I was not arrested for felonious behavior! and it's all behind me for the time being. I am enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio. My brother was effectively "beside himself" when I arrived at his home; I knew because he was puttering around making up flashing for his garage... . I asked him what he thought was going to "go down" and we decided our strategy would be to let them direct things and interject when the opportunities arose. They were pretty much stunned when I walked into the room, a lot of sideways glances at each other. :) (wimpy handshakes, too... didn't look me in the eyes). Meeting started with a discussion of how disruptive Mum has been in the past two weeks; I asked for details of the "events" and asked who had witnessed them. Details were scarce. I asked about the time of day they occured; typically late afternoon... "sun downers"? yes, suspected. They asked US what they were going to do? I suggested using the "scientific method" and begin by checking the basics... "how much water is Mum drinking daily?" didn't know. "She must have 48 oz./day to maintain adequate hydration and keep her neo-bladder and the requisite urinary pouch from becoming a breeding ground for UTIs"; we measure fluids in cc s. "Don't you have a conversion chart? I'm sure you could download one in a few seconds... "; silence. "What has the stoma nurse at the medical facility next door had to offer?"; we didn't call her, we didn't think it was necessary. "You didn't think it might be a good idea to establish a rapport with a stoma nurse NEXT DOOR when you clearly had no practical experience with urostomies and were unable to adequately change the appliance for the better part a month? If I may be so blunt, that seems like common sense to me. Moreover, my mother has had 2 UTIs in 4 months, she has 1 in 39 mos. with me, and brought that one home from a rehab. center.". Embarrassed silence, during which time I presented the nurse with a ton of literature on urostomies from Conva Tec, as well as their hotline number, a contact name, AND the name of the area Conva Tec representative (all are very well trained). We asked about exercise, fresh air, outings... minimal. Not surprising. The the head administrator and director of nursing arrived shortly thereafter. The admin. guy "strongly" objected to our blunt assessment of their ability to manage an urostomy patient. "Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating... the reality IS that your facility utterly failed to provide the most basic adherence to the fundamentals. I don't want to hear any more about your credentials... I want to see you start using them.". I suspect they don't often get legal guardians like my brother and me. Upshot? the replacement hearing aids, increased hydration, and greater attention to the fundamentals of urostomy care, as well as increased exercise OUTDOORS are to be the focus of the new "program" for the short term. It was made very clear to them that medicating a elderly woman "livn' in her own private Idaho" WASN'T going to be the first option. Not when they'd failed so utterly and miserably on the very points of concern my brother raised repeatedly before admitting Mum. Then we talked about the hearing aids and the "loss" of Mum's personal property. And it was made perfectly clear that the missing items are to be replaced in a timely manner and that the inconvenience it has caused is not to be repeated. I will be following this up with strongly worded letter. My big brother has, I think, a new appreciation for his little sister (he calls me his "little pit bull"; I hate dogs!). He remarked that watching me write down names and take notes blew him away! and he quietly thanked me 2 times for coming down for the meeting. It's been a tough month for him; he's lost 2 friends, and one of his cats, and has been beating himself up over selecting the wrong place for Mum. I told him not to waste time on the latter... there are no guarantees and trusting people are often the ones prone to "guilt". I teased him, telling him I really did understand just how it felt to be absolutely overwhelmed... "yeah, now I get it". I'm whipped. Traffic was dreadful coming home. Sue, the sickest I've been in my life was with Lyme Disease. I don't doubt you must feel some crummy! did the do a Lyme titer on you? Check out the New England FAQ for my story and my insights on that. Take good care, we need more people like you in our world! Hi to everyone else; I promise to reread with a less distracted mind, but know I think of you guys every single day in one way or another.

This is a fantastic thread and thank you to all of the contributors! I find mason bees fascinating. I would like to expand my mason bee housing, I only started last year. I have a couple of questions for DIY houses. I think I would like to go the paper tube route. It seems parchment paper seems to work perhaps better than brown paper bag? I have bags but easily can buy a roll of parchment if it fairs better with moisture (pacific north west). Drilling hole size if I used a solid wood block: If I use parchment, do I drill 5/16" still. With paper bag, do I drill 3/8" as the paper takes up space or still go 5/16". I am going to buy a long drill bit (about 16") and use my drill press to get deep holes. Don't really want to buy 2 bits :) . My other option is to rip 5/16" square grooves in 1" think boards and then line with tubes. The tubes will prevent the spread of mites etc between wood layers correct? This is far faster for me (rip the grooves vs. drilling a solid block) and I already have the dado blade and table saw, as well as the wood. Comments and suggestions greatly appreciated!

