I am a Catt lover and grower and those two critters seem to be automatic when it comes to this species of orchid. I don't have the facilities to spray so what I purchased was a container of Merit 75. Its expensive and a powder. I followed directions (1/8th teaspoon to a gallon of water) and drenched my plants. I watered them with the product. One application a week for four weeks (by week two the scale look like snow - and you don't realize you have that much on a plant either!), but it does take a four week treatment for the cottony buggers (mealys) as they seem to be on the move and till they settle for a meal are unaffected. It was quite simple and even though I did quite a number of orchids I have enough Merit left for a good many years. Its paid for itself - and yes, I've used the Bayer spray. Just not the best for my situation.

Deee: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! In addition to being boorish and bizarre, it is lacking in compassion, inconsiderate, distasteful, seems mean spirited, crass, unsolicited, politically incorrect, possibly unwarranted, and definitely not what a professional counselor would say. But the next time Ibcbuilding finds herself obsessing about some little cosmetic problem in her life, she will remember my post and my forum handle when she realizes she really has a lot more good things in her life that warrant more attention and have more value than the size of windows and their trim. Dee; you and those like you who wish to appear more considerate will just be part of the "There, there, you poor thing" masses to which I will never belong. Ibcbuilding may hate me and herself for remembering my vile post and forum name so long, but if it helps her refocus on the good things in her life, I can stand being hated for that. Dixiedoodle: Laughing is always good and the fact that your husband got a bang out of it also makes it even better. I'm glad to hear you have kept your hair long and I hope your husband appreciates the hard work it takes to keep it looking nice. I don't know about you, but I wish I could use hair spray to keep it out of my eyes and mouth, but you know how that ruins the wonderful bounce when you toss your head around. Take care and enjoy life! Fairyprincess

I know that sick feeling all too well!! Eight weeks ago I picked a wood and color that I loved. It's a warm wood tone on beech with rustic knots. It's been so many weeks since I've since it that I began panicing all this week as the cabinets were scheduled to arrive. I was freaking out thinking I had ordered cabinets so rustic that I would need to hang antlers in the kitchen just to 'carry on the theme'!! :-) I've seriously lost sleep over this! Well, they arrived this afternoon and all my fears are gone - - they are stunning! With just the right amount of rustic to look Old World and the warm wood tones are gorgeous. I, too, have a creamy colored island and it's beautiful. Let's just hope it all comes together as pretty in real life as it is in my head! :-) I had visions of a creamy white kitchen as well, but when it didn't go with anything else in my house, I knew I had to lose the dream. But pictures of creamy kitchens will always make my heart beat quicker!! I hope you grow to LOVE your new kitchen - cherry wood and all! I look forward to seeing pictures!

That is the prettiest backsplash I have ever seen. I love: - the surprise sparkly squares - the color flow between the backsplash and the granite - the large amount of bright white in the backsplash and granite, with a minimum of grey (I like silver/gold, but not grey tones) - how the cabinet stain seems to match a hue in the mosaic backsplash... PERFECTLY! As though the cabinet stain was designed for that mosaic or vice-versa. Wow. Also quite clever is that curve-around feature on the peninsula. That looks very fun and very practical. Questions: Do you do cartwheels into this kitchen every morning from sheer glee? Did you put brackets under the granite curved out part? What chairs did you settle on ? Thanks to the person who linked to this thread from a posting today!