I am green with envy! What beautiful delphiniums you've all been growing. With all the plant materials available to me for my hardiness zone, you'd think I'd be satisfied. Why do I always want what I can't have? Thanks for the recommendation of the New Milleniums...it sounds like my best hope yet for some of these blue spires to plant with my yellow and white roses. But I'm holding off. The people at Graceful Gardens are growing theirs in upstate NY, a far cry from my sultry Zone 7. Also, The New Perennial Club (www.perennials.com) had the New Milleniums listed as one of their Top Ten for 2006. All the acolades at their site are for strong stems and color range. Nowhere do they mention anything about resistance to heat and humidity. Oh, well, back to Adenophora. At a mere 36" it's a dwarf compared to stately delphs, but better than no blue spikes at all. I hope everyone growing the New Milleniums in Zone 6b and hotter will check back here in August to let us know how things are progressing! I just might HAVE to order some NM delphs for next year!

I received my wonderful box from Jeanette! It was full to the brim with bright orange and black wrapped surprises! I got: a wonderful Halloween kitchen towel. I love to change my kitchen towels for the season and didn't have a Halloween-themed one - thanks! a cute pumpkin votive candle holder with a scented candle in it a black and orange paper lantern a wonderfully scented potpurri mix a halloween wind sock a spider web wine/champagne goblet (so cute!) a spider on a spring a silver starred Halloween hat (sorry Jeanette - no digital camera to take a picture - my daughter kept saying "you're not going to wear that in front of my friends are you? - LOL!" a spooky hanging ghosty that emits an eeery sound - scares the daylights out of my little dog......... mummy's passion fruit tea bags and a ghost tin of chocolate kisses (oops all gone - how did that happen he he) Thanks Jeanette! Sue G.

in looking at your pictures of the basement... see where the band joist/foundation wall that rests on the stone/rubble walls? that is one place to air seal that is worth the time & effort to do so. there are different approaches.. less expensive in materials but more time: would be to caulk tops of joists to floor above and bottom to rubble/stone below. caulk any cracks or penetrations. install 1" or two layres of 1" dow blue board (or corning pink board). use roofing nails, button cap nails ..something with large head to hold foam sheathing in place. use construction adhesive to hold it tight to the wall. caulk edges of foam sheathing to floor at top of joist, and again at bottom of wall to stone wall. do this in all areas of band joist. more cost material..less time to install would be froth pack of closed cell insulation. this is diy. tiger foam is what we have used a few times on small jobs. http://www.tigerfoam.com/#video the site he is spraying..is what I am calling the band joist of your basement. third option..most cost would be to hire the foam sealing out. in the floors large air leakage sites would be any areas where pipes run into the house. under tubs around piping for radiators. plumbing accesses. a mixtue of methods to seal these areas would be pipe insulation around radiator pipes. cut to fit around pipe & into hole in floor. caulked to seal. under tubs..usually a large area. depending on where the tub is located..either metal flashing cut to fit over hole & around pipe. caulked into place & screwed to floor. then caulked around edges of flashing to floor. btw..the radiators you have are really attractive. don't think I've seen such nice looking ones before. of course..radiators are uncommon in this area. I know you are dealing with the ceiling issue right now. hope that goes well. whatever you decide is the fix...seal any gaps between new ceiling & walls of room before reinstalling moldings. this will eliminate any need to caulk moldings to walls & ceiling. will give some more thought to attic later. best of luck.

Quote; The feeling I get is that some plumbers don't recommend them as they feel it is work taken from them" It would seem that some ppl think plumbers and tradesmen of all varieties just sit around the shop and wait for the phone to ring so they can jump in the truck and come running like a firemen. Tradesmen cannot afford to have ppl sitting around for even a few minutes and our work is generally scheduled months in advance. The truth of the matter is that most of the plumbers I know don't even want your medial 10 minute job that could have been done as a DIY project or done by a local handyman. Secondly, code prohibits just cutting and capping those lines. Code does not permit any dead end lines longer than 12" so if you plan to discontinue the use of the line you need to trace back to where it ties into the main run and cut at cap it at that point. You stated that you were unable to solder the line because of standing water or steam in the line. The solution: if there is standing water in the line, drain the line, and if in doing so you have to drain the entire house system, then that is just what you have to do. Now in regards to sharkbite fittings....You are correct that sharkbite fitting are new to the industry and there remains a reluctance to using them, but that reluctance is not because they are new. It is because soldering is just too easy and too cheap to mess with expensive fittings. In addition, sharkbite fittings are only marginally accepted by some local residential codes and even then they are generally not to be used in a concealed location. I would suggest you drain the line and leave a couple faucetts open to vent off any steam pressure that might develope from residual water. Next, cut the copper and clean it thorougly with emery cloth, then wipe the dust off with a clean dry rag and do not touch the clean surface with your finger. Apply flux with a clean flux brush then put a cap on and apply the heat to the cap just until you see the flux begin to bubble. Pull the heat away and apply solder and you should have it sealed. Believe me, a child can do it.