K. I cut off the sucker. It was actually part of a trunk. All the other branches looked more like suckers... Hopefully I did the right thing. It was only two little branches, so it would be weird if the other parts were the sucker I think. It would make the sucker the actual tree and that would be strange I think. Hopefully I didn't do damage :( I was able to take pictures of the other trees with my cell phone! Ok, so here we have what I am almost positive is a lemon tree: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747330872321811346 This is the tree that had one lemon last year, though I never tasted the fruit- but it looked like a lemon. This tree also has very bad leaf curl. Here is a pic: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747330975224339442 I think this was from being really thirsty last summer. I water deeply about once a week, but it doesn't seem to get much new growth and the leaves don't change. Should I do something else? Next pic: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747330981373239506 I don't know if this is lemon or lime and the shape of the tree is terrible. Is there anything I can do to fix it and get it to look more like a shade tree eventually? Here is a pic of it's baby fruit as well: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747330979421196178 Next pic: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747330997258299090 I don't know what this tree is. Here is the fruit pic: https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747331006607107522 Same question about shaping the tree from above. This next tree is only about 3 feet tall, it has horrible thorns like the first tree I told you all about. I'm not sure if I should dig it up and plant shadier trees or if it's worth preserving. I love fresh fruit. https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747331013173657138 This is another mystery citrus tree. I have ever seen fruit on it. https://picasaweb.google.com/heather.leigh.green/May27201202#5747331020964139874 Same question about the shape. Thank you for your help!!! I am very overwhelmed. I haven't even began to tell you about the ash trees and the apple tree... but this is the citrus forum :)

2) but it flocculated the dissolved solids from the water in the collection buckets too, leaving semi-clear water with a bunch of snowflakes on the bottom. Do you think that lime adversely affected the worms? Caused floculant to form??? Very interesting. Means unequivocally that something in the the leachate reacted chemically with the lime. It quickly ends the anaerobic smell, so I suspect that whatever organisms were making use of those sour conditions may be impacted. I don't want sour conditions in my bin though. I haven't limed my bin in a long time, but as far as I remember, the worms looked more active after the liming. I got the idea to lime the bin when I read that worms breed more in bins with higher available calcium, and the first thing lime does when it hits water is separate from its calcium ion. I suspect the snowflakes are a result of unspent calcium ions attracting any molecule with a negative charge, becoming heavier than water, and sinking. Since acids have negative charges, flocculation may be the visual evidence of excessive pH buffering. The problem with using too much lime in the bin is that the plants I used the juice on gained symptoms of high pH nutrient lockout. I was in a sort of "lime is cool" phase at the time, and also limed the plants directly though, so I ended up with double too much lime. I don't recall miraculous plant performance before I limed the bin either, but with the extra calcium I did notice increased leaf durability on my trees. The Japanese beetles around here need dentures now. I apparently didn't harm the worms as much as the plants in that period of time. It should be noted that the active ingredient in lime is calcium carbonate, which is in nearly every sip of water you've ever drank, and is in most food products and vegetables. It is quite safe, but potent. Don't use too much, less is more, etc.. 5) some dry leaves I put in the first summer never broke down. AMEN to that! A lesson I have learned. I think the leaves need some kind of forest fungus to prepare them for worms to eat. I have some packets of ZHO, but never had the guts to put them in the bin... probably a scam anyway. I have found that worms will become highly active in the top layers if I put fine wood chips on top. They seem to respond well to fresh or old chips. The dominant (observed) mushroom that grows in my bin seems to be a white inky cap mushroom. It seems to bloom excessively in response to fresh grass inputs, but will also bloom in its absence.

* The mantle of Mrs. Grundy - a figurative name for an extremely conventional person who worries about being different * The Grand Guignol - a Parisian theater that opened in 1897 * The "qui vive" of expectation - Que vive? Is a question: Who goes there? To be on the alert, suspicious. * Carlyle on the Dutch (who was who and who did what?) - Carlyle was Scottish writer/philosopher in nineteenth century who wrote social/political criticism. Not sure about the Dutch reference. Any ideas? * Cassandra could have looked more gloomily prophetic - Cassandra was the royal daughter at the time of the Trojan War. She rejected ApolloâÂÂs advances and in retaliation, he made it so no one would believe what she said. (Perhaps âÂÂgloomily prophecticâ due to this?) * A veritable colossus of negation - âÂÂcolossusâ was a huge ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes, so perhaps this refers to how immovable negativity is when people espouse it strongly * Fox (re: pity?) - not sure about this one. * Bib and tucker (clothing) - refers to oneâÂÂs best clothes; first used in 18th century. âÂÂBibsâ were similar to current day baby bibs, except these were worn by adults over their clothes (mostly women). Made of lace and fitted over the bodice; sometimes called âÂÂpinnersâ or âÂÂmodesty piecesâÂÂ. âÂÂTuckerâ were bibs that were tucked in. (Pinners/Bibs were pinned and tuckers were tucked.) Linked with âÂÂpinaforeâÂÂ, âÂÂpin-a-foreâÂÂ: a pin/bib thatâÂÂs pinned on the front of clothing. (Taken from Patricia Brent, Spinster - Herbert Jenkins.)

Thanks for all of the responses, everyone. Instead of quoting, I'll try to address much of what has been asked/stated. I suppose the first source of frustration is something buehl mentioned. We live in an area with a median household income of under $50k, and an average of $59K. My wife and I are very much above average, yet can't find anything affordable. Most places here that are over $300K aren't moving. We just don't have the market for it. If we were to remodel anymore, we would most likely not see that money again. We had a realtor come do an assessment a month ago, and prepared a formal analysis with comps. Based on her recommendations, if I put much more into it (even doing the work myself), I won't get that money back. So if we do remodel, we would have to suck it up and stay for the long haul. As for the house itself, I don't have a formal floor plan, but here is what was attached when we bought the place (ignore the arrows): Basically, the orange is the main/middle floor. Very open for a split level. The kitchen/dining/family sitting is all open (it was an addition put on years before we bought). The blue is the third floor, and not pictured is the lowest level (half below grade) right below the blue. That is also a great room we gutted and put in a stone fireplace: This room also holds out laundry and a half bath. There really isn't any option for expansion that won't cost a fortune, unless I'm missing something. Our lot is 2 acres, so I don't want to subdivide. In fact, I grew up on 90 acres, so 2 acres is a little tight :) Someone mentioned buying a large chunk of land and subdividing it, and I certainly have thought of that. The problem is if you find a big chunk for sale WITH the gas rights, it's often nearing $1 million. Again, we're not in the suburbs of a major metropolitan area or in the city. We're a rural community in Northcentral PA.