If you look closely on a great portion of cattleyas, you'll see (especially on the larger-growing varieties) "secondary" eyes. They're kinda like little blips growing just above where regular eyes grow, but below the actual psuedeobulb. I've had catts with zero "regular" eyes start growth from a secondary, BUT the catt had enough decent roots and enough food stored in the older pbs to make the effort. If the plant is one that is easily replaced, I'd suggest getting a new plant (you'll probably see blooms a lot sooner). However, if it's one that you just can't find any more, it's worth the effort (and stubborness) to give it a shot at life. If I had the time (sorry I've been so absent lately, but I've been undergoing 30 nearly-day-long treatments in a hyperbaric chamber) I'd take some pictures of a few of my catts that even experienced growers would have tossed. I'm probably the world's most stubborn person and I was convinced that since there were some viable roots (even ones that would grow 1/8" then rot on the end, then branch a side root off that tiny bit) I'd pull everything out of my chemical arsenal as a last-ditch effort. 75% of the time it has paid off. Give it a shot! Sharon

I would have reacted the same way! This is beginning to sound like "The Pet Cemetery"! We have a few skeletons in our yard as well. One green heron: Just after I'd installed our pond, 11 years ago, we had a visit from a green heron. The day he appeared, we were installing the icemaker in our frig. I shoo'ed the bird away, as DH beckoned me for assistance. So, I asked my son (then 14 yrs. old) to keep an eye out for the fish monger and shoo him away should he return. The next thing I know, my son says he got a fish and I got him. The green heron had returned scooped up a fish and retreated for lunch on the fence. My son shot him with a pellet gun. I was shocked, and asked why he shot the bird; it was a protected species and I'd asked him to shoo the bird away. His answer was he'd misunderstood me to say shoot the bird. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm an animal lover who would never kill anything, unless it threatened human life. I was flabbergasted to say the least, but also concerned. The bird had fallen into my neighbor's yard; I didn't know if he'd wounded it or killed it, but knew we had to discretely check its status. Not wanting to draw attention to my son's mistake, he barreled over the fence w/the use of our ladder and recovered the evidence. The bird was dead, but the fish was alive (and continued to survive). "Jimmy Heron" is buried in our backyard..........along with about 10 rats (probably more), a couple of fish and one oppossum. The oppossum was dog kill. That about killed me! Our Samyoid has a thing for oppossums; I've taken 2 to the vet's for repair. Thank goodness the Samyoid has gone blind...........probably an oppossum curse put upon her rather than the diabetes. The rats.......one thing the Chamber of Commerce will never tell you about, is the rats in Tampa! When we moved here I was totally disgusted! The house had been empty for 6 months, the yard totally overgrown with vegetation. Our first night in the house, we heard a noise which sounded like a herd of buffalo crossing the roof. It was 4 days before we identified the culprits, and then I was ready to move! DH decided to put out rat traps. He was not discouraged by their numbers. I swore off any responsibilities w/traps. The first night of traps, we were sitting at the table having dinner. First, you could hear the snap of one trap, followed by many more. Sounded like the percussion section of an orchestra. I thought I'd lose my dinner. Believe me, it took only that one experience for DH to decide there had to be a better way to rid the homestead of rats. The better way, of course was to clear the property of hiding places, and at the time, it didn't seem we could move fast enough. We cleared out 4 trees (I still have 17 on the property) and all the undergrowth; then the house was tented. When I mentioned this to one of our neighbors, the neighbor's reation was, "Oh, yes, grove rats" like they were domestic pets! (Our neighborhood used to be an orange grove. Rats eat the fruit off of the trees. When they developed it, not all the rats ran away; they remained to prosper.) A few days after we'd cleared the landscaping, another neighbor was alarmed when she said she had NO idea why she suddenly had rats under her decking, but would have to deal with it. I stiffled a laugh. Another neighbor told me he and the previous owner of our home used to sit in the back yard with pellet guns and shoot rats as they ran along the fencetop. Since he lived directly behind us, they always made sure they hunted together to avoid injury or damaging the other's home. They buried a few rats in the yard as well. So, that's the buried treasures in our back yard....so far.

did you notice any root mealies while re potting it,or maybe keeping it too wet/dry??? You may also want to look closely inside those curled up leaves for mealy bugs as well because they will cause yellowing and dropping of leaves. If you're by chance keeping this particular hoya too dry it does become a mealy magnet quickly. Once they take over a hindu rope it's almost impossible to get rid of them unless you have a way that you can submerge that entire plant into a solution of something to kill them and it has to get inside the leaves and everywhere. Mine is at least 9 years old and equally as long,growing in a 14" wire hanging basket. I never allow it to become completely dry as that's when the melaies like to attack this one. In most cases with the leaves being curled as they are,you'd never even notice that the plant had an infestation. I keep my plant evenly moist at all times but still routinely do a spot check for creepy crawlies!!! The only other thing that I can think of that might cause it to rot like this would be if the pant is over potted and being kept too wet,that would cause root rot,which in turn will cause yellowing and dropping of leaves. I hope this helps. I grow a very large number of hoyas and the hindu rope is probably the most common of them all. It can be found in almost any store you walk into that sells plants. Regardless of how common it is though,mine is my pride and joy and the centerpiece of my collection. It was the first hoya I ever purchased and I will always grow it. It is also the only hoya in my collection,aside from the brand new ones,that has never been cut on. I refuse to cut my rope for anyone!!! David

Hi Marnold, Regarding the Maytag Bravos, my family members and I bought this washer for my grandmother and she absolutely loves it! We got her the MTW6600TQ model, which is virtually the same machine as the 6700 you listed except the 6600 has a pre-soak option instead of the fabric softener dispenser option. Anyway, it washes clothes beautifully, especially if you select the stain treat cycle, uses just the right amount of water and is able to accomodate HUGE loads! Items like pillows and my niece's machine washable stuffed animals are no problem for the Bravos. It also rinses very well, utilizing this interesting spin/spray technique and spins the clothes out really well with no vibrations from it's 1000 rpm final spin (if you select high speed spin, that is). I very much recommend the Bravos, despite it's relation to the Kenmore Oasis, which seems to get very negative reviews by many. My theory on why the Bravos gets mostly positive reviews that are almost polar opposite to it's sibling machine the Kenmore Oasis is that the Bravos made it's debut way after ('bout a year or 1 1/2 years) the Oasis did, allowing Whirlpool time to work out the bugs by the time the Bravos hit stores. Sparky is also correct in advising you to check out the GE Harmony as well. I've heard very positive reviews of that washer also. And if you happen to find them in your area, you may want to check out Fisher and Paykel machines as well. You may have seen this already but figured I'd attach a link anyway just in case you haven't. Hope this info helps! Good luck and let us know what you end up purchasing! :o) Here is a link that might be useful: Maytag Bravos MTW6700TQ