Lastly, I should mention that I'm not doing this work myself, there will be a licensed electrician involved, but I have to give the electrician a lighting plan this week. If I can't hang pendants from the beam, I'll either have to specify hanging them from the ceiling on either side (which DH thinks is doofy) or build out the beam creating a space in which to put in narrow recessed low voltage lights (which DH wants, but I think it'll make the beam look massive -- and hate it when he gets his way!) Anyway, thanks in advance for the electrical advice and any marital counseling you might choose to send my way!

I have the same problem in Florida with my orchids. They hang in various baskets under the trees. Not only do the birds try to nest in the baskets, they love the sphagnum moss which is part of the potting mix. They also love the coir baskets, pulling chunks off the baskets which leaves big holes where all the potting mix falls out. One thing I did last year which seemed to work was to add small lava rock to the top of the potting mix. They do not like it and have left the plants alone. I removed it after nesting season and saved it for this year. I found a bunch of house wrens and finches landing in the baskets this morning and I knew it was time to get the rock out. You could probably use small gravel. Would work the same. Good luck and let us know how it goes... Jane

We went out to the house today to remeasure the pendant lights. They are off in both directions. I’m going to tell the general contractor to fix them Monday. I just can’t live with them the way they are. I took painters tape and marked the island so he can see how off the mark they are. Lol the water bottles mark the center of the hanging lights. They should at least hang over the blue tape! Thank god this house is almost complete!

Hi everyone, I'm a relatively new condo-owner and want to hang a mosquito net across my balcony. I have to submit the proposal to the HOA board and am hoping to get it right on the first try. I want to avoid using staples and would rather hang from curtain rods or wires. My deck is a simple rectangular space. The ceiling has a lip (or maybe an overhang--not sure how to call it) toward the front, so technically I could mount curtain rods behind the lip (vertical surface on the balcony-side, maybe 2 feet from the front of the balcony). However, if I do this, I'm not sure the best way to have the curtains overlap and cover the sides. Right now, I'm leaning toward a wire mounted on the actual walls (rather than the ceiling or the "lip"). I'm thinking I could have a wire like this to run parallel to the ceiling, from one wall to the other, as high up as possible: https://www.amazon.com/WIRE-CABLE-CURTAIN-SYSTEM-CLIPS/dp/B00GSEHIKM/ref=asc_df_B00GSEHIKM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=271780374366&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16878012288543522973&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026934&hvtargid=pla-453293902440&psc=1 And then hang these from it: https://www.amazon.com/Sheer-Curtains-Panels-Curtain-Pairs/product-reviews/B0769LZP4W/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews I have a lot of small issues though, like: - What happens if there are high winds? Should I run two wires across, one lower than the other to sort of prevent the curtain from flapping too much? Can I weigh them down with something at the bottom? If so, what? I'm in Dallas where the winds can be very violent. - I need multiple curtains to run across the whole balcony. What's the best way to connect them? Buttons? Velcro? Magnets? - How do I prevent bugs from getting in from the top? From the sides? - If I'm drilling into the walls/ceiling to install this hardware, do I have to worry about the wood rotting due to these holes? If anyone has gone through this or has ideas, I would really appreciate it. Best, Lekla