Howdy, I too have an 8x12 green house. Wish it was larger, or better yet, a solarium built to the house. Inside are larger plants that no longer fit in the house. Citrus, Agaves, a few Aloes, Olive tree, variegated Ginger, and a few other odds and ends. Plants are kept in the gh during winter months..once temps warm up, plants are set outdoors. With utility prices, why pay extra when plants do well outside, not to mention easier to manage...? The first year it was erected, 'December, Christmas present,) on the coldest night of the year, the heater went out. In the process, I lost either 32 or 37 plants which froze. I cried, literally cried. After that dreadful night, we figured the problem and made sure the gas heater was working. We added an electric heater in case something went wrong with the gas again. We also purchased a temp/guage/alarm. The guage displays indoor, outdoor and gh temps and humidity. If temp drops to 45F, the alarm beeps. The guage is kept in the house. Mike, although Feb is cold, 'usually the coldest month of the year,' the sun is stronger and will burn certain plants. I hesitate adding shading since most plants are sun lovers, and eventually adapt to strong rays. During summer, gh temps reaches 117F+. This last summer, especially July, temps rose 140 and higher. Even with two opened vents and the storm/screen door ajar. Although my gh is on the small side, it's great having extra space. Don't know what I'd do without the extra room. It's a great investment, especially for those of us who have, more than a few, plants. lol. Toni

I don't use them - i look at it as either the plant's natural growth habit, or a cultural issue (IE too much light). But then, my main objective is still keeping them alive, blooming if possible.... If you have a spare plant, you can experiment with the rings though, and let us know how it goes :-) Karin

It was fun to check in with this forum for the first time in quite a while and see this thread on the first page. I appreciate all of the comments, especially the newest ones. So let me share what I've been doing about organzing my lifef. I have been struggling with the "control journal" concept since I posted this thread over three years ago! for starters, I dislike the name, "control journal." The system seems inflexible. And something that I don't care for about Flylady is that there is a high level of emotionality in that system. But I will admit that she is spot-on about many things and I appreciate all of the insights that I've gained from that system. But back to "control journal" I prefer kitchen binder or household binder. Maybe I'll call my the household binder. But that's not the point. I do have a white 1/2" binder with all of my zones and lists in it... it just looking at that binder every day that is a huge challenge for me. I have seven children and my days seem to bring me such a variety of things, many unanticipated, that it's hard to keep everything on track. Plus, I'm a lazy soul, so it's hard to get me moving. But of course, if I'm not going to work the program then it won't work for me! Just a last week I found a Franklin Covey planner on clearance at Target, so I finally took the plunge to organize my time better. This is a smallish size #4 planner in a six-ring binder, so it doesn't give an hour-by-hour breakdown of the day, but it does provide two pages to a week, a two-page spread for the entire month, and then lots of other forms for a lot of different purposes. Before, I've just used the fridge calendar to keep track of activities. That was hit or miss (things didn't always get recorded). Plus, it's inconvenient to take the enormous calendar off of the fridge door and write things down in front of the computer (we get so much schedule info via email). Now, when I'm going through email, I take my planner with me. That makes it so much easier. And rather than writing things on post-it notes and sticking them to my microwave door, my coffee maker (the really urgent reminders go there), or my key ring (see how zany I was) I jot things down in the planner. So for the first time in the 20 years that I've been a wife and mother, everything is being written in one place. However, we still put notes on the coffee maker when something is very, very important. I make myself read the planner while I drink my coffee in the morning. And now I feel so guilty about not using my control journal *household binder* in three years that I will take that binder with me and my planner and my cup of coffee every morning. Something else that I also do with my *household binder* is put paperwork that needs immediate attention into it so that this stuff doesn't get lost. I noticed on the Franklin Covey website that you can buy "Forms Wizard" which is software to create personalized planner forms. I would love to take my Flylady zone lists and make forms to fit into my planner. By the way, I am a stay-at-home mother and my planner doesn't leave the house. both binders stay on my microwave oven during the day. I read Julie Morgenstern and liked her notion that time is like a closet that you fill with tasks, rather than a real closet that you fill with stuff. It helps me to see my time more concretely. Something else I'm learning is the importance of goal setting. That seems to be a Franklin Covey focus as well. I personally have had such a difficult time (throughout the years of raising my seven children) of actually accomplishing anything for myself, that I really just gave up trying. But about a year ago I decide that the extra weight had to go. So I have lost 55 pounds. That has been my focus in life. But now I can shift back to the household since one of the most important issues in my own life is finally being dealt with successfully. I need to revisit Flylady, I'm sure she's added new ideas to her program. I will check back to the forum for more advice and encouragement on how to get it together and become more organized. Thank you for your posts, I appreciate reading anyone's story, even if it's still in process, of how they created a system to manage time better.

Had them for years for practical reasons. We had a carpenter replace our 70's laminate/oak strip doors with wood doors. The 70's laminate doors didn't have any knobs/pulls since they had the oak pull strip so we didn't realize we had an issue until the new full overlay doors were installed. The ring pulls were the only type of pull that would work with some of the drawers since a regular knob or pull would have blocked perpendicular cabinet doors from opening. We had no problems using them for 10 years or more. In fact, they were quite expensive and I saved them when we did a complete remodel, with the thought that I might find a future use for them.