Thanks again to all who replied. Everyone's thoughts (plus my own) were passed in unedited form to owner and I got some feedback. A lot of ideas that was expressed by you was accepted and we both, Jennifer and myself realy appreciate your help and welcome all comments and criticism for our future plans. Project most likely will be done in a two stages: -stage #1, fall'06. -stage #2, spring-summer-fall'07. stage #1. One large free form bed will be created on a right side at the curve of the driveway, which is coincidently at about middle of it, 90' from the road and 100' from the garage. Tentative lenght of this bed is 45' and at widest point it will be about 30' while majority of the planting area will be in 15-22' width range with 3' clearance (meaning no shrubs) from the edge of the driveway for the snowplowing provision. It will be slightly (6-8") raised bed with some medium to large size rocks incorporated mostly in the back side of it to serve practical purpose of sort of retaining wall and to match another 'rock composition' they already have there. Jen and her husband will start work on a bed preparation ASAP as time and weather permit and they hope to make it ready this fall. Then they'll plant some spring bulbs, namely daffs and tulips and call it a year. They (we?) will have a whole winter to plan and think of what they'll plant there next year during the stage #2. Also, they both (and me too) like the Martie's idea of planting one medium sized tree at the bottom of the driveway on a left side. I suggested something red/burgundy leaved and idea was accepted. What would you think would be better, Bloodgood maple or Prunus cerasifera (Purple-Leaved Plum, Cherry Plum) or something else? Tricia's idea about clump of the white birch to the right of the garage was met with a round of applause and despite birch borer potential problem it probably will be implemented this fall if they'll found decent speciman (I suggested Young's as a first place to look for it.) For the privacy in a backyard I suggested to plant 2-3 viburnums (V. tomentosum 'Shasta' or 'Mariesii') to the left of garage line to the woods leaving at least 8' space from the side of the house for the future gate or arbor to backyard. As those large viburnums will grow they'll provide protection from the westerly sun and in a future could be underplanted with hydrangeas from the backyard side. Any objections to this idea? stage #2. Despite runktrun's warning about avoiding temptation to use bold colors, I brought to them idea (and even named easy to find and care for plants for this sceme) of yellow-burgundy/purple bed and for now idea stands, but I could easily divert them from this direction. They still have the whole winter to think about. Meadow....I didn't mentioned that before, but on a left side of the driveway starting from the edge of the woods and going parallel to the driveway there is a huge NATURAL meadow though it's partially ruined by construction activity and need a restoration. Jen visited yesterday Whie Flowers Farm to see their C. Lloyd-inspired meadow border and came back with all inclinations to do 'the same thing or better'. LOL, she's a brave girl! One more time thanks to everyone and I'm looking forward for comments and criticism. TIA, George

I saw on a cottage show on tv that a gazebo owner installed double screens (back to back) which prevented the rain from penetrating the gazebo. I researched this on line and could not find any reference to this. I am going to buy some screen and try it out on one of my gazebo walls. I hope it works and I hope you can still see clearly out. I thought of another idea if the double screen does not work. You can buy clear heavy weight plastic at your local Fabric stores. It is sold in rolls just like a bolt of material. I believe it is sold in different widths, up to 60 inches wide or so. I thought of stapling the sheet of plastic on a 1 inch by 2 inch piece of wood to create a header or top. At the bottom staple a 2 inch X 2 inch piece of wood (the thicker piece of wood would be heavier creating a bit of weight to hold the blind down). Drill a hole on each end of the top header. Fasten a nail or screw in the interior of the gazebo (matching the holes you drilled in the header. Hook the blinds on the nails or screws. When you do not want to use the plastic blinds, you can simply remove them and roll them up by hand and store them. It would take seconds to install these blinds and it should stop the rain from coming in. If you have strong winds in your area, you can fasten the bottom of the blinds using wing nuts. Just a thought..... Cheaper than installing window screens. Also once you install window screens on a screen porch or gazebo it does not feel the same anymore...