Cindee, I am not really good at posting pictures yet. I hope this works. This is something I made for your swap. I don't know how you want to either give it away or what but it is yours to do whatever you want. The plants inside are called "Cryptanthus" or Pink Starlite. [URL=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/swapgift-5.jpg][IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/th_swapgift-5.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/swapgift-3.jpg][IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/th_swapgift-3.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/swapgift.jpg][IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/JardineraFloridana/th_swapgift.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Hope the pictures get attached. Susana

Great! Looks like about 20 people are coming, and votes say pizza and salad are the low-stress winner! I'm having a math block though..20 people times 2-3 slices equals 4 pizzas? Is that right? $80 divided by 20 would about $4 each, right? I also have lots and lots of zip lock bags, so I'm hoping to send home leftovers! Domino's lets you order online, so I thought I would submit the order tonight. How's this: -one large pepperoni -one large cheese -one large veggie -one large chicken Any other burning desires? You can also indicate what time you want the delivery. How about 11:15? That way they can look at the order tonight, say "Oh my goodness! Call in the extra workers!" Or they can reply and say they're not able to fill the order. (Surely not?) Opinions? Comments? If not, I'll put in the order around 8:00 pm. Thanks!

Good morning from waiting SE Texas! It's 82 and mostly cloudy so far. It took forever for me to fall into a good sleep last night, so I slept in late. Woke up to hearing hubby outside the bedroom window running tape on them. Coffee and computer, then breathing treatment, then getting dressed for whatever this day may bring! I received the most comforting prayer from a 'net friend when I got up today. It just relaxed me to my toes when I read it. Isn't it strange that we each possess the ability to alter another person's way of feeling by a few chosen words? Dee, TGIF! What did you think of BB last night? All regular shows were pre-empted here for weather news, of course, but I stayed up to watch the beginning of BBAD and figured out very quickly that somebody left (YEA!) and my faves stayed. THank goodness for modern technology so that I can keep up when need be. It looks like Ike made another little change during the night and he's not weakening as I'd heard before bedtime. We're in as good a shape as we can be, so I'm confident that we'll be safe. Yes, I wish we had plywood on the windows, but we don't - this time! We have plenty of food, water, cooking methods (propane grill and Coleman stove), flashlights, fresh batteries, candles and matches, and I can't think what else right now. It's having so much time to prepare that's a blessing and a curse though. I keep thinking we're ready, then I think of something else to be done. If and when we lose power, know that I'm here in spirit because y'all are very special to me. Post interesting things so that when I do check in, I'll have good things to read! Have a great weekend!

Ah, okay... thank you Courtney. Yeah... the reason I wanted to delve a little is because there are some authors and well-meaning advocates who will take solid principles to the extreme, thus causing confusion. First... keep in mind (and some may not agree,) chemically speaking, there is little difference in 'synthetic' vs. 'organic' fertilizers. In most cases, the difference is only in 'form' and derivation. When we speak of nitrogen, we are really using the term as a shorthand for the many, many chemical forms that nitrogen can take. Some forms are indeed more 'available' to plants than others, but soil is a VERY complex environment. It's almost impossible to say that a fertilizer, by it's very nature (even if derived through 'synthetic' means,) is 'bad'. The processes and reactions happening in soil at any given time are innumerable. What may make any fertilizer 'bad', is not so much in its form or derivation, but in its use. For example... nitrogen, as a nutrient, is extremely 'mobile'. In most forms, it is readily water-soluble. Adding more than the soil web can make use of at any given time pretty much guarantees that the excess will 'run-off' into the environment. There it combines with all the rest of the over-used water-soluble nutrients, and causes problems of unintended consequence. Other forms of nitrogen 'gas-off' easily, and thus over- or improper use is simply a waste of resources. Generally speaking, 'organic' derivations of most nutrients are more stable (forms that are less reactive, and less water-soluble) than synthetics. However, this is not written in stone by any means. In my thinking, it's not the nutrient form itself (organic vs. synthetic) that makes a fertilizer 'bad', but the processes from which it is derived. I personally do not buy synthetic fertilizers (I have no desire to contribute to the resource-intensive processes involved its production - especially when there are so many naturally formed sources which our society considers 'waste' products,) but I use it when it is available to me (like when I rescue it from someone who, like you thought to do with your organics, was otherwise going to throw it 'away'.) Again, it's not the chemical form itself that is necessarily bad, but its [over]use. Many 'purists' want to avoid whatever particular product they deem 'bad', and there are some extremely organic chemical forms of nutrients which, in any amount, are detrimental to (especially closed) environments, but most products are perfectly fine supplements when used properly. So, as others have said, I wouldn't be afraid to use any fertilizer - and I certainly wouldn't consider throwing it 'away' - but learning to use any product properly is what makes something 'good' or 'bad' - or 'right' or 'wrong' - to use in any given place at any given time. :-) All that said :-), it's good to see you taking due concern in your own efforts in your own yard. That's where 'the rubber meets the road', and where each one of us can make the most positive effect in our environment on a day-to-day basis. Good work!