i love watching the light move.... here is arid Colorado it's the only factor we can count on:) light and wind... so a lot of it has to do with time of day... the early morning spot to slurp tea and watch light reflections, shady spot for midday, late afternoon slant on moving surfaces, light hitting different textures is the first thing i see, the large flat surfaces of cottonwood leaves or fine cut tall grass blades..... full sunlight and resiny fragrance of baking mulch :) it's very much a local issue from the plains on west its about controlling the overabundance of it..... there are days when we all just scuttle from one shady spot to another like roaches..... coastal light has a totally different ambient range, but light coming in at acute angle, rather that high noon, is going to be the most expressive.

Thank you everyone! Alex, that Buddah Belly I have had for about 5 years now. Would you believe I got it at, of all places, IKEA! It was very small back then and has flourished. It has to be one of the easiest plants on the planet to take care of. The Plumies are pretty "unstable" and top heavy. I have to weight down the pots with very heavy rocks! LOL! Would love to see your singapore! Mine is about 12" or so tall and has put on quite a bit of new foliage since I got it several months ago. I just wish I knew which color it was. Singapores from what I have read up on them do fantastic in a very sunny south facing window, and do not lose their leaves during winter. It seems to put out lots of new leaves, but is fairly slow on the actual amount of height it adds, which is just fine by me! We are looking to go to the Tampa / St. Petersburg area. In specifically, St. Petersburg or somewhere in Pinellas co. It is going to be at least a year, maybe two before we do go though. Were still considering places. Wherever we do go though, it is going to be at least a zone 8B or higher. Preferably a zone 10. Jim, thank you! That P. Roebelenii is my pride and joy. I LOVE that thing! One day my litter lone will get that large too. I just love the look of them, and I love how they really are "miniature trees". Brooklynberg, I think you can do anything in pots if you treat it right! P. Roebelenii's can get large even in somewhat smaller containers, as can Sago Palms. If I actually owned this property, you bet I would have cold hardy palms put in!!! I already have a S. Minor in ground, and that Windmill in a pot outdoors all winter. I have been successful in getting Windmills to do just fine in pots here, with protection and some heating of the pot. We are a warm 7b/ cold 8a here. We are in the middle of the urban heat island of Washington D.C., and we are very close to the tidal Potomac River, which also moderates our temps even on the coldest nights most of the time. Thank you protempsfish! I love the Blue Hawaii! The petioles and leaf margins and veins are a striking dark purple. I plan on getting more Colocasia next spring for sure! Thanks everyone!!!

I always hated getting that one back x-ray with the film. It always hurt. But I got through it. Now, they have digital x-rays. There is no film. It's a big plastic thing that has no give to it and hurts like heck. This thing made me cry. It was so painful. I could not even do it. And they kept trying and trying and it was cutting the bottom of my mouth. They made me feel really stupid and were very threatening because they said, well your insurance isn't going to cover it unless you take this x-ray. So here I am in the car crying and trying to find out if anybody else has this problem. Of course I should know by now that if I have a problem a lot of people have a problem. It's never just me. Has anyone experienced this digital x-ray bs? How do I get through this? I asked for a smaller one. they said they didn't have one. They only had one size. I said how can that be when everyone has different sized mouths?

Thanks everyone - it really was a fun experience. The recipe is good, but like any card carrying CFer, I would probably tweak it just a bit LOL! I actually think it would be even better with salmon chunks, sprinkled with fresh dill and served with plain couscous and a salad.... but I'm not sure that would appeal to the RR audience LOLOLOL! Alexa