What a busy place here this morning. Very enjoyable reading. This Idyll thread sometimes feels as though I am reading about ten books at once a little bit at a time. [g] Didn't want Jerri to feel lonely either..[g]. Woody...thanks for posting those pics of Misty and Copper. Misty is so cute! She reminds me of a dog in the movies, but I can't think of it's name. You know the first photo you showed of Copper, with nothing else in the photo, he didn't look that large. Next to the love seat and Misty...he looks huge! lol I always loved to see dogs play together. Especially a small dog with a larger dog. It is amazing that the large dog knows to be gentle most of the time and that the small dog is usually not too frightened. So when you say you foster, you have more than one dog in the house at one time. See when I heard of fostering, I thought you would take one dog at a time until they found a home and then another. It sounds like there are more dogs than foster homes and that they keep you busy! That is nice that you and Marie are near each other, but I can see it would take a special effort to get together. So GLAD you are feeling better! :-) Jerri...... flooring that is pet friendly...well...if accidents are expected, I am not really sure which is the best solution. Our last dog had epilepsy the last three years of his life and that caused a lot of accidents. I never had a lingering odor from dog accidents. I would get to them right away with lots of paper towels, blot as much as possible, then scrub with a mix of water, dish soap, and white vinegar, then rinse and then blot. Always took care of it. We have hardwood floors with area rugs here. The Living Room has a small 6x9 rug, even the kitchen is hardwood. I have been considering redoing the upstairs floors and if I had to choose, I was thinking of bamboo, just for it's environmental factors, and I really like the look of it too. I just bought a bamboo cutting board and I love it! It is so hard and smooth and pretty. denise...what a great shot of the bee swam. As a kid,I was not really afraid of bees, but not totally comfortable around them either. I have only been stung once or twice and no big deal. It has been over 30 years since I was stung and I am pretty comfortable around bees, although wasps still give me a little hesitation. A swarm or a hive, I would not be comfortable enough for though. Cute conversation with your DH about the cats. I could just picture it. I really got a kick out of him pointing at the cats that would all have their own shed. lol 'Returnable dogs'...I have to agree with Woody. Ideally, you hope that people think long and hard before taking home a pet, and knowing what lengths shelters go to, to assure a dog goes to a good home, I can't help but think that dogs that are returned are a minor occurence, would that be right? If a family can actually have a pet in their home for more than two weeks and not bond with it enough to want to keep it, then the dog is probably better off making the change. After a year? That seems like it must be really unusual and maybe something significant changed for that family? Hopefully he will be luckier the second time around. Cindy, why are you thinking of having more than one pair of muck shoes? Mary...so sorry you didn't finish the peeps dioramas in time. [g] Maybe next year?! I would suggest saving it for next year, but with ketchup? guess not..lol. Martie, sounds like you will also have a lot to move this year, but you already have help lined up?! How lucky are you! So, I keep reading little bits referring to a previous move. Someday when you have time, you could tell me the story of how long have you lived where you are, what were your gardens like in your last house and the story of the move..etc. :-) One of my computer order boxes came today. Just a few cables and one piece of software. The machine won't ship until Monday. Definitely will let you know how it goes Chelone...sounds like you are ready for a new one, if your memory is that low! Loved that garden you all are looking at in the old Idyll reunion pics! Ok...time to go...enjoy the rest of the weekend.. :-) pm2

I have been in Florida since 69, the native wildlife & plant life has been changing for many years but the global economy is really taking it's toll. Florida is different than many states as the sub-tropical weather allows many species to climatises & flourish here. We ship plants to all parts of the globe & they ship theirs here. There is no way a inspector can confirm a entire shipment of plants if pest free, hence we have citrus greening, a half dozen types of white flies. sri lanka weevils, Cuban tree frogs, pythons and a Gambian rat as big as a cat in the Fla Keys. As much as I don't like indiscriminate killing of wildlife I will exterminate every exotic pest I find. The health of the Fla ecosystem is counting on it. Check out the Fish & Wildlife page on current exotics. http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/amphibians/ Some are not much of a problem but others like the Bufo toad or Cuban tree frog are. Just my two cents Craig Here is a link that might be useful: FWC invasive speices

Don and Mac... Thanks for making my eyes BURN :( Regarding negative comments on the internet; I always look at the bigger picture. A well run businesses with good customer support like LOTG will have primarily favorable comments. I usually assume the most damaging comments are from competitors and irrational people with unreasonable expectations. I would not worry about having this thread removed. If you do a sum of good comments and compare it to the bad, the good WAY out number the bad. Margaret

I am about ready to construct my 3 ETs thanks to Ray helping me out with the wicking baskets. I am going to try the removable cages. Home Depot sells the 24" 1/4" threaded rods for $1.47. Unlike bdobs, my local store sells the 36" ones for $5.87 each! , so needless to say I went with the shorter ones. I don't think I am even going to cut them.. I just hope they are not too heavy to adversely affect the cage support system and the aeration bench. The extra length above the soil might help a little for the taller tomato plants too. Then again..with enough twisting patience, I could twist the nut high enough on the bottom of the rod where the reservoir is to give some stilt-like support to the bench. That will give 8 points of 4" extra support in addition to the 4" cut drain pipe pieces for the bench. This might not be a bad idea since I am using the cheaper, thinner Sterlite totes ($7.50 each at Walmart). I don't want that cage system to jab a hole through the bottom of the reservoir, so I'm trying to come-up with a cheap way to add protective 'shoes' to the bottom of the rods. Possibly soda caps from 2-litter bottles of Coke can be 'shoes' glued to them. I bought the Glamos cages a few years ago at Walmart and accidentally took almost double. When I got home and was pulling the cages apart I noticed my mistake. I returned the extras to Walmart, but I bet that happens very commonly, especially when Walmart just asks you to run out and pull the UPC off one of them and run back to the check-out and asks you for quantity. Ooops! My cages are bent at the 'feet' from trying too hard to jam them through subsurface slabs of limestone deep in my garden, so when I get pictures up to share, don't be surprised by the artsy-look of the randomly re-formed shape of my cages.