saccharum: No offense--I am a natural exaggerater, but do my best to restrain myself. As for the copper fungicide's toxicity. I have noted in these forums before my suspicion that it has some toxicity to sapwood if it soaks down inside a tree and gets at it from the inside. I have not reported all the things I have tried with this, but I did try applying this stuff to real extremes, and at what I would call almost ridiculous over applications I suspect some marginal toxicity. One pine tree that I poured this stuff on in amounts I cannot accurately document had a portion of the side of the trunk under the application zone die. But this was a tree that a storm broke half of off, the broken part being about 14 inches in diameter, and where it broke there was a sunken area where I could actually pool this stuff. But in my experience, the part of the trunk under this really huge broken area may have died anyway. In another instance where I applied it very, very liberally I noticed some bleeding beneath the cut, which was a cut to remove half of a forked tree and the cut was about 5 inches across. I did this experimental overapplication on this tree, a Norway spruce, because it was a weak tree growing in the shade of other spruces and a white pine. A stronger tree growing in full sun may not have shown the same symptom. The tree, however, is still alive and has not shown any loss of vigor. It is in substantial shade but is "plugging along" nicely considering that. Both of these instances were cases where the cut or the break was across the grain and the cut or break faced upwards and absorbed all the rain that fell also. I noticed no other instance of anything I would suspect was a toxic effect, and for a while--until I learned better, I applied more than needed. So I think it is in all probability safe. As for research--I have been talking to people for at least 20 years in several universities trying to get someone interested, but no luck so far. This liquid copper fungicide is the third thing I tried--it seemed obvious very soon that it was working, so I have tried nothing else since. But of course there are other things one could try. Part of my reason for trying this liquid copper fungicide is that it was my understanding that the copper itself was the active agent, and I thought that the copper would have some stability in the outdoor environment and would not break down so fast as other fungicidal compounds. Also, it is my understanding that the "liquid" copper fungicide is, in fact, a true liquid solution, and as such it would soak into the wood in a way that a wettable powder would not. A great many trees get fungal infections through injuries to the trunk or from pruning cuts made to remove very large limbs. It pains me to see this and I am convinced (I understand research needs to be done, if only to convince others) that it can be easily prevented. Many of the trees are trees loved by their owners, and in many cases these trees have a monetary value that would exceed several thousands of dollars. What a waste! Oh, I must note--even though I admit to a frequent tendency to exaggerate, I am not exaggerating about the ability of this liquid copper fungicide to stop fungal infections. Just to be clear--over the last 20 years, I have probably used this stuff on 200 trees. About 60 or 70 of these were spruce and pine trees (Norway spruce, white pine, red pine) that were forked. I cut half the fork off, leaving big ugly cuts, mostly sloping, but not always. Some of these cuts were at least 6" across. Many took 10 to 15 years to occlude, and some, after 20 years have not yet occluded. I have seen no evidence that I could recognize of any fungal infection whatsoever. And the wood at the surface of these cuts is as fresh and hard as a board in a lumber yard. I am not exaggerating this one tiny, tiny bit. I have also used this stuff on logging bumps and scrapes, some really huge, on various species of hardwood trees and hemlock, and as I reported above--no trace of fungal infection that I could detect. I have tried to renew this stuff every year--in some cases I missed a year or two, especially on the logging wounds which require a lot of walking to get to every year. One thing I would like research to show is how often it is necessary to reapply this stuff. I have wanted to be on the safe side, hence my reapplication every year, as far as I have had time and energy. Getting to all the treated trees over the 300 acres I have is a four day job, and an exhausting one at that. --Spruce

mommabird congrats on moving on and doing what you needed for your sons and yourself to get your life back, it's great to hear things are going so well. one thing in your posts really jumped out at me: " " I really do think hoarding is a control issue." as a former hoarder who did get help and learned to overcome the obsessiveness of hoarding, I totally agree that it is about control. I think often what happens is circumstances that make a person feel like they have no control, that could be a job loss, a death in the family, financial problems, poverty, lots of other things that trigger that sense of not being in control in your life. that was very true for me, and the hoarding is like a way to control your surroundings, as long as you control the stuff you feel like you have control over something. one of the greatest feelings though that I wish all hoarders could experience is just letting go, giving up the need to control things and realize that hoarding doesnt improve your life, it doesn't protect you from all the crap that life throws at you and when you learn to let go you get such a sense of freedom from this horrible obsessive behaviour. it's not easy but it can be done and the rewards are so worth it, but I think a lot of hoarders are afraid to try and get the right help but no one can make them face it head on, that has to come from within and just a desire to change and do the hard yards to overcome it. unfortunately though hoarding does affect other people and mostly those who also live in the house, as frankie said above mental illnesses do have that impact, but when a hoarder tries to control everything in your surroundings, it ends up controlling what other family members can or can't do as well. At the end of the day, you realized what is right for you and your kids.

Hi Al! All is well in my world (besides the few curveballs life likes to throw). My plant count (by pot, not species or plants) is now at 37. I've learned a lot. In October, I was able to connect with a small business owner who runs a boutique style plant shop (boutique = overpriced) that traded my ficus trees for store credit. I wound up bringing home a monstera adansonii, hoya varigata, peperomia tetragona and hypoestes phyllostachya in that trade (I know, I gave her a good deal). I had my first experience with mealybugs on the monstera adansonii and after trying to treat it the best I could without buying pest control stuff, I returned it (but kept a cutting from trimming up the damage, shhh don't tell). I then brought home a calathea freddie, amazonica polly and a good sized monstera deliciousa. These plants are doing quite well, even in winter. The hypoestes is quite finicky, but that's just what they do (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of them, but my boyfriend liked it). I also acquired a large wandering jew, peperomia obtusifolia, sanseveria cylindrica (from TJ maxx of all places, poor thing barely has roots), english ivy, and a 5 pack of succulents from my aunt for my birthday. I also just ordered four plant lights and cords for them... they should be here Monday. This way I can hopefully get them to look less crowded around the windows. I haven't mixed my own soil yet, I was in quite a hurry last time I had to grab some and so far so good (Fox Farms' Coco-Loco). I add in perlite for most plants. With life's demands lately between holidays, helping my boyfriend with his business, health issues and work, I've been mostly trying to relax and zone out when I can. Oh, one of my pilea peperomioides is finally having babies too!

I love a good revived thread. :-) My good deals are all from eBay this time. My desktop computer is not quite four years old, but since it gets a lot of use and we believe in "lifecycling" electronics I've been casually looking for a good deal on a somewhat high-end refurbished PC to replace it. Before I found anything, my computer quit. Just refused to turn on. I researched possible causes, and called in my expert: my son. The power supply was a common source of the problem, so I bought one on eBay for $20. Nope, that didn't do it, but we kept the replacement in the computer and held onto the old one as a spare. Next we replaced the motherboard ($70 on eBay). Yes! The computer works fine at this point, but we figured since the hard drive has been spinning all these years, why not replace it--or add another, which is what we did--rather than wait for it to fail? So I bought a 1TB SSD drive on Amazon ($100), and now have a "new computer" for under $200. Also, I've been wanting an L.L. Bean tan canvas "barn jacket" for a long time but was unwilling to pay over $100 for it. Even eBay prices on them aren't usually tempting, but this time I found one for under $20 including shipping. I love it! It really is "like new," and I look forward to wearing it when spring starts to make an appearance. All I need now are olive green "wellies" for our muddy season.