Romero Family Traditions Print

Sharing family traditions, Rosie remembers eating from satsuma trees in Louisiana.

Callers:

• Tom - He has a tangerine tree and it's healthy and looks good, but the leaves are curling and they want to know why?

Recommendation - Tangerine leaves curl more than the other citrus types to begin with, but a critter called "thrip" will attack leaves here. It's mostly cosmetic and shouldn't be an issue. As long as the rest of the plant looks healthy, it should be fine. 

• Diane - She lives in the Cottonwood area and wants to know if it a pear tree can grow there and how bid will it get?

Recommendation - She sounds like she's in a great are for the pear tree and can cut it back as much as she wants to control the size. (10-15 wide if you just plant it in the yard & let it go)

*Shirley called in to say she has an Asian pear tree and it grows well here and produces great fruit.

As part of our traditions show, we share the best Holiday Recipes the team could put together for our listeners!!

Here's a link to Rosie's Mom & Dad, Dr. Rosie and Baby K, reading the Cajun 12 Days of Christmas and The Cajun Night Before Christmas, Enjoy!!

Callers:

• Rudy - He lives on the corner and has quite a lot of ground to cover the area, that won't require very much work?

Recommendation - First of all, the ground has to be completely clear of weeds and then use a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent weeds from popping up. When considering a rock bed to use for cover, keep in mind the larger the rock, the harder it is to clean up and weed when you do want to clean up a bit. Style is hard to give recommendations on, but take a trip through a nursery and pay attention in your neighborhood.

Letter from a Listener:

• Mike - He's starting an indoor herb garden and wants to know what lighting requirements he'll need?

Recommendation - It will need a lot of light(natural light), but not in a place it will be over-stimulated. Consider drainage messes too. Mints, basil and the softer herbs do better inside)

• Jeremy - His African Sumac tree is out of control and he needs recommendations on cutting it back.

Recommendation - Cutting back a 1/3 is usually a rule of thumb, but give it about a month longer into the season. (late January, early February)

Caller:

• Dorothy - She planted a lemon tree and the branches are growing very fast and she's concerned about the long branches.

Recommendation - She could do some very light pruning, but this is NOT the time to be cutting back on citrus plants. Lemon trees are just the fastest growing citrus type to begin with. 

(Yellowing leaves this year are mostly from over-watering. When it's rainy, remember to cut the irrigation off)

*Lawn Care Tip - Fertilizing right now is a great idea if it looks like it needs it. Once a month is best.

Callers:

• Alexander - He has a tangerine tree that has produced tons and tons of fruit for over 30 years and not a single one this year......why would that happen?

Recommendation - Tangerines can be hard to pollinate and it's Jay's best guess that the conditions just happened to come together and it simply didn't pollinate this year.

• Beth - She and her friend want to graft their two different types of lemon trees. How would we go about this?

Recommendation - This can be pretty complicated and hard to describe over the radio. She needs to be shown how to do it......Search Youtube, visit the local county extension, etc.

Fun Fact: If you actually bought everything on the 12 Days of Christmas, it would cost you about $28,000.00!!!

*We share some Romero Family Traditions, including the annual debate on when the

Christmas Tree goes up and who hangs all the lights.

Caller:

• Donna - She has an electrical issue, where lights are coming on and the stereo is turned up and on too. Her daughter is blind and she's concerned about fire safety for her. What should she do?

Recommendation - She called the utility company and that was the right first call. This will take some investigating and they can usually find where the phantom voltage is coming from. It's probably not a fire hazard, but obviously getting it fixed is important. 

Rosie shares another Family's Tradition they've become a part of...Every year, friends of theirs distribute "Meg's Nog"  They Love It!!!

Callers:

• Rich - He has a double wide car port and he wants to get rid of a post that is holding up two support beams. Can he use a laminate beam to replace it?

Recommendation - Rosie's done this and he can definitely use a laminate beam. It will need a solid concrete foundation to set on, not just the garage floor.

