There are any number of plants and pollens which can cause itching in certain individuals. One of my old mentors had to ask me to do all harvesting of his cantaloupes, since lamb quarters would be producing pollen and he had a bad reaction to contact with this. If I work around my okra plants, and it's hot, I get very itchy. Alex, I think you're on the right track, thinking about long sleeves. They help a lot. George Tahlequah, OK

I have had a professional (Belle Mead Painting and Power Washing co.) "soft" power wash our deck every other year. They have an enclosed trailer with multiple 2-300 gallon containers of water and bleach. He has several power buttons on his "power" handle. He gives all a quick water-only spray to begin, then moves to the bleach/water mix (he controls it) and cleans our flooring and the white railings, they look bright white, like new when he is finished. And, fyi, his final rinse is all water again. I have lots of different types of shrubbery around the decking, he has told me again and again, it will not harm. He is right, in the past 6 yrs (just had it done a month ago) the job is very well done, and it has never harmed any of our plantings! Get a pro!

Do you ever have a brief sense of clouding over or like there is a film in your eye or like you have an eyelash in your eye.Those are also symptoms of dry eyes. No, that doesn't happen to me. Again, I think that it is allergies, because I will be fine until I go outside, and the nursery experience really made me realize it was some sort of tree or shrub. It is quite obvious that I am having a reaction to something. Recently my DH and I were out to dinner, and dining in the restaurant's patio area and I experienced the same sypmtoms. I was fine when we left the house, but started tearing up when we sat down on the patio.

Well, basically in most areas moisture from the soil is always rising to the surface in the form of vapor. This isn't the same thing as free water arising from the soil due to poor drainage, underground springs, etc., from poorly-drained (whether seasonally or permanently) soil. Rising water vapor is not really a defect of drainage, but it can cause problems in houses where the rising vapor becomes trapped underneath the house contributing to structural damage and a dampness up into the house sometimes causing mold problems. The cure for soil vapor is primarily to block it at the soil level to prevent it from becoming trapped under the house. In some situations it is impossible to do that, then the cure is to vent it with fans (though this can cause other problems related to moisture vapor in the outside air). A third option, and may be what you have to do if you have a house on a piers, is to block it directly under the floor supports. Though, this again, is less than perfect because you are also preventing moisture that is already in the house from exiting through the floor. Fortunately not much moisture vapor flows downward, but it's still a risk. Many people use simple construction poly as moisture vapor barriers, but there are better, longer-lasting specific products for this. Can you try opening up the space under your house and assessing the condition of the soil? If it's very moist you would want to actively vent it with fans, ASAP. Then consider what you want to do about blocking further moisture. Often it's a combination of poor surface drainage and rising vapor. Each must be dealt with separately. (As as aside, when I mentioned a "thorough steam cleaming" in my first post I did not mean a steam cleaning of a carpet - that I would simply remove if there was any questions of allergy issues- I meant a through steam cleaning of all the wall surfaces, ceiling, floors and woodwork. One advantage of using a steamer over simple waster washing is that it contributes less moisture, doesn't require rinsing, etc. In fact in really dirty situations I usually do both: a water washing first to remove as much gross contamination as possible, followed by a steam cleaning. If you're thinking of buying a steamer, I suggest you ask if there are any open box models avail. Sometimes these are returns in excellent condition at very good prices. Steamers, as a class of appliance, are often over-sold as miracle cleaners, in my opinion. The result is that vendors get returns when people realize that it is isn't quite what they expected. However, they do have their uses in a situation like you describe. Buying a returned unit with full-warranty is a less expensive way to acquire one for the occasional major cleaning uses -as opposed to the claims of using it every day to clean everything from your toothbrush to your toilet bowl. My steamer is a Ladybug model, which I am generally happy with. If I was to replace it, I might consider a more powerful unit.) HTH, Molly