Frank, I got it from the same ultimate source, Dave Wilson Nursery. I got it through Bay Laurel Nursery, one of the other nurseries selling DW trees online. I owe another installment on the fruits. Wickson - this little apple has been excellent. It needs to hang until the background turns yellow. It keeps a long time. The taste is more like a stone fruit: sweet/sour like a plum and the aroma of peaches and apricots. Yum!! Myers Royal Limbertwig - A very nice apple on the sweet side with good aroma as well. It has the pendulant branch habit of many limbertwigs. Rambour d'Hiver - a large French apple which is pretty obscure these days. It is actually not that different from many American apples, e.g. Stayman Winesap comes to mind. Not a strong aromatic favor but a very good sweet/sour balance plus an exceptionally good crunch. Gold Rush - not too many apples this year but they are all excellent - hard, flavorful, with this unusual anise/spicy flavor. A truly great gourmet apple. The quality of the fruit has been very good. The tree did well except it gets cedar apple rust - not sure why this tree touted for such disease resitance is a CAR magnet. Most of my White Winter Pearmain dropped to early, I think the tree lacked water (it sits on a raised area). But, a couple hung on and they are really excellent apples -- something like a Mutsu but quite a bit more concentrated in aromatic flavors. My Geneva 3 hardy kiwis are coming in now, tons of 'em. They are ripening unevenly which makes harvest difficult. I don't like them until they have started to shrivel, they are too acidic before then. Fully ripened they are very good, a bit better than a good Hayward. I had a big harvest of quince and made various compotes, jelllies, etc. I don't know how big a fan I am of them, it takes a lot of quince to make jelly and I feel like I am just flavoring sugar. My wife made a baked quince recipe which was very good. If nothing else the quince will be handy as pectin for other jellies and jams. Scott

Yes, there are 20 gal. 'uprights' (they're called 'talls'), and I do think that that would be a good size for a first terrarium. If you can afford it though, go a little bigger, like a 30 gal tall. A false bottom is basically a fake bottom. That is, it appears to be the bottom, but there is really an air (water) space under it. You build them by cutting some sections of 2" (or so) PVC pipe, apparently the white PVC is better than the black for terrariums. (Something about the different plastics they're made of, I can't remember). Anyways, you cut the PVC sections tall enough so that you would have about an inch of water over your pump for your waterfall. Then you get some eggcrate (white or black plastic grid thing, often used as a diffuser in light fixtures) and cut it to the shape and size of the bottom of your tank, and you set that on top of the PVC pipes (which are siliconed to the bottom tank glass in an upright position), and you cut the neccessary holes for your pump tubing and cord. Voila! A false bottom. You can do a search on this forum for false bottoms if you don't think I explained it well enough for you. Someone else describing it differently might do the trick. So you don't end up needing a pond liner of any kind. Just have some rocks sitting on the false bottom under your waterfall. They will give the illusion of a pool, but all of the water will find it's way back to the false bottom and be re-circulated. As for woodsy plants, nothing better than ferns and moss! I also like to add interesting rocks from my collection and/or bits of driftwood or sea shells. Anything goes, really, as long as it's non-toxic, because it's your tank! You could put a little fairy figurine in there if you wanted to. Don't use potting soil for the substrate, unless you're using a really high quality one with lots of large chunks for better aeration. Orchid bark or bark mulch is a better choice, or even just pure vermiculite or perlite. I like to use bark because it looks more natural. Oh yeah, another good plant would be a miniature vine, such as Ficus pumila (standard and variegated forms) or Ficus quercifolia (less invasive and looks like mini english ivy). Make sure you post pics when you're done! =)

boycrzee, yes I have seen (or heard) about stairs that have drawers in them. I thought it was a good idea too. Just make sure no one leaves one open while walking down the stairs late one night-LOL! Well, I did get two of the four holes taken care of, in taking down the towel warmer. My DH put a towel bar that was just the right space apart. I still have the two upper ones to take care of. If you didn't know they were there, you probably would never notice it, but, I know, and my eyes fall right to those two holes in the wallpaper. And, really, since I got the sink grid for the farm sink, it really is so much better! Either that, or I am getting use to it. I do have to say, I like being able to fit big pans in it. brutuses, I was really trying not to sound like you offended me, but, I guess I couldn't get the right words out. I didn't take it that way. I bet we will be hearing some "Hallelujah's" when you move into your home. At least on yours, you've taken the time to really think things out. We had to rush through some things, but, did try to think of everything-which never happens!

divamum, it was crazy fast, once it finally got rolling! I sat with a big empty box of a room for about three weeks waiting for the cabinet guy. But once he started installing, that meant Joshua could come put in my soapstone, and everything else just fell into place very quickly. I went from NOTHING to almost everything in literally 48 hours. I think that, by the end of this week, I'll be done with everything in the kitchen, except of course the backsplash! :) malhgold, the range is an Aga Legacy--and the gas is finally turned on!! Woohooo!! Wouldn't you know it, though, I have to teach tonight and then I'm going out of town for two days, so I won't be able to actually cook on it until Friday. Ugh!! fern4, the wood is cherry in a natural finish. Thanks so much for the McIntyre link. There are some beautiful options there. I will have to spend some time perusing! plllog, one of my first choices was a pale green glass tile with a little cobalt glass thrown in for accent pieces. I may have to revisit that. If I can find the pics again, I'll post them. I'm loving these suggestions. Sometimes my head gets stuck on one thing and, even though I know it's not what I want, I can't move past it. This is really helping me think outside my self-imposed box.