Hey, thanks to everyone with the positive comments!! It took about 8 hrs off and on for a week. Most of the time was spent waiting for it to rust and paint to dry. Prestonsnana--It is about 7 inches in diameter. I am looking forward to seeing your rebar nest! Jeanne S. and Jan--I will put it outside. But as you mentioned, it looks so real that a bird might come and disturb them. I am thinking the Scrub-Jays will want to eat the eggs. In hindsight, I should have filled the eggs with something to make them heavy! LOL I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Sheri

Hello, Thanks for all of the help. I'm sorry if my post was confusing. When I was asking about how, I was looking for timing and I wasn't sure if the wires could be more harmful if left embedded than if they were removed. Each plant is now supported on two wires connected to pipes ten feet apart with five to ten feet between sets so they are spread out across two fifty foot rows intermingled with grapes and apricot trees. The wires are about four feet and five feet off of the ground. I suspect there were more plants initially but when my husband bought the property it had been untended for close to two years so many plants had been choked out, etc. He spent the first few years working on the house, when we got married three years ago I started working on the outdoor stuff but I had no gardening experience so we've been building up basically row by row, plant by plant. We were looking at replacing the pipes with 4 x 4s but I wasn't sure if we should stick with wire or if there was something else that would be better for them to climb on or a particular variety of wire that was best suited. We have absolutely no idea what we're doing with them, our main garden crops are asparagus and tomatoes so we are on quite the learning curve so I apologize if my questions are a little dense. We have been pruning them to keep them within "their area" at likely the wrong times and from what I've been reading I suspect that might be stemming off the fruit production somewhat. Should we be giving the females more space and support then since they are producing the fruit? And if we are using wires between 4x4s, is there a particular spacing that is best? I.e., right now they are one foot apart - would two feet be better? Or 8 inches? Two rows of wire or three? Again, I greatly appreciate the guidance, now that I know what they are I would like to foster them and possibly add additional plants. I love the idea of them growing on an old greenhouse frame! That has to be amazing looking! :) Thank you again! Sincerely, Teresa

I have to admit that I am actually in the totally don't worry about it group except that I too use linseed oil on the handle on a too infrequent schedule. However, for the more dedicated, I have heard others kill a couple of birds by filling a bucket with sand mixed with (used?) motor oil. They then store several shovels in the bucket thus keeping them clean and all standing up in one place. By the way: naval jelly is nitric acid in a jell. It can be used to disolve metal which removes the rust with it. This is useful, after sanding, for getting down into small pits. It is particularly good at removing rust on smoooth machinery.

yahoo! glad i checked it this week! Yes, I'm in.... Can't wait till it arrives at my place... I'll need some warning though, I've actually been splitting my time living at my house and my sisters [she is closer to my work and that helps me save on gas] Toodles! Blessed Be, Carrie Ann