Gin, not sure if this helps. I had one (no longer alive after a rogue bleach spillage!) and it did fine under windowsill conditions, light somewhat brighter than phalaenopsis (watered the same way). Didn't seem to care much about humidity (I know folks who grow these in terrariums). It was potted in a bit of a weird way - the plant was originally in a small clay pot in sphag. The pot was knocked over, shattered, and the plant fell out. I didn't have sphag at the time so I just stuffed the plant into a larger pot and filled the gaps around the root/sphag ball with hydroton pellets. I forgot about it, and when I found it later, I saw oodles of roots growing into the hydroton between the sphag and the side of the pot. Blooomed profusely every year. I think that these are hard to get established but once you get them going, they're hard to kill (unless you use bleach)

I just wet the paper towel, fold it to about 3mm thick and put the seeds inside, fold it over, put it in a small self seal plastic bag with no holes, put it on the bed of the heated propagator and they germinate in a few days, I dont crack or remove the shell of the pips at all they grow fine on there own, once germinating I move them over to small compost pots about 3oz in volume filled with compost made from 1 part peat, 1part grit/sand and 1 part garden soil, and then put them back in the propagator with a small plastic bottle over them as a mini greenhouse, just until they get growing I always put the pips in the refrigerator for a few days before germinating as it seems to speed the germination up.

Thank for all your replies. It's a bit hard to tell the whole storey & not make it into a book, but I'll try to give a bit more info as briefly as I can. I have tried to tell my kids how it was with there father as they got older & I thought they could handle it, but they didn't want to hear it. They say that they know that he wasn't a good husband & my daughter remembers her father pushing me up against a wall hitting me, I can't remember it & neither can my oldest son. Their ages are 32, a son who sided with his father & who hasn't talked to me for 11 years, he has 3 kids. A 29yo daughter I felt was the closest to me, who has 3 kids also, but got upset with me & my hubby the for the first time for taking our dogs to their place last Christmas. They live 3 hours from us so we stayed over night, we had not long got our 2nd dog & she was only 5 months old & into a lot of mischief, because we love our dogs & they are our responsibility plus we wanted to see the grandkids & my daughter, we took the dogs with us. My daughter thought they would be a nuisance, she didn't want them there, but they were well behaved, as I tried to tell her they would be, I've worked with dogs. Because we did take them, I was accused of thinking more of the dogs, then our grand kids, hence, one of the reasons I'm not good grand mother. A 28yo son, he has 1 child, & when ever I try to give him advice I get told that he wants to make his own mistake, but it's so hard to keep my mouth shut, I do try, & not to try to help him, so he still talks to me but I feel I'm walking on egg shells when I do see him, just trying not to upset him. Any way we don't see them much, they live 1 hour away. Now for my youngest, she's 20, she just got married & she also just sent me an email with ultrasound pics of her baby. I wasn't surprised as I think that she was tied of being only an aunt. She lives on the other side of the country, so the last time I saw her was when she came over here for her sisters new babies Christening. There, I told a young mother about how I had her for selfish reasons because I was lonely & she was the one who was ripped away from all she had known when I left her father & I felt guilty. She told me she felt I was sorry, I had her & I tried to tell her that I never regretted having her, she was the one I enjoyed the most because of the gap between the last one & I was a more experienced mother by then. She got me at a bad time, as I was trying to get mentally ready to go into hospital & had to go of my hormone meds before the opp so I wouldn't have blood clots & I was having trouble with my blood pressure, so when she started to yell at me for telling that young mother that, she took it that I was telling this young woman how terrible her father was but I never mentioned him. so I told her I couldn't handle it & to leave, I tried to explain this to her later but I was told I was only thinking of myself. That was 2 months ago & I haven't seen her since. We have been e-mailing, but I can't seem to say the right things to her no matter how hard I try to word things, & she thinks I don't understand her. I try to give her an example of something that happened in my life that was like whatever she was going through, but if I do that, I'm thinking of myself. I tried not to say to much, but then I don't care about her. If I try to advice her, then I'm criticising her, & I do try hard not to. I keep tell her she is smart but I have tried to encouraged her to push herself & not to put herself down. Their father used to say he was dumb & I think he wanted all of his family to be dumb as well so he would often tell the kids that they were like him, he didn't like me to be smart ether. Anyway without going on for ever, I had better stop. All 4 kids have grown up & not been in jail or been hooked on drugs, they are all good workers even though they haven't got university degrees, so I'm happy with that. I have started a journal, & hopefully one day they can understand me & what I went through, I just want them to understand me, if not to agree with me.

I just cooked chicken breasts to take to our church to be made into pounds and pounds of chicken salad for our Christmas fundraiser. Here's the method I used...it worked perfectly. How To Cook Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time What You Need Ingredients 1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, of similar size Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil, unsalted butter, or combination of both Equipment Heavy Mason jar or wide drinking glass Wide (10-inch) sauté pan with lid Tongs or spatula Instructions Flatten the chicken breasts: Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the bottom of a wide jar or glass. You can also (carefully!) use the handle of a heavy chef's knife. Season the chicken breasts: Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Prepare the pan: Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil (or butter, if using). Swirl the pan so it is lightly covered with the olive oil. Cook the chicken breasts for 1 minute without moving: Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Flip the chicken breasts: Then flip each chicken breast over. Turn the heat down to low: Turn the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook on low for 10 minutes. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek. Turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes: After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. (If you have an electric stove, remove the pan from the heat.) Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek. Remove lid and take temperature: After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and your chicken is done. Make sure there is no pink in the middle of the chicken breasts. If you want to be absolutely sure it is cooked, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check (the chicken should be at least 165°F). Slice and eat. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator. Here is a link that might be useful: How to cook moist, tender chicken breasts every time