Actually, in the picture, The Prince does have most all of its leaves. They just don't show well against the background because of the camera angle. As to the color of Munstead Wood, it seems to be in the same general color range along with Tradescant and Prospero, neither of which I grow, but I have seen them. I have also had some early LD Braithwaites that were approaching that color, but they lightened up when the weather warmed up.

Best to wait many may hours before plugging in fridge and freezer, to let coolant refrigerant settle down after being shaken in transport. Otherwise they won't work. AFAIK. Later, you can slide them gently across a level floor without uch risk. AFAIK. -david

Texasredhead: I approached the city inspectors today. They shed some light on the project as well, unfortunately they either weren't allowed, or just did not care to inform us earlier...but they were less than impressed with my contractor from day one. They caught something we were totally unaware of in the first week that the foundation was too high by 3" to meet my existing floor. They made them reconfigure the floor joists and add ledger boards. They suggested better ways to do my HVAC duct work and new returns as well. All ignored. They were also concerned as to why it was taking so long, (months) to complete simple tasks and request inspections. They conveyed to me that the contractor claimed WE as the homeowners requested all the changes such as the roof be changed. WTF? They thought that was odd....well it was / is as it is down right lie. As a telecom technician and a sales rep....WTF do we know about structural engineering? NOTHING! The inspector actually brought MANY concerns with deviations to the contractors attention and ALL were blown off and we were never informed. (He is also holding our copy of the blueprints hostage for some reason). I got a copy of his Bond insurance, and liability insurance with the city today since he was unwilling to provide them to us. The bond is for 25,000. The city is willing to go after him, but for one, that bond is not going to cover all the rework, and two, we will NOT allow him back on our property. His liabilty insurance is good for 200,000 - 1,000,000 depending on what some of protections mean. Our lawyer will have to explain that. We retained a lawyer in good confidence through a working relationship and he is going to work with us in his words; "without us having to pay his children's college tuition" LOLZ. Fortunately, as often as we have to hear that we dropped the ball on this one, we have good people trying to help us at minimal or no cost. There are good people out there...one need only look apparently. This forum is good for us as well. We NEED to hear where we wrong. As dear President Bush once said...."fool me once, shame on��"shame on you. Fool me��"you can't get fooled again". Got it ;)

marti - no, the woman I talked to immediately said they'd ship a new one and that she was noting on it to put it IN a packing box this time. I told her I didn't know if the globes were broke, that I hadn't even opened them yet. She said, don't worry about it - they probably are. She did express wonderment that anyone would ship something w/o putting it in a packing box. I know I was shocked to see it on my steps like that. She said they'd put a claim in w/ UPS and they'd deny it (as they should) and then they'd move the claim on to the mfgr. Whoever shipped it out is the responsible party. thx shades. It's real similar to the one I'd posted about some time back. I was about ready to order one only to find it no longer available - it had 2 lights on it and was about 30.00. The only one I could find like it was 82.00 - a lot more than I wanted to spend. But I would have done it if I hadn't rechecked what was available online before actually ordering. I found the one I posted above - it has 3 lights instead of 2, is 10" longer and pewterish rather than nickel. but I think I can live with those differences for less than half the price. It was only 32.00 or 34.00 I forget which. I did need each light part to swivel - and this one does also. And use regular bulbs - I'll have to buy up a good supply of them! I don't think the color will even matter in my bathroom w/other nickel/silverish metals used. It'll be up on the ceiling and I seldom look up there. previous fixture I was going to order -