Bayer Rose and Flower Care. JPs are smarter than they look. They somehow figure out that eating the leaves of the plant will kill them, so they tend to cluster around the flowers. However, this makes it a bit easier to use some of the other controls, such as knocking them in a bucket of soapy water or using the pyrethrin sprays. I typically only use this product on Roses, crape myrtles, and persicaria (the worst JP offenders in my garden). Pyrethrin sprays. These are generally packaged as generic insect killers or wasp/hornet killers in an aerosol can. Look at the list of active ingredients to find one. The only drawback is that tender young foliage may take a hit from these sprays, so be conservative with the spray until you know how the foliage will react. Also do not use on mandevilla vine. I used it this winter to treat mealey bugs on a mandevilla vine that I overwinter inside, and it promptly dropped all its leaves. Didn't kill it, but it came close.

I wear layers of silk most of the year, and work on a computer all day in a dry office environment. Sounds like a sure-fire recipe for static cling, doesn't it? And in fact, the first time I wore a silk shirt over silk undies and then touched a doorknob -- I learned you can actually SEE the static spark before your hand touches the metal!! A friend advised to use body lotion (on the skin not the fabric) just before dressing, and that does eliminate most cling. But I haven't had any problem at any time with static or cling since learning to wash the silk with shampoo and adding vinegar to the rinse water. I honestly don't know if there is an ingredient in the shampoo or if the vinegar is reason, but I will say I haven't had a problem with static for several years.

I should have added... -If static in your dryer is your problem, you are over-drying your clothing - which is a huge waste of energy. -Avoid drying synthetics in the dryer to prevent static - they dry very nicely just hung on a hanger or a clothes line. -If you are drying a mixed load of natural fabrics and synthetics, pull the synthetics out before the load is completely dry. -If you find you have static in the dryer, then give the clothing a fine-mist spritz of water and give it a tumble on "air" only, no heat, for a couple tumbles. That will break the charge of the static. -Grainlady

Oh man, this is a huge issue for me. In general, I am not a pack rat. However, there are a few big stumbling blocks for me. The first is a desk my father made for me. It is the only thing I own that came from him. It is well made for a home project, but it is too small and does not work at all in my home office. I have nowhere else to put it. I want to replace it but the thought of sending it off to a thrift shop is killing me. I also have jewelry from my mother, and more to come since she is still quite alive. I also will inherit sets of Limoges and Spode china, a big silver service, Boehm birds and on and on. None of these items fit my lifestyle. I will offer them to my nieces but their lifestyle is even more casual than mine. Yet, I know all these items are important to my mother and I hate to let them go. I also have an attic full of old Fisher Price and Playskool toys that I saved for my grandchildren -- who never materialized! I am not sure what they represent to me, but I simply cannot part with them. Maybe it's the knowledge that I am never going to be a grandmother which honestly doesn;t bother me that much. I have four darling grand nieces and nephews. Here's another -- miles and miles of old home movies. I have had them all transferred onto DVDs, but I feel so nostalgic about the films. Just seeing them and smelling them brings back a rush of memories of my father, who loved his 16 mm camera. I guess they will stay in the family until they reach a generation who doesn't give a hoot about them and tosses them in the dumpster. I dread the day when I clean out my mother's house, which is enormous and packed with stuff. A lot can be dumped or sold but there also are a lot of family items. Why oh why do we do this to ourselves??