bgrose, I am deleting the pics, so they should be gone in a few days. I thought if I showed you my cute lizard you would stop being afraid of them, but I can see my idea did not help at all. I have to say that I am glad that I have lizards, and we let the garden spider stay most of one summer so our ten year old could watch a spider spin its web, catch bugs, and then spin a cocoon and lay its eggs in the fall. We watched the baby spiders leave the next spring. I don't want her to be afraid of spiders and lizards or snakes, either, for that matter. I want her to know the dangers of some snakes and to appreciate the other critters for the jobs they play in the garden and in the soil. I am sorry you have such a deep fear of these animals and hope that you have success in removing your lizard, if that will help you. Sincerely, Gean

Well, I just joined this site so I'm a newbie. I joined specifically to share and learn about Blueberries. I grow on both a small experimental scale and a larger commercial scale. When I say experimental scale, I sincerely mean that. I'm not a chemist, nor do I have a horticulture degree but I am a farmer and a rancher. The Blueberry plant I have studied for over 20 years. I've killed many, I've had many failures and successes. The most challenging aspect of Blueberries is the soils Ph. Some do ok with ph closer to 7 but they are not supposed to. From my testing of various mixes I would guess that the fertile nature of your mix contributed to the survival of your ph was not in the sweet zone required for Blueberries which is why you witnessed the slow failure and the symptoms you did. My native soil is sandy loam with a natural ph of 7 smack dab in the middle of pine and oak country. I've scoured all over my property with ph meters (s) in hand only to find the lowest in a wetland area where reeds are growing and that was 6.5. In the pine forest pealing back 10 years of decomposing pine needles at the bottom layers I get 6.8. Ammeding the soil to achieve 4.5-5 requires some effort and planning. I've not found anything to do it naturally. All the peat moss, pine straw mulch, pine bark and pine chips have only moved my ph from 7 to 6.8. How can that be you might ask? i know this post is old but I'd love to hear back some details of what you may have learned, found, the fate of your bushes etc... I'm responding because no one did. Generic information is plenty but experience sharing seems to be lacking So why did my ph not change? My suspicion is what we all experience. A multitude of reasons. The mineral content of soil reacts to counter changes in ph. The soil / mixture has a ph and a capacity to resist changes but can only be overcome by exceeding that inherent capacity to resist change. Example: how much baking soda is required to change a cup of distilled water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar back to 7 ph? The answer is simply enough. If you irrigate, your water has both minerals and a ph. Depending on what that is, it has capacity and will react with the soils in one way or the other . Guess what, rain does too. What do I use and how much? It's a moving target. Bottom line is my irrigation water is soft and has a ph of 6.5 (no, we do not drink it but my blueberries do). After 20 years of growing blueberries in the south, I've learned one concrete thing that no one can argue; it's impossible without 3 ph meters. Why 3? To validate each other and I can usually only find two. Ok, for others maybe one will do . If I visit a plant I'm shoving a ph meter in. I keep a log book . I chart ph movements. I adjust. Quick changes I use vinegar and water. I never go below ph of 4 just because. Everything in and around the plant is instantaniously reacting against the mixture once poured in. Wait a day and test. Elemental sulphur is a must for me. I'm a mulching and composting fool. Microbes acididify the soil by consuming the sulphur. They exist down to a ph of 4 which is why that's my low limit. I need them to degrade my sulphur and they can be killed at some point if you go to low (which I've done with pure vinegar). How much sulpher? The simple answer is enough. To me growing blueberries is like practicing medicine, it takes practice (and patience). Sulphur takes time and the microbes vacation when it's cold. If mixed into the soil, they go to work. If spread over the top of the soil / mulch, it leaches into the soil over time. With that you can decide how quick you need change. That leads to those who will say "well I don't have to do all that". To that I can say, " lucky you". Soil ph formula below: Soil Ph = everything in the soil working and decomposing harmoniously with each other while adjusting to the rain ph and irrigation ph and microbe work - minus the consumption by plants of the organic content of the soil + the amendments you add +|- other variables. Blueberries can only take up nutrients within a certain ph range 4.5-5.5 optimally and when those nutrients are present, meanwhile, the fine roots must be moist but not wet. If your plants didn't make it, buy a ph meter. Pick a spot as future home for another plant. Test it and adjust PH as needed when you reach a ph of 5, load it up with peat, milled pine bark and sand / sandy loam. Set your new baby in place and mulch with pine straw. Adjust ph again as may be required. Above all, share your experience. What conditions you found, what worked and what didn't. The berries will be worth the effort !!!

Bestyears, I was keeping it vague because discussing dog training methods can be equal to politics! Try telling some of the militant rescue groups that you will be using a different training method than the one they strictly follow ... you will never get a dog from them! Here are two articles from two opposite theories that gives you an idea of how they think. 1) https://positively.com/victorias-blog/balanced-dog-training-theres-nothing-balanced-about-it/ 2) https://www.nitrocanine.com/blog/2015/06/12/in-defense-of-balanced-training/ With my rescue I started out with a purely positive trainer. It worked great in the house and yard as the dog is very food motivated ... BUT outside none of the training made a difference. Critters and the chase were a much higher reward than anything I could offer. I even tried carrying filet mignon! I was being dragged around town by a crazy dog ... even with the easy-walk harness the positive trainer told me to buy. The dog just walked sideways and pushed into the harness. The last straw was when on a walk the dog nearly knocked me, and my father, to the ground when trying to get a squirrel. I had to kick the dog to stop her lunging and get us untangled (my Dad also had our smaller dog on leash). I looked for a different approach and found "balanced" training. The trainer I found is slightly different from #2 above in that they do use food rewards. Happy to message you a link to the training program website and the actual trainer I used. We now go on off leash hikes and I get stopped regularly by people who comment on her behavior and level of training. I got so many questions that I started carrying business cards for the trainer!! One of those people actually contacted and used my trainer, even thought she isn't local. Do your research and choose the trainer and method that best works for you and your dog. The best method will most likely be a combination of several different ones.

in regards to the post by T.F.W. Hiring my friend was a mistake. I see that now and I have now decided to forgo having him finish the job. He is talented with wood and metal and has done some really nice work for bars and business. But he admitted he's never installed a bathtub before so I'm not going to have him do the tile. I don't want to have this issue ruin a friendship. Also, T.F.W is right, the folks telling me its fine and move on with the tile job as-is makes me feel like all is not lost. But his and other professional's comments here make it sound like even the first guys work wasn't done correctly. I don't want to argue the importance of hiring a licensed contractor, which clearly is not the path I took. But several have said the first guys work looks fine. I wonder, if there wasn't any mastic around the tub flange, would the pros here still be suggesting I rip it all out? That's a legitimate question. Just because the first guy wasn't a licensed contractor does his work constitute ripping it all out and starting over? And if not, how does the mastic create such an issue that now it needs to be ripped out completely? Again, legitimate questions I would like to know before i decide to start over or move on. The tub alone cost $750. But if it's a total disater and it's clear problems with mold are bound to happen shortly after, then it's coming out. The first guy used PEX for the plumbing and I looked through my phone and found about a dozen more photos of the work in progress. Not sure they'll help answer the question of ripping it out but I have added the photos below.