Yep. It was one of my biggest gardening mistakes. The thing is, when you plant it initially it grows so slowly you actually celebrate when it starts to rip. You always PLAN to keep it contained, and when it gets to just where you want it, then it is usually too late. LOL. When it hits maturity, it goes on steroids. Plants cannot survive if they are severed from their roots, so I'd suggest taking a good sized lopper and severing the vines just above ground level on the trees you wish to eradicate it from. My husband has mowed the ivy bed from lleh in our front yard. Destroy the clippings in an appropriate manner. What you have left are very short zagillions of rooted stems and THAT is what you round-up. It usually takes several applications exactly how the label describes, before you see results. By mowing it down first, you have a lot less area to cover .. however since the herbicide is absorbed through the leaves, this is also a drawback. I faced the same situation with Japanese honeysuckle on my property before I got married. It was already there when I bought the land, but in one small spot. By the time I moved ten years later I was taking machetes to it to keep it from enveloping my orchard. It was hideous.

It's our funky bar that's running us into problems, too. Per dh's measurements, which I will say looked GREAT..we were given an estimate of $750 for the product alone. This was on the low end, cheapest edge. But, with installation it put us around $1400. Dh is very handy and does a lot of DIY stuff. But, with all the angles we have on our counter, and this bar he's very hesitant. If you're off even 1/16 of an inch, you could be screwed if you're doing it yourself. Because you're liable for the measurements. If we have them install, they'll come out and measure and anything that goes wrong, falls on them. But, more for labor then the product, UGH. That kills me. I kind of like the idea of trying the paint thing myself. That'll buy us some time till next yr when we can do the Hi-mac that we like so well. It's around $2200 and not in the budget right now. But, spending $1400 just to get something I really don't like. Because the color of the stuff I have now doesn't match my new paint, seems a waste.

Wow, bbtx, you must've read my mind--I was looking at colors like that yesterday! Last night I looked at the orange-y antique in question and realized the finish is truly an awful color: orange pine with a biloous green cast. I've had it since my grandmother died, it was made in the 1850's or so by a cabinet maker relative. It hasn't been refinished since about 1970 when my mom stripped it. G-ma fthought it looked "naked" and painted the top & front panels with OX BLOOD MILK PAINT (her own recipe) to "brighten it up." Now, I adored my G-ma, and have lugged this heavy piece of furnitue aall over the country for years in a twisted form of ancestral worship because mother told me it's a family piece and selling or painting a family piece will earn me a lightening bolt from heaven. And I'm just now thinking "Wait--WHAT??" I'm talked to my older sister last night and SHE'S like "OMG, you took that seriously?" Long story short, (sorry!) aforementioned sister is visiting this weekend and we're going to examine options re: cleaning/refinishing/refinishing or painting this piece so it plays nicely with others an doesn't restrict my decor choices quite so much!

Hello, Im writing this so others can avoid MY awful experience with this Âjump start 48 Âhour diet, sometimes called the Hollywood Diet. ItÂs Monday now and IÂm almost feeling normal again, but still very weak. Ever have stomach flu? ThatÂs what this was like. Saturday morning, full of determination, I mixed up a batch of the WomanÂs World recipe of the diet. Since it had more protein, it sounded more healthy than the Hollywood version of the Âjump-start recipe. Besides, I donÂt care for papayas or apricots, which may be the source of the bitter tang some users have complained about. It tasted just FINE, and I had my first shake at around 10 am, then went about my usual weekend activity, which was sewing. Not too strenuous. I worked steadily with a big container of water next to me, taking sips off that to keep hydrated as many have recommended. When I got hungry, I drank another fruit shake. Of course I used the toilet a lot more with all this liquid, but IÂd expected that, after all, I was trying to clean out my system. In articles IÂd read about this sort of diet IÂd learned our bowels can hold from 2-7 pounds of wasteÂwhich accounts for most of the Âweight lost in this diet. Of course, once youÂre back on regular food afterwards it all comes back, a little detail the TV infomercials leave out. Around 4pm my dogs came in and began staring at me. Not normal behavior for them. They are very perceptive pooches and their message was clear: ÂAre you feeling bad? They were right. I was feeling woozy, and had a headache, which I attributed to the sudden diet shift. I drank more water and decidedÂafter sewing a long seam up the wrong wayÂthat I needed to compromise on this. My weakness was such that I couldnÂt sit up to sew anymore, so I lay down on the bed and thought things over. As in the Slim Fast diet the idea of having one sensible meal for dinner made sense. So I had one (with some Tylenol) and felt a little better, but not much. I found I was too weak to sit at the sewing machine even then, and my trips to the toilet were becoming more frequent and cramp-ridden. Ditto for my between-runs rests. I dozed the rest of the slow evening, lurching up from bed to deal with bouts of out-and-out diarrhea, cursing myself for being so stupid. I got NO sleep that night, only catching short, shallow dozing between stumbling to the bathroom every 30 to 40 minutes, and groaning with cramp. Throughout all that my little dogs snuggled close, giving what comfort they could. I had chills, then the sweats like a fever victim, terrible cramps, and a thunderous headache that no amount of Tylenol would fix. I kept drinking water, knowing that if I didnÂt keep hydrated IÂd only feel worse. Finally I took a dose of Emetrol for the nausea. Exactly 30 seconds later I was bent over the tub with an uncontrolled case of the heaves, and remained there in abject misery for the next half hour. I crept back to bed, extremely weak, and went back to the chills, cramps, and sweats routine for the rest of the night. In the morning I still had the awful headache, and the shakes kept me from standing upright for more than a couple minutes. The cramps had abated, so I felt certain I was on the down side of the bell curve. I continued drinking water, and in the afternoon managed to keep down a couple finely chewed crackers. I remained bed-ridden the whole of the day. By evening I had dry toast and an egg. So, there it was: the 24-hour give yourself stomach-flu symptoms diet, and, NO, I did NOT lose ANY weight. The only jump-start to my system darn near burned out the battery, leaving me incapacitated for 2 days, weaker but wiser on the third. (And full of gas!) I will mention the one time I did lose weight a couple years back. I reduced my calorie intake to 1000-1200 a day, stopped drinking caffeine and anything fizzy (including diet fizzy drinks) and increased my walking to a mile a day. I lost 30 pounds. ItÂs the same old story, the quick miracle fads just donÂt work. I was able to stick to this one for only 8 hours before my body violently rebelled against the abuse. Had I stuck to it for 48 as the regime calls for IÂd have landed in a hospital with a bunch of health care workers shaking their heads over me, too polite to ask ÂWhat were you THINKING???? So you think about it now. As for meÂIÂm going back to the old routine. ItÂs slower, but more certain and 200% healthier. Pat Elrod