to the fire. The insert and surrounds is a focal point in an otherwise ordinary suburban home. Again we haven't had to buy soft wood as we scavenge from anywhere we can. Just needs to be cut to a 16" length for our Lopi. The hardwood is bought (or when we're lucky, occasionally scavenged) as it's a must for efficient burning. We used to bring up firewood from Colorado but no longer transport wood due to insect & disease transmission concerns. You REALLY need to learn how to build a fire and run the fire with maximum efficiently in these stoves, especially for burning off excess soot and doing the long overnight slow burn. Not to mention using your wood stocks economically, mixing the soft and hard woods. I think I've got up to 6 or 7 hours on one loading of the firebox when I've been there in the colder months.

Hi Mabel - I am in central Maine near Skowhegan. I don't have enough knowledge about how to use them yet to teach anyone but you are more welcome to come and burn experimental pizzas with me. I am very lucky that an old family friend and neighbor is an expert on these ovens. He has written books and has a blog. This is actually a mud oven rather than a brick oven - so I will have to put up some kind of roof. We built the oven out of 4' of clay/sand over a sand mold. Here is a picture of the arch and the sand mold. Here is a link that might be useful: breadhunter's blog

I've asked my agent repeatedly about advertising and she says the listing will be in one of the upcoming homes magazines, evidently she missed a deadline for the previous month's issue - she also stated that the bulk of interest lately is online (!) Regardless, I've been adamant about it and have yet to see it anywhere on paper. I specifically mentioned the local papers, too. I want her to deluge the market with my home - visibility is important. FWIW, most of the mags can be accessed online. If she told you which mags she'll be advertising in, look them up online, then do a search for a house like yours in your area. Does your house show up? Can you see if agents can log in online to upload and edit their listings? Depending on where you are, she could be right. Do you have a good retiree's house? If so, more paper advertising may be necessary as a lot of older people I know don't have computers. With online advertising, I've said this before & will say it again... What I always suggest to someone selling their house (I do this myself) is I will sign up at all of the major real estate sites (this will be c/p from a post I made elsewhere) Major real estate sites Realtor.com main search - click advanced search to get more options Caldwell Banker Century 21 ReMax ReMax find an office Prudential Fox & Roach Weichert Yahoo Real estate You can check foreclosures there also. It's a pretty decent list. You can also find an agent through their Home Gain. Make an account at all of the sites. Put in your search criteria (which is similar to your house on beds/bath, give a generous price range for high and low) then save the search. You will get emails when new listings come on as well as price drops. Every site is different and in order to find a house, you may have to sign up at all of the sites so that you can see what buyers see. For someone selling, you then want to put your MLS number in their search box, if your house comes up, save it to your profile. This will allow you to see every time your agent does something, such as price drop or new photos. You will now see what other buyers searching in your area sees. This is especially helpful if you are not getting a lot of traffic, because now it becomes a question of why. My favorite site is Remax for ease of use. I actually save all homes I'm interested in from other places in my Remax home finder. I will copy the MLS # searching at Remax. How much longer is your contract? Does your agent give you the option to cancel due to not being happy? If so, you might want to consider it. You should also go to realtor.com and do a search of your area / similar homes. You want to see what your agent is doing for your house there (a lot of people use it to look at houses) as well as seeing what other agents offer. If you truely are not happy, you can use it to find a new agent. My agent didn't want to do an open house, but when pressed, did. Surprise, no one showed up. She said she advertised for the open house but suggested after the fact that I check the paper to see if it was there (ummm... isnt that her responsibility?) There could be a few reasons for this. Open houses are not popular in my area. If anyone shows up agents are surprised. With our Open houses (old agent) they were not advertised to my liking. The 1st one was rushed, I don't recall it being advertised on the MLS and it was only in the Sunday paper. If I were to do an open house again, I would do 2 weeks notice, have the agent add it to the MLS, and since I have an agent with enhanced listings on realtor.com, it will show as open on the online page. I would also ask for weekend advertising, Friday to Sunday in the newspaper. I would also advertise on craigslists. Her lockbox has scraped some paint from my front door & I asked her 3 weeks ago to please place a rubber pad under the lockbox. She said she would - hasn't. (Minor, I know, but Im irked.) This is the reason we don't have it on our door. Do you have a bench outside? Ours is attached to the bench, there is nothing to get ruined with it hanging like that. I asked about a brochure box for the front, she stated that shed prefer people call her. I agreed to that (shes the pro, not me). Two days later, theres a brochure box in my yard. *shrug* What is on the brochures? Our front page is nicely done with a bulleted blurb about the house, and a few photos. The listing agents info is on the 1st page. Our 2nd page is the MLS print out, which can easily be changed if there is a price change. It's very important to have the price & MLS number on the flier as people will throw it away if it is not. This is a peeve of mine. I can't tell you how much time I do not have to look information up online only to not be able to find it, or to find I have to join an agents site just to see the info. Forget it. I also do not have time to call an agent, I do not want to give them my name / number just to find out how much a house is. I detest some of the pictures she's taken Have to agree with everyone, if you post your MLS number we can give you feedback on the photos. You do not have to link to the agents site, finding the house on realtor.com is fine. Re an agent caravan, she told me that agents and brokers are innundated with them and she gets so many email notices that she merely deletes them - hence, she wouldn't do one for my home Depending on your area, agents may or may not come. We had 3 agents come to ours, hardly worth the time / effort / money to even have one. Price-wise, I feel it's where it should be. It's priced under what I paid for it 1 year ago and I also dropped about 15K into it (fencing, painting, etc.) So I'm taking a hit coming out of the gate - I paid 250K, it's listed at 235K. I know my agent has an issue with that, she continually remarks, "I can't believe you're willing to lose 30-40K and sell the house. You should stay in it for a couple of years..." I figure that's my concern, not an agent's. The house still may be over priced depending on what else is out there. If you don't know your MLS, you can give us your zip code as well as price, beds & baths. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to upload pictures - I did a quick search of the threads here for help, but was only directed to picasa. Is there a simple way to merely upload a couple of pictures? Picasa is easy to use. All you have to do is make an account, upload the photos, then link to your public album.