Hi Rachel, That is an EXCELLENT insight, one which we might all benefit from keeping in mind. To Tiff & the other newbies&/or Lurkers All this info. really IS NOT TO STRESS YOU,but to help grow better plants. Pls. remember many of us have learned these things over many, many years. I myself have been on here since March 2001 & w/ my local C&S club for over 15 yrs. Some folks here are far senior in participation & plant growing than myself. Al (Tapla), Rhizo, Denise in Omaha, these are folks who have been growing for DECADES. So yes, we remind you all, pls. to take deep breaths, read as much as you can in different sittings & bit by bit it gets in one's head. Bought in 1993 I think (pre-Internet), I can't tell you how many times I read & re-read parts of a book I love on plants called Readers' Digest Success w/ Houseplants (dorky, I know, but very good & comprehensive). Largely because it covered basics: watering, light, mixes, fertilizer, pests & then beyond that into particular plants. But time & again, I went back to check the basics & eventually I got most of it. Remembering to relax is important, this is after all a hobby. The last fellow who lived w/ me taught me that I had a set routine when I came home from work. He told me that I'd get home, change clothes, make a cup of coffee & then w/ my coffee, walk around the apartment, checking on all the plants & their respective needs. This was apparently my winding down ritual (I'd worked rather high stress jobs at law firms), which relaxed me & made me more open to interacting further. Again, it's just a hobby & also good, plants (tho' I love them dearly) are replaceable!!!

Hi Alexis, what you need to get are hardy ferns. These are often ferns that are native to your area and naturally grow outside (the ones you bought from the store are not hardy to zone 5b). The below link is a great resource, but you might have to do a lot of clicking! Here are a few to consider: Northern or Western Maidenhair Christmas Fern Lady fern Northern wood fern There are many others. You might also look at the county by county plant lists on the Washington Native Plant Society's page. Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy ferns

angelaid, here is a brief description of various dovetail joinery used in antiques and how style can help date a piece. Dovetail joinery is one of the methods used to secure drawer sides to fronts. (Look at a piece in a showroom today and you'll likely see staples and not even well secured at that.) Technically and generally speaking, when a piece has been altered, such as damaged repair, painted, or stripped and refinished to bring it back to life, the value tends to plummet. But sometimes there's just no way to get around that in order to make a piece functional again. However, there are exceptions to that rule (as evidenced on very high end pieces shown on Antiques Roadshow and what experts recommend doing to repair). But that's neither here nor there. $300 per piece is a great price and you've got some quality furniture there. You'd never get a new dresser of such good construction and wood on today's market for $150. Your pieces appear to be oak, one of the hardest of the hard woods. Quarter sawn is a prized cut. Well constructed furniture today is hard to find in our disposable society. For the most part it's just not made as well today as it was back in the day. That's only one reason a lot of us here that are nuts about old things tend to pickup up vintage to antique case goods (furniture primarily constructed of wood). Far better quality for a far better price compared to what's out there new on today's market. Those are beautiful pieces that appear to be in great condition. In my area an original that needs some TLC goes for $300-$500. Further north into the city, good shape, offered by a dealer, they could go much higher per piece. In my hometown where it's more ample it tops out at $300 for a nice piece, maybe a little TLC needed, but when the economy is on a down turn they get hit hard and fast back home (very small town) and certain types and styles of furniture are fairly easy to come by, both of which result in not being able to get a higher price. So, just a few tidbits to share. Ultimately imho you have some lovely furniture, good score! ;D

Hi DA, On the back of the package it says this. Interface: USB 2.0 (Also compatable with USB 1.1 Ports) Operating System: Windows Vista, XP, 2000 Macintosh 9x and higher Linux kernel 2.6 x and higher Additional Functions: Password Security ( Supported on Windows operating systems only) Doesn't that Verbatim come with a U3 application already installed. I don't see it anywhere on the package. it should put an icon on your System Tray/Notification Area. Yes it does put an icon on my System Tray/Notification Area. When finished just double click on the U3 icon and a small window will appear in the lower right quadrant. Select Eject. When I double click on the Icon a box pops up and says this. Select the device that you want to unplug or eject, and then click Stop. When Windows notifies you that it is safe to do so unplug the device from your computer. Under Hardware Devices: USB Mass Storage Device I highlight USB Mass Storage Device and then click Stop and another box pops up and says,Confirm devices to be stopped. Choose OK to continue. Windows will attemp to stop the following devices, after the devices are stopped they may be removed safely. I highlight Verbatim Store'n'Go and click on OK. I hear a little pop noise and everything in that box including the one that I highlighted (Verbatim) disappears and so does the icon. That's when I know to pull out the USB Drive. That pop noise as I call it is a normal windows sound not a problem with the computer. Kind of like when I turn my printer on Windows makes a noise to let me know it has connected. That's about it, I hope that I explained it well enough for you to understand. Have a great day. "Smiles" thirdfrt!!!