I really love the color of that first one. SA x LOH is very pretty too with the lighter colored sepals and the midribs. Have to confess to making some unlikely crosses myself and for the same reason you gave. This years Pink Lemonade Party x Shamrock Shore cross should be amusing. Your pics have me chomping at the bit to see what shows up in the seedling bed here this year. Linda

If you do have it, the cooking is easy. One or two days before 1. Set the table the day before. Get all serving pieces and utensils ready, for each dish. Put them out. Napkins, glasses, stemware and decor if applicable, daughter's stuff. salt/pepper/condiments. Guests won't feel deprived if they dont have pickles(unless it's that strange person....) 2. Clear an area to serve dessert, even if plating in the kitchen. Keep dessert area near the coffee/tea area. Serving pieces and plates ready. Have coffee/tea making stuff ready, near the dessert area. Have sugar and creamer bowls ready for service. Use lemons? have a plate/knife, have it out. Dessert teaspoons/forks? put them out here. 3. Disposables are fine in my book. Fifty years ago I used sterling, china and crystal. Then silverplate. Then various potteries and stoneware with stainless utensils. Wood, chrome, stainless, etc serving pieces. Now I use disposables for appet and desserts, and I don't give a hoot. (70 yrs old now) And I love tablescaping. I have a ton of stuff. Very personal here. If you only have energy or desire for disposables, don't be affected by critical snobs. I love good stuff, but I love good people more-and I surely care more about the people. 4. I roast a turkey breast and dark meat pieces. Everyone's favorites. Use the time guides on the packaged turkey and/or in reliable books or reliable on line sources. 5. I don't stuff the turkey anymore but do stuffing in a casserole/or baking pan. No toxins from turkey juices-which can be simulated, taste-wise, by butter, stock, water and spices. Not the toxins! Packaged stuffing stuff is great. If you add celery/onions/nuts/family faves/ cut the celery/onions, etc the day before-which is two days before tg? Wrap in cheap fold over sandwich bags, double wrapped to contain smells. The single most important roadblock to a successful tg day, is an inadequately defrosted turkey. This has been mentioned often before. Depending on size, at least, three,four or five days of defrosting. You can't do anything with a partially frozen turkey. Keep it simple, less sides. Not 4 cranberry recipes to keep everyone happy. Guests will love 7 starches, but will respect 3 plant dishes. What do you want, love or respect. Well, that's pretty drastic, No, hunnybun, no need to choose between love and respect. I am getting crazed. To be continued.

I'm squealing - a double sided fireplace is so cool! I definitely say go lighter and try lightening before walling in or having it torn apart and built differently. I say that because it can be done so inexpensively and with your wooden ceiling, a natural stone fireplace is only, well, natural! Go to Pinterest to look for how-to's on whitewashing - soooo many posts about it. Can easily be done yourself for very little money. Beverly posted about staining - that had me researching because I always thought to go lighter you had to paint. I found Masonry Cosmetics. I'm super excited about this because I have exterior stonework I want to change the color of and I did not want to change a maintenance free item on our home to one that has to be maintained. But indoors I would think white-washing would last just fine?

Thanks, guys..... I'm encouraged by your positive comments. I will def try grow-lights for my plants. I killed some of the best plants, expensive too, over the years because NYC winters are really terrible for my fat-plants, that usually grow in sunny deserts. I will tell you, NYC ain't no sunny desert when winter comes. If I'm lucky, I'll get maybe 4 months of good growing conditions....May-Sept....and then, the cultural challenges begin. But, try, I must....once again. Adeniums, culturally, are far more difficult to grow well than my other, way easier, fat-plants, i.e. Bursera fageroides and Operculicarya decaryi/pachypus. These fat-trees go dormant in Nov-Dec, and stay quiescent until early-spring. I give them a little moisture, usually around the end of March, and then, they're off.....and get fatter each year. They grow in classic gritty mixture with ferts. Nice plants, but no showy flowers. On a scale of 1 to 10....(#1 -being easy, and #10 -very difficult), I'd rate Adenium between 7-9. A real PITA under less than ideal growing conditions. But, it's those flowers! If it wasn't for the showy flowers, I wouldn't even bother with growing them. Fat trunks and odd, twisted, roots can be found on other, much easier, plants. Just saying. Frank NYC/7b