Linda - if you are not knowledgeable, then who is? All this AV growing is not a rocket science for crying out loud. I ordered from Bluebird - very very nice outfit, good quality plants. They make their own mix - and for the bottom watering it is very very good. Maureen - The basic necessities (did I spell it right?) - light, fertilizer and water. You can fertilize every time you water - 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. Water - tap water is OK especially if you let it sit for a day so it will be room temperature and the chlorine will evaporate. If for whatever reason your water is too hard, too alkaline etc - happens if it is well water - you can buy bottled water in a grocery - a gallon size is cheaper. You do not want to let them dry and don't want them to sit in water. Get your finger in the soil - and if it feels dry - water. The only thing I imagine can be a problem - it is light. Let's say - they prefer 600 foot candles 12 hours a day. Which is equivalent to 8 inches from the fluorescent lights on the timer for 12 hours. May be the place where they sit - is OK - but but they get this good light for 7 hours only, or they actually get 100 foot candles for most of the day - and 800 when sun hits them direct for 2 hours. What I am saying - it is hard to control natural light - and they usually bloom less often in natural light. If you really want them to bllom all the time - get a shoplight, put them on wicks and trays and keep repottinng them every 4 months. We love to send everybody to rachelsreflections.com - it is a fun site and tons of info how to do it at a state of the art level. But - looks like in your setup you will have them growing and blooming in any case - just not that often. Good Luck irina

Thank you for all of your thoughts. We are basically doing a kitchen facelift. My kitchen has perfectly nice maple cabinets which happen to have an orange hue. All of the counter tops are black galaxy and I've found it oppressive since we moved in. It's funny, but men generally love this kitchen and can't understand why I would want changes; but I do, I have and I've lived with it for 12 years and I'm ready to make changes. Most of the appliances are near the end of their useful life. So we're painting the cabinets and replacing some with glass and gorgeous mullions in 2 of the doors (another budget buster!), new sink, new appliances, my high microwave will be replaced with the Sharpe drawer model. I'm going to try to do something with my soffits, but we won't know exactly what until we get in there. I'm changing the granite on my island and also the shape of it. We may add a banquette if it makes sense space wise. We also will be re configuring some of the other cabinets and adding embellishments such as moldings and new hardware.I'm getting rid of my Black Galaxy bs and have found gorgeous options for the bs, yet another budget buster...... I also have to change all of the carpet in the house, redo all the bathroom cabinets. Since I'll have a lot of my huge slab left over I want to use it in the upstairs bathrooms. We are also painting the entire house, adding some crown moldings, changing out armoires made for old tv's to be refitted for the new slim ones. etc. etc. So it's a big project with lots of parts. I just got stuck on the sink! I also discovered Edgar Birabi hardware. Need to stop looking at this stuff! Green Designs, I love both of those sinks but they're only 21 inches and I need a bigger sink. The one I want is 33 and it would fit perfectly in the granite without having to change it. This will save some money since I won't have to replace the existing slab. Sorry I may have forgotten to mention that I have to keep the perimeter BG since there's so much of it and it would cost way too much to replace all of it.We won't be overspending at all for the neighborhood even if we doubled the budget! Shannon and Remodel, I'm putting new appliances back into existing cabinetry so there's no changing it without a significant amount of money being spent on the cabinets. I really like the look of "disappearing" appliances so it's important to me as well. I did hit a bright spot today when I found the EXACT double convection wall ovens I want for a $1,000 savings at Fegusons clearance room!!!! I could not find any of the other appliances for any less and I called and went everywhere. I'm in South Orange County, California. I have to run out now but will try to post my rudimentary plan when I get back. I also have an old post that shows my kitchen currently somewhere so I'll try to revive that thread.

Latex mattresses sold by the big "S" companies are rarely, if ever, composed of 100% latex. They contain