I have had good luck with K&H Manufacturing, model 9000. I use it in a 26" diameter, 3" deep in middle, bird bath. It is only 50watts but will usually keep the bath from freezing solid almost down to 0' F. At the colder temps thin ice forms but is easily broken up and the effect can be "boosted" by occasionally adding warm water.

We went with Roy Schlabach after interviewing about 20 different builders and am damn glad we did. He builds in all price ranges, from $100,000 to over a million. We got amazing Amish quality, high end finishes, great design advice, and with all this, he came in UNDER budget and ahead of schedule. I can't recommend him more highly. What he says he'll deliver, he delivers. He and his site foreman have stayed in touch with us and every now and then, we get a call asking if everything is still good and if we're still happy with everything. Amish builders are not cheap, but they are worth every dime in the long run. We have a very long driveway on 8 acres in the country and our mailbox is at the road. Our house sits on a little rise above a big lawn and a meadow area that we keep "wild" for the wildflowers and as a natural area for wildlife. When I walk down to get the mail, I've had people pull up and tell me our house is stunning and ask who built it. It's far from a million dollar house, but I feel like we have million dollar house quality. If I was building again, Roy Schlabach is the only builder I would call.

They are all in pots. I am selecting for the hardiest individuals from among hundreds of total plants grown from seed. And, honestly, I would feel guilty bothering people with every one of the problems I am experiencing... I ordered a book overnight:Growing conifer seedlings, transplants, and trees in an outdoor nursery by Donald B. Hilliker. That said, the long version of the problems are as follows. Abies koreana, Pinus cembra, Pinus longaeva, Pinus nigra 'Austriaca', and Pinus sibirica all came through the winter (along with others, but they're fine). Pinus longaeva came through quite strong. Abies koreana, Pinus cembra, and Pinus sibirica, came through okay. Two weeks after the last snow storm it got extremely hot. We had 90degF temps for three days. I don't think I watered enough at that time. Since then I have been moving them into different light on different parts of the property. I believe that I have been successful finding good light and watering levels for Pinus cembra and sibirica, and Pinus nigra 'Austriaca'. Almost all of my Abies koreana and Pinus longaeva continue to do very poorly. The pinus longaeva picked up when I moved them into more sun, but I believe that when I moved them again (I was going to set up a new space just for them) I really upset them. The half dozen Abies Koreana that survived are doing very poorly. While I know that I can find a lot of the information that I'm looking for doing research online that can be extremely time consuming and I am working with dozens of different plants (from self-seeding annuals to Pinus longaeva). So I am looking for a comprehensive resource on conifers--like a textbook--that can give me a broad base of knowledge from which I can draw because I haven't got all the time in the world :)

I buy a multipack of Dove sensitive skin bar soap and store it with each box opened. I always restock before we get to the last bar, so the newer ones also have a little time to age. I’ve been doing that for 30+ years on the recommendation of employee of a soap manufacturer. It’s not a hardship to do and it seems to work because my bars never get gloopy. My experiences with recanting soaps into pretty pump containers were epic failures. The kitchen sink one was glass, tipped over, and shattered. The powder room sink was resin (?) and whatever they color it with ran off the container and onto the sink. It was made to hold soap, didn't they consider it would be in a wet environment?