GG replied: Re: Burning Leaves Because I have mine fitted with the reflector, vines can rest against the sides of the fixture no problem. My problem is really less to do with the fixture and more to do with the shelf height. There just isn't more than 1-3" clearance between the tops of the hoops and the light fixture. If I used a different fixture, I wouldn't even be able to fit them on the shelves. Hoyas won't grow right into the bulb - they know to grow around it - but if I put the flat back on the shelf carelessly, I might lean a leaf against the bulb. I just always have to do this little sweep afterward, where I reposition a few vines and leaves. I could eliminate the problem by just removing a shelf and turning it into a 3 shelf unit, but I do like having that shelf there for the shorties. I probably just need to get another shelving unit, or light the one in the bedroom. I'll take a picture tonight - sorry, I had a really crazy weekend. It did occur to me to suspend the fixture from the ceiling, because they're built for that purpose. Maybe I should do so. I'm just dragging my feet on putting more holes into my landlord's ceiling b/c I feel like I'm already taking advantage of his permission to put in holes as long as I patch them up when I leave. Re: Hoops I do use the big 4' bamboo hoops, on my big plants. I'm not a huge fan either - mainly because they're unnecessarily bulky and expensive for small pots. I use the green plastic coated hoops for 99.9% of my plants. Most of my plants are on the 30" 12 gauge plant stakes. This is the first height I used and most of my shelves are spaced for this height. My plants live on this size hoop in 4" pots until they really outgrow it, which takes a long time for most species. Of course, I also use short plant hoops for the short plants. I reuse the varying sizes that I have accumulated from Joni over the years, and I've bought my own, so there is no standardization with little hoops. It's actually really handy to have a variety at this stage because when cuttings are small you run into more unique scenarios. Now, I love the 30" height, but if I ever get rid of that shortie shelf, I might convert everyone over to 36" hoops, because Chula's 10 gauge wire is so much better than the 12 gauge. The hoops are so much sturdier. They're great for the heavier plants. They are less inclined to lean in the pot. I keep all 3 lengths of this wire and they are all handy. The green is actually a nicer green than the 12 gauge - a bit more of a natural hue, so it blends in better. Re: Tray placement The large trays are longways and the small trays are shortways. Then I have just enough room to put a row of plants at the back, in saucers, so that's where I put my bulky big leaf plants.

I graduated high school in a class of 160 students back in 1983. The local paper published the honor roll each quarter and 1 or 2 students would have earned all A's for that period; always the same 1 or 2 students who were brilliant and who truly worked their tails off to get perfect A's. Now, almost 30 years later, my mom still subscribes to that same local paper and they still publish the honor roll each quarter. The graduating class each year is still around 160 students, but now, each quarter, a full 10% (at least 16 students if not more) is on the honor roll for straight A's. How could the curriculum have been dumbed down THAT much -- it's a terrible shame and it's not fair to anyone that straight A's have been made so much easier to obtain.

