Hi D1, I think you photo shopped your lawn to make it look that green. That's what I'm thinkin'. Your lawn looks great! I am posting an image showing the dimensions I need. Unfortunately the images get washed out during the upload. Looking at the back of your house starting from the right side these are the dimensions I need. A. From the right side of the house/foundation to the right edge of the slab. B. The width of the slab. C. The dimension from the left edge of the slab to the left side of the house/foundation D. From the right edge of the slab to the right edge of the door. E. The width of the door measured from the edge where "D" ends and "F" begins. F. From the left edge of the door to the left edge of the slab. G. From the house to the edge of the slab near the pines. H. From the house to the property line. A, C, and H. can be close (within and inch or two, "H" can be a foot or two) but the others should be exact or at least within 1/4". The photos show there is daylight available at the sides of the property and some locations to put a rain garden. If you can get me those dimensions I can draw the structure. The little red "dots" in the image below are camera locations. The ones on the corners of the slab should be taken with the camera sitting on the slab looking towards the the lawn just catching the corner of the house so I can use the siding to measure . I was showing 3 others on the left side from about 50'± away. Hopefully your neighbor wouldn't mind if you took a few shots from their yard. Do not use any tele or wide angle setting when taking the pictures as they distort the edges too much. Keep the camera as low and level as possible or a slight tilt up if any. Distance is key. The more area you can fit into a single shot without a wide-angle setting the better. I think the least expensive solution is going to be flashing the entire wall although you may be able to find someone who will come in and cut the sod and remove some top soil for free. So glad you posted some close-ups of the stair as in the other photos it appeared to be on the ground, which it is not, and the sheathing is exposed to the elements with only a thin coat of paint protecting it. Did you like the stair idea I posted above? I am going to specify cedar and Philippine "mahogany" so that it is easier to paint if you choose (just the cedar). Pressure treated lumber will warp split and check like crazy in that location. Guessing from the dual leaders on the corners of the house I am assuming you have a hip roof and not gable ends so I am going to call out gutter drains in those corners sending them to daylight behind the pines. Because lawn drainage is not a major concern in those locations you can use the corrugated pipe already going across the lawn and the same or a rigid pipe on the other side. I will be in and out all day today and tomorrow but will have time to get this done on Tuesday if you can get me the dimensions I need. The photos would be nice but are less important although a good shot showing both sides of the pines (in the same picture, distant) and where your property line ends back there would be a great help. Thanks, Jey

Thank you, Tanie and Jane! > The more difficult the more rewarding you'd feel! Yeah, that's for sure. I wish that for the next 18 years I could go "I was in labor with you for 14 months, and THIS is how you repay me!?!?!" lol > You are a great gardener! Thank you, Jane, for these kind words and others! I am totally humble-bragging about these spikes to everybody I know. :-) > You had some things going for you when you bought the plants. Good points! I would have had a much more difficult time resuscitating them in the winter. I grow under lights, but there are still environmental clues for them to slow down and be lazy. > When we lived in NYC, the most problems came up over winter. [...] They did better when grown under lights over the winter. Yeah, I had an expectation last winter (which was my first winter growing lots of plants under lights) that everything will basically stand still, but some of them did grow. Slower than in the summer, of course, but they did. Lights add a lot of goodness - especially considering that my windows are really dark. Exposure does not even matter when you are on the first floor surrounded by trees and 23-story buildings. > Phals red/purple tinting to the spikes and leaves are most likely purple/ red flowers. Oh, I thought that was just because of the good light! Some culture guides say to give Phals enough light to just turn the leaf undersides slightly purple tinged, but not much more, so that was the look I was going for. There is a comparative photo a few screens above - I experimented putting one twin closer to the lights and the other farther. Maybe the purple spike is the indication of flower color? I have no idea about that - but I did read about purple leaves being light-related. By the way, I have no clue what the flower colors are going to be, but I am DYING to know, of course, so I appreciate your mentioning this indicator. > Now its time to get some healthy ones. They will naturally spike during this period so the stores should be filled with fresh, healthy plants. Yeah, the stores here are indeed full of them - not that they are a deficit at other times... I think I narrowed down the color combo I particularly like, and now it's a matter of catching a good one. > Also, look for a local orchid club near you. I am past that stage. I joined Manhattan Orchid Society 6-7 months ago. Then completely by accident I found out the President of Staten Island OS lives in my building in Brooklyn! (How's that for a coincidence in a 12 million population city?!?!) I joined that Society as well - he and his wife drive every month, and I do not have a car, so this was really convenient. They've become good friends, actually. There is also a third OS in NYC (can you believe that!? Three in one city!), but that one meets in the Bronx, which is just too far for where I live. I've become a huge fan of an idea of plant societies and these Societies in particular (and there's another "Indoor Gardening" one that I belong to, but that one is general, not just for orchids). Just like you said, Jane, they are an absolutely indispensable source of good LOCAL growing info and cheap or even free plants. Highly recommended for anyone interested in plants. > Be aware, orchids are addictive. You might have 2 now [...] Oh, I am WELL past that also. :-) Going to these Society meetings, having access to plants raffled, auctioned, sold or simply given away, making new plant nut friends - there was no chance I would stay with just those 2 Phals. I have 3-4 Oncidium types (one with a spike with 50+ buds, going to start opening any day now), a Dendrobium, a Miltoniopsis (that is also in spike! in my care!), 2-3 Cattleyas (my most favorite flower genus!), an Aerangis, a Tolumnia, a Ludisia, a Bryobium (ugh, that thing is a major Princess!) and a couple of Paphs. So, yeah, addictive they definitely ARE! :-) That is a great picture of your orchids! Many people here are an inspiration and a lot of help, so THANK YOU!

It is according to how long your machine has to run to get the water to the sani temp. From 130 to heat to 160(sani) would probably take about as long as the drying would and unless I am mistaken I believe the heater uses less wattage to dry than it does when it is heating the water. I would use the heat dry. Also the biggest thing may be the natural detergent. I know on the laundry forum someone was using natural detergent and had never had a mold issue with their front loader until they started using the natural detergent (Bio Kleen) so they changed back to Tide and their problem was solved. I would get a small box of Electrasol powder and try it. I dont think the jet dry ball does as well as the liquid. You could buy one of the solid jet dry baskets to hang in the upper rack if you think yours uses the jet dry too fast. Mine uses it fast too(I have a Kenmore Elite-supposed to be identical to KitchenAid motor pump wise-different racks),are you sure you fill it full when you fill it up?(jet dry dispenser) I would get the D Magic and give that a try.BTW I have my dispenser set on #2. What is yours on? Also meant to say I tried using Bi O Kleen dishwasher detergent for a while and it cleaned well but then I got to noticing that my top rack was dragging and I was thinking that the track was messed up but upon closer examination the tracks were full of build-up from that BOKleen powder. I then ran through some DMagic and changed back to Cascade Complete and have had no problems with it since. You should try the CComplete. I just recommended the Elec. powder cause it has the bleach in it and that would help with the mold. You might try just one box of that then go to something else.I would try anything cause I wouldn't want to eat/drink from the dishes if they are washed/rinsed in the water with mold in the bottom.JMO

thanks, graywings123.. i will! kootenaycapable, thanks for the gas leak alert. i ran right up and checked by the furnace and there's no gas smell around it - or anywhere in the attic. this smell is really strong, when the sun's on that closet - almost like there's a skunk in the wall but there's not. linac92 - ignoring problems in hopes they'll go away is my favorite kind of home repair! ;) and it's amazing how often it works