*Rich shares a Polish tradition, the Sharing of the Oplatek.

*Here are links to the Cajun 12 Days of Christmas and Night Before Christmas

More Romero Family Traditions......Gift sharing and Rosie still doesn't know how everyone in his family drew his name in 1979?.?

Caller:

• Jimmy - When he shuts off the faucet in his bathroom, there's a knock in the wall. What is it and what can he do?

Recommendation -  It sounds like it is just a loose plumbing pipe in the wall that needs to be re-anchored. 

**Normally, he would just pick up a pressure-meter valve for about 10 bucks. You hook it up on the front of the house where the water comes in from the water main. Make sure everything is shut off in the house. Then turn it up full blast and make sure its not over 70lbs/square inch. He could also need an "Air-Hammer Arrester."

Don't forget to sign up for the Sanderson Ford Arizona Staycation!!!

Caller:

• Barbara - The lights in her bathroom flicker randomly. She had an electrician come out and he thought it was a loose wire. It wasn't and he said she's probably plugging in too many things at once, but it does it no matter what she has plugged in. Now what?

Recommendation - It's probably a loose wire in the actual fixture, so cut the power and check the connections or have an electrician do the work if she's not comfortable.

More Holiday Traditions:

• Lynn wrote the show to share an Arizona Tradition, a potluck the Central Arizona Cactus & Succulent Society.
• Jennifer's tradition of handing out prickly pear syrups, jellies and marmalade every year.
• Rosie shares stories about his Mom and how they share the holiday time every year.

Caller:

• Tom - Just like Rosie's family, they have to find another day to get together during the season.....He has a heat pump issue....lots of air....no heat.....now what?

Recommendation - This is a common problem with heat pumps and has to do with the humidity and moisture in the air during the cool temps, recently. Rosie breaks down how heat pumps work and continues into the next hour.

We're talking "Family Traditions" and a listener really wants to know more about a Rosie story from earlier in the show!

We share great stories about giving back:

• Someone left a unique and valuable gift for the Salvation Army!
• Did you know that The Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center is donated and milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity?  It's True!  Donate to Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona this year.

**Rosie shares a trick about fixing his heat pump, using your AC!

Caller:

• Merrian - His toilet was leaking and he replaced the entire guts in the upper bowl and it didn't fix it. What should he try next?

Recommendation - Turn the water off and drain the upper bowl. It's probably the seal in between the upper and lower bowl. Take petroleum jelly and seal all around that gasket in the upper tank 1st and then fill it back up. That could fix it, otherwise he'll need to replace the gasket.

More Family Traditions:

• Cutting down your own Christmas Tree (Tip: take a measuring tape..will it fit!?!?)
• Christmas Letter Family Updates

Caller:

• Margaret - She just bought a home and she's noticed it's not very level....needs some help. We'll continue in the next segment...

Callers:

• Continuing with Margaret from last segment....

Recommendation - She could have some issues, considering the age of her home. This is just normal damage when you level something settling for 50 years. She'll need to weigh the benefits of the fix versus the possible damage caused in the repair.

• Jack - He just discovered his drainage system is pretty damaged.....not a very good Christmas present! He was advised that there might be a technology that can realign the pipes instead of hammering out the concrete slab?

Recommendation - Call Stampede Plumbing. They are using this technology and they'll be able to assess his home to discover if it's possible. We would definitely recommend this. 

*Rosie shares a funny story about septic backup happening during a work party for the Rosie On The House staff...yuck!

We share more Romero Family Traditions we like and some not so much.....

Caller:

• Doughtie - She shares a family tradition of bowling on Christmas night to get a big pick me up after all the excitement of the day!

Thanks for joining us and we leave you with Rosie's Mom & Dad reading the Cajun Night Before Christmas.

Happy Holidays from Rosie On The House!

Join us every Saturday Morning 8 to 11