One easy trick I stumbled upon was to build the simple teepee with wire or tomato cages or anything you have on hand and then drape a tarp (plastic or fabricc)over the teepee and extend it out in all directions away from the plant. If you have bushes or small trees in a row and really big tarp just drape it up and over what you can and then lay the rest of it flat against the ground. The soil will give off heat at night and the heat will collect in the tents made by the small trees. There can still be some frost damage where the leaves touch the plastic but it is amazing how much green you can save.

Yep, It is easier the 2nd time around. I hang around with people half my age or younger and ... well, some of the conversations can get pretty darned interesting. Birds and bees sort of thing. I get along pretty good with people. I can't say that it's easier the 2nd time around because there are no distractions. :o I'm just a wee bit more dedicated to the material this time and the G gap keeps me aloof. Ah memories. It's tough hanging in with a 4 course schedule though and working on contracts during the day to boot. That's why my plants need some TLC right now. It's 12:53am and what the hell am I still doing up? I got another final tomorrow. Catch up later. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BearState

Good post Moni! It is not hard to backup your files. If you have a CD or DVD burner - it is a snap. Larger USB drives are getting quite affordable, and that is better than nothing. Don't use your camera card as your only backup source. An external hard drive is also a great option. You can just copy files right over to it with a couple clicks. None of the backups are 100% safe - I use two backups. I backup to DVD twice a year and to my external hard drive almost daily. You will spend a lot less on DVD's/external hard drives, etc - than trying to recover precious pictures and files!

Latex mattresses sold by the big "S" companies are rarely, if ever, composed of 100% latex. They contain layers of cheaper foam which tend to sag over time, and mattresses with pillowtops sag the worst. I once saw a chart showing specifications of big-name "latex" mattresses and you wouldn't believe the small amount of real latex. There might be five layers of different types of foam with one or two thin layers of latex. About four years ago I was looking for a latex mattress and did a lot of online research, including spending many months reading posts on a mattress forum. I learned about several online companies that sell real latex mattresses and provide great customer service. Specialty stores in some geographic areas (not mine) also sell latex mattress, some organic. But I was on a limited budget and knew I could never afford any of these (and I question the concept of organic latex but that's for another thread.) Based on suggestions on the mattress forum, I took a risk and made an online purchase from a web site called foambymail (the company is Foam Factory.) I purchased a 6" firm base, a separate 3" soft topper, and upgraded to a terry cover, which has a zipper around all four sides (a $20 upgrade.) The mattress comes shrink wrapped, shipped by UPS. Shipping is free. Latex is very heavy and a friend helped me lug it upstairs to the bedroom. We placed it on the platform bed before unwrapping it. As we cut through the shrink wrap carefully, it made a whooshing sound as it expanded. The 6" latex base had already been placed by the company inside the mattress cover, so we only had to shift it into place on the bed. We placed the 3" topper inside the cover and zipped it all around. Since I like cushy beds, I bought a separate mattress cover with its own pillowtop made by Cuddledown (from Costco). After four years, the bed is like new and it's the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on. If I were doing this again, the only change I would make is to get a 2" soft topper rather than 3". I might also substitute the Cuddledown cover with a wool topper since the Cuddledown is filled with polyesther and sleeps a little warm. I paid less than $700 for a full size mattress and topper; it would be a little more today. Here is a link that might be useful: Foam Factory