Thanks everyone for all the compliments. My floating baskets aren't doing too good this year. Don't know if it's the weather or my koi (now that they are bigger they are able to tip the basket with their body just enough to nibble. They remind me of deer they don't eat the whole plant just enough to stress it out). I heard a rumor it could be my water is too clean. Pond is in it's third year so it may be fully cycled now. Don't know if any of you read Nosambos (Lisa's) post earler this month so I am linking it to mine. She is so creative she can turn anything that floats into a planter as you can see from her post. I just love visiting her pond because I never know what she has created that is going to surprise me. I got 4 large sheets of styrofoam pads from work. They are about 3 ft long by 1 1/2 ft wide. I am planning on connecting them together with computer cable ties. I am going to try to make a large floating impatiens, watercress island out of them by cutting holes in the pads and placing punctured styrofoam cups in the holes (hopefully this will make them koi proof), then placing impatiens and watercress bare root in the styrofoam cups. It may work unless my koi decide to tip it over. (They completely destroyed one floating basket of watercress in a day). I will post pics if it does work. I am just wondering if I should surround it by pond noodles to make it more stable. Only problem will be getting it in and out of the pond. My pond is in full sun and my fish have no shade other than the floating planters you see in the post here. As they are getting bigger their shade is getting smaller. Jenny Here is a link that might be useful: Nosambos floating watercress idea

Maria your pictures and the time you spend to document and help to inform others through your images is very much appreciated. We are very blessed here. It is a real shame that someone would just take them without at least first asking. The only good that comes out of it is the flattery I suppose! You could always offer them the use of your images in exchange for lots of free bulbs! Larissa- I think the things we type here and the "conversations" if you will, are the same as if we were all at the coffee shop or Burger King talking out loud for anyone to hear. Unfortunately, there are terrible things happening all the time. I don't even like to watch the news because it is always about who has been killed. Also, the internet has given criminals so much access to scams, it isn't even funny. Please if anyone asks you to send them money and you don't know them DON'T do it no matter how great it sounds. I believe Jodi is right about the Google search. I know I have searched for images of different plants and a GW post comes up many times. It is very easy to just search and go right to the image here. Then with the way Photobucket is set up, nothing is private. Once you link one photo, all the other images you have saved in other albums are available for viewing. Make sure what you upload is something you want to share with anyone, anywhere! Hang in there, Maria. I know you will get a response from Ebay and they will want to help you. I had an issue once with a fraudulent seller once who was running up the prices on his own auctions with different user names. They busted him and turned his account off very quickly! -Frank

Nicole--si, il cuor verde d'italia, esattamente! :-) It's an apt nickname. If you ever get the chance, go there! Of all the places I've been on this planet, it stands out as the most enchanting, hands down. And the wine is unique and wonderful. I call that corner the Heart of Darkness because it's where the property line meets the seawall, and it's overgrown with clusters of palms of various sorts that never seem to get manicured--and so all of the dead fronds hang there and it becomes more and more like a tiny jungle as time passes. Small *cringe*. Anyway, I'll be glad to send the cutting either way. I know your trees are young. But if you make me an offer I can't refuse, I might then hafta accept :-) We'll talk about over the winter LOL it'll give us something to do while are plumies are bare naked sticks. Thank you, Wendy! :-) You're very kind. And I don't expect you to bother John on my behalf--it's all good. If I decide I MUST have that tree (and put it where???), then you've given me enough info to, theoretically at least, find out from John what that sassy little plumie is named, if not Tangerine Dream, and then order me one! LOL it makes my day to know that y'all enjoyed my storytelling :-) You hafta have a sense of humor, I guess, right?, 'cause if you don't, one minute the iguanas are downing your trees, the next minute you're going postal! hehe In seriousness, the iguanas still come 'round often enough to decimate any progress that a few of my smaller trees have made-- it only takes 1-2 visits a month on their part. It's sad--Mary Moragne and Kona Hybrid each came to me as short 2-tips, and they've been picked clean so often that the nubby tips are tapering up to nothing. Another one recently broke a branch off Haleakala, on its way to shred the leaves, kinda beaver-style LOL. It's MADDENING but I guess there are some things that one cannot control. G

Alisande, they are vintage reproductions of bar, liquor prints "CONTRATTO" & "DIONIS GRAN SPUMANTE","CHAMPAGNE JOSEPH PERRIER" & "SAUVION'S BRANDY" (sorry for the caps..taken from the auction I won). The bar is SUPER heavy (took 5 guys to move it into the room and even then they still dropped it), has a marble top and all kinds of drawers and things on the back side of it. It was definitely an impulse buy. I really have to quit looking at furniture now cause our house is full! DH was about to kill me cause every week I'd send him to pick up something I'd bought. :-) He's happy with the finished room though.