Reading all your messages has been like hearing the latest updates on my three sisters. That's a compliment and sincere thank you. Crohn's disease, Graves disease, fibromyalgia and arthritis (Rheumatoid/Osteo)have reared their ugly heads among my 3 sisters but left me inexplicably unscathed. The family is an autoimmune minefield...LOL. After the ONE night I went home to get some sleep I came back to my father's house to find 2 cars and no father. When your 82 year old father is MIA without explanation you naturally worry. Turns out he had a second serious bout of Atrial Fibrillation and went to the hospital without telling me. Ask me if I wasn't feeling guilty for leaving him and upset with him for not calling me. He didn't want to interfere with me taking my best friend to a colonoscopy appointment Monday AM. I didn't sleep again Monday or Tuesday nights but got a couple hours sleep earlier tonight when I landed back at my father's with Pop in tow from hospital/cardiology office. No Coumadin yet until results of 3 week montoring device show if he's having small episodes of A-Fib when he gets chest tightness on treadmill at gym. Coumadin and exercised induced symptoms are the worst for him. He's extrememly active physically (so he doesn't fall asleep!) although we're having memory issues. Well, I've whined again but it feels better to get it out. I went outside yesterday at first light to rake and do a little garden clean up. It was glorious and relaxing. If all stays well for next week or so I'll have cooked my 5th Thanksgiving dinner and actually gotten somewhat used to it. Part of family will be here and Dad can have his turkey dinner without dietary restrictions of blood thinner. He's all about his food but luckily for me not picky...LOL. All in all, I'm a pretty lucky chickadee tonight. :) Good wishes for all of your health challenges as well. I think I'm going to get some Lavender heat wraps to relax me when I'm exhausted but can't sleep.

Oops! Just realized this probably belongs over on the Home Decorating forum. Thanks!

It's no wonder you're having trouble sleeping with that bright light shining into your bedroom. The management of the other building may not realize that it's so intrusive. Perhaps you could ask them to adjust it so that it doesn't shine so directly into you apt. I rarely have trouble getting to sleep, but I sometimes hve trouble staying asleep and find myself awake in the wee hours. It doesn't happen very often now, but the last few years of my working life it was almost every night. I chalked it up to having work related things on my mind. Anyway, what I did/do that works like a charm for me is to play a mental exercise. I'll pick something like places, foods, names, etc., and starting with the letter A think of all of the places/foods/names I can that start with A. When I can't think of anymore, I move to B and so on. Rarely do I get further than C or D before falling back to sleep. An example of places could go something like Alaska, Arkansas, Amsterdam, Africa, Albuquerque and so on. I'm always amazed at how well it works as I would think it would stimulate my brain and make me more awake, but it seems to have the opposite effect.

I have some Kentucky Wonder beans that are growing like mad, but they aren't blooming. I thought it was because of the heat, but now that it's cooled off a bit and it's raining, and still zip, zilch, zero. My Contender bush beans are starting to bloom, as are my hyacinth beans, but not the Kentucky Wonders. I haven't fertilized them in awhile, but when I did, I used Miracle Gro 15-30-15, so I know it's not too much N and not enough P & K. The soil they're in has earthworms, too. Should I just start again fertilizing them? I'm going to get some 10-10-10 next week, should I use that instead? I swear, after all these years, Florida gardening still baffles me sometimes.