Sorry to have been cryptic. I was in a sincerely sad mood when I wrote my post. I'll try to make this brief, but I married into a family that's very domineering and suspect of any "outsiders." They do everything as an extended unit, from holidays (of course) to vacations together (not really my thing). The background: My husband lived at home when I married him (our first mistake), and his mother threatened to kill herself several times after we got engaged many years ago. She sought therapy and while she didn't jump off any bridges, she's lived to make our and her lives miserable. Her ex, my husband's father, and she have been living out a tortured relationship for thirty-plus years of on-again, off-again romance, although they divorced decades ago, and have dragged each other through court over the years. When they're on, they're happy. When they're off, they're angry if we've been socializing with the other. Worst of all, though, may be that FIL has been very critical of how we've raised our special-needs child, and at one point HE ceased speaking to US for nearly a year over it. He's also criticized DH and I about our weight, asking why had we let ourselves go (hello, stress?); and has sat in our modest home, asking when we're going to get a bigger house (not in the cards right now, not that we have any problem with our home). Whenever I'm shocked by these comments, my husband says he's just so used to his father being an idiot that he doesn't listen to him anymore. (I do take some comfort in that!) Adding to matters is my husband's brother and his wife are competitive people who've used our difficulties to emphasize their own wise decisions, i.e. their children do not have our child's problems because they were smart enough to space out their vaccinations. (This is not why my child's had issues.) My sister-in-law gamely convinced my mother-in-law to invest her entire life savings in their house, and my mother-in-law lives there and acts like the mom, so if I say, "My daughter wants to tell you about the clown she saw this week," my MIL's response is, "Well we saw a clown too. We saw lots of clowns when I took the kids [meaning her other grandchildren] to the circus." It's a one-upmanship between "her" kids and our kids. "We have that toy, too." "We've been there, too." Etc. My MIL's never forgiven me for taking her son away, and now it's affecting my kids. Her other son is now the good one because "he took me in" (took her and her several hundred grand in cash). After many years of enduring the barbs, the drama, the put-downs, it hit me a few months ago: Why am I spending any more minutes of time than necessary around these folks? Hasn't many years of this been enough? Do I do this so I can feel bad about myself? Or how I'm raising my kids? So I can feel bitter? The few times I've spoken up, it's only added fuel to the fire, ricocheting around this tight-knit family that I had a problem with something someone said, with everyone excited by the latest drama. So, I just stopped going to things, except on rare occasions. My husband is a gem of a man and father, but loathes confrontation, and this hasn't been easy on him, because of course they're circling their wagons and instead of being genuinely concerned, seem to relish this new opprtunity to find chinks in our marital armor. For my MIL it's proof I'm a bad DIL. For BIL and SIL it's evidence that they know how to handle the family and DH and I do not. For FIL it's proof that I don't like the annoying MIL. Everyone has an agenda all the time, and I'm just so tired of it. My husband and I used to complain to each other more about things, but it got tiring. After I kind of made the decision that to survive in this marriage and family, I need distance, the only problem is my husband is now in the middle. :( I'm not sure how else to continue in this family unless I expose myself less to their criticisms and drama. And I understand that for my husband to freeze out his own family, as bad as they can be at times (and they are not ALL bad--who is?) would not be fair and would create more stress for him. I can say I feel happier since I've seen them less (I posted on a rare day that I saw them). I have a good little family, a rewarding career, wonderful kids and husband, and a very good life. Since I don't see them as much and am not reminded as much in all that I and my family are lacking, I've had greater peace. But I do think my husband feels worse, and that makes me sad. Any advice for me and for us?

Love Halloween here too! When we first moved to Philly we got 100's of kids! REALLY!! It was a very child heavy area of the city and we lived in row homes so it was easy to get pillow sack after pillow sack filled in just a few blocks. Frank would take out our little monsters and I would hand out the loot. Then one year I noticed something very unusual...carloads of kids would be dropped off. These were not local kids. Many of these kids were not even in costume yet they would get sassy, rude and distructive. The adults would sit in the car and wait for the kids to do the block...not even get out to walk with the kids or come up and say hello...nothing! The next year I gave out less...instead of the bags of treats I handed out one or two peices. I have to be honest-these kids were simply rude and obnoxious and it left a bad taste in my mouth about how there were raised. And I'll say it again....I do not care what color you are, what neighborhood you live in, what nationality you are, what religion you practice ect...if you do are going door to door and cussing and yelling at people giving you candy then I want nothing to do with it. The next year I did nothing. Got my own kids a few small gifts and together we watched some scary movies with the porch light out. Still we had unruley kids pounding on the door all night-geez get the hint!! Fast forward to last year...finally in a very SMALL neighborhood loaded with kids. I got some decor and some treat bags as well as little toys for kids with nut issues. I had about 100 kids and it was like the good ole days of parents walking up and saying hi and in many cases introducing themselves as we were the newbies. I even had a few folks give me their phone numbers with offers of invites to get togethers and all in all it was a great night....and it was a light misty rain all evening so I can only imagine what would happen on a pleasent night!! So far this year my house is already decked out and I even got one of those strobe lights that play creepy sounds. For treats I plan on making bags up for the 6-12 age group. The smaller kids will get teddy grahams or goldfish bags and the teens will get soda. This year I will also have a few adult bevs on hand for the parents who stop by. I better start shopping huh?? Cheers! Susie