Aw, how cool. I hope you give it a little water and some liquid fertilizer to reward it for trying so hard. Reminds me of a moss rose that came up in a crack over the center line in the main 2 lane road at the end of my neighborhood. I watched that stupid thing grow and bloom for a couple of months, just amazed me that it could survive the heat of growing surround by black asphalt AND no car ever apparently drove over it and crushed it into pulp. So, there it was, a stupid little yellowy-orange moss rose growing in a crack in the pavement, and just a bit darker in color than the yellow center line painted on the asphalt. Life is tenacious and wants to survive, to paraphrase Carl Sagan.

Glo - Thanks for reassuring me! I hope your move is awesome! My husband has wanted to move us to Colorado for years and hasn't managed to quite convince me yet, although I think it's absolutely wonderful there. LOL So, Winter Solstice is the same everywhere? (LOL)... I guess you're seeing how little I know... Nancy - Thanks for the tip! I am gonna have to watch the lead hand myself as I way oversowed my cantaloupes this fall. The poor babies are fighting each other and giving me 2 to 5 inches fruits that don't look like they're EVER going to full ripen. I will be much more careful in the future. I'll try to not get TOO excited when I go to plant. LOL Carrie - Wow! That's some really good info. That's exactly the kind of thing I was worried about. I'm grateful for the heads up. Liz - LIZ!!! Hey, girl! Fancy meeting you here and there and now here! hee hee... The whole last paragraph of what you wrote is exactly what is concerning me. I know that I personally wear shorts through-out almost the whole winter except for those few crazy days that we see. 50's or what have you is not cold to me... We do get the occasional freeze, but then a week or two later at most you could have a 70+ degree high! All this in the same few days / weeks / months... it's SO crazy! Oh, and if they're having a plantswap around the 8th of December as well, I sure want to know as I'll be out that way. :-) Blessings, Angela

I was interested to read your post, because coincidentally, I have had the same symptoms over the past couple of days. I just purchased Charlies Soap maybe about a week ago - I just got a new HE front loader, and I've been washing away. Thus far, I've had nothing against Charlies soap, but now you got me thinking and I'll have to pay closer attention to my symptoms to see if they are possibly related to the soap. I have to make a few comments before I digress back to the main subject. First, I don't see the logic behind "washing your clothes a few times in Charlies Soap" in order to remedy a problem that didn't exist BEFORE you used Charlies Soap. There is NOTHING logical about that. Outside vs. inside fibers?? Um, not buying that either. In that respect, it would be like saying that Charlies Soap is causing us to be allergic to our old detergent, though we never had problems with those detergents before. Hmmmm...then maybe we shouldn't be using Charlies! I don't mean that literally, but come on...that sounds ridiculous. The fact is the FDA can't prevent a company from claiming that their product does something like get your clothes rid of residue by washing it three times, else they'd have pulled the Herbal Essences commercial years back when those girls seemed to have an ******** experience while washing their hair. By washing your clothes three times, it is just making you use more of their soap so then you have to buy more. Hmm..isn't that a convenient concept for CS? And now you are afraid to go back to your old detergent, because the residue is now on the "outside" and not the "inside" of the fibers. I can't keep myself from laughing at this, and I (so far) have nothing against Charlies Soap, but these claims seem a little silly to me and far-fetched. Now, this isn't to say that Charlies isn't removing residue, because I'm sure the more we wash our clothes without fabric softener, the less residue there will be on our clothes in the long run anyway, regardless of ANY detergent we use. The fact is, most manufacturers are moving towards the "ultra" concentrated products, claiming that they are "saving the environment" by using less plastic and smaller bottles, so now the average laundry detergent formula is 3X more concentrated, but have you noticed (at least the bottles I've seen) that while the bottles get smaller, the measuring caps don't? Sure, maybe those faint little measures on the inside of the clear cap that you can hardly see to begin with are labeled differently in accordance with the new formula, but my guess is that the larger portion of the population isn't going to notice or even care. This results in an increase in profits for the manufacturer. In other words, the average consumer is probably using the same amount of soap with a higher concentration, so it's no wonder people feel the difference when they switch to 1 measly tablespoon of Charlies Soap. And it's not exactly a perfect science when you are tipping a heavy bottle of liquid detergent to get just a small portion of a capful - most the time there is excess, and guess what, it goes in my washing machine, where else? My husband also made a good point that some people may look at a concentrated bottle that reads in big bold letters, "3x ultra" (it stands out from the rest of the label), and perceive that to mean that it's three times as good...not realizing they are using a concentrated product. It's good marketing in my opinion, especially that they are now competing with those who are selling detergents for HE washing machines. It's also comparable to using conditioner on my hair every day, and then switching to shampoo without a conditioner - of course my hair is going to feel different, but that doesn't mean the conditioner was ever a problem for my hair, or that I should have a reaction if all residue is not removed. So if the residue didn't bother us before, then what is the purpose of washing it three times before we wear something (other than to troubleshoot the residue on the outside vs. the inside of the fibers...LOL)?..... that's the point I'm getting at. Is Charlies a good soap? Yes, so far I like it. Does it clean my clothes, and leave them soft without perfumy scents and use of fabric softener? Absolutely, from what I've observed thus far. I digress... Like you, I have skin allergies, but I have controlled them by using only ALL free & clear detergent and Downy Free products - I've been doing this for years without any problems. I only switched recently due to my new HE front loader, otherwise, I was 110% happy with those products. For the past two days, I've been walking around and I'd swear that I got bit on my leg due to small welts. I'd itch, it would be a small welt, like you said, the size of a pea. Then today another part of my leg started itching again, and I had a small pea sized welt. Not ruling out other possibilities, but I will say that I'm going to pay closer attention after reading your post. Hmmm...could it be the in-laws? LOL I know you said you are now rash free - if your symptoms persist, please let us know. I'll give Charlies the benefit of the doubt for the interim (but I still reserve the right to laugh at some of their claims!). I suppose you can't blame them for using sales tactics.

Was there a recent divorce at your home? If so, here's a possibility' : On the first day, he sadly packed his belongings into boxes, crates and suitcases. On the second day, he had the movers come and collect his things. On the third day, he sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining-room table, by candle-light; he put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of wine. When he'd finished, he went into each and every room and deposited a few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into the hollow center of the curtain rods. He then cleaned up the kitchen and left. On the fourth day, the wife came back with her new boyfriend, and at first all was bliss. Then, slowly, the house began to smell. They tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and airing-out the place. Vents were checked for dead rodents, and carpets were steam cleaned. Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters, during which time the two had to move out for a few days, and in the end they even paid to replace the expensive wool carpeting.. Nothing worked! People stopped coming over to visit. Repairmen refused to work in the house. The maid quit. Finally, they couldn't take the stench any longer, and decided they had to move, but a month later - even though they'd cut their price in half - they couldn't find a buyer for such a stinky house. Word got out, and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls. Finally, unable to wait any longer for a purchaser, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place. Then the ex called the woman and asked how things were going. She told him the saga of the rotting house. He listened politely and said that he missed his old home terribly and would be willing to reduce his divorce settlement in exchange for having the house. Knowing he could have no idea how bad the smell really was, she agreed on a price that was only 1/10 th of what the house had been worth ... but only if he would sign the papers that very day. He agreed, and within two hours her lawyers delivered the completed paperwork. A week later the woman and her boyfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home . . . . . . and to spite the ex-husband, they even took the curtain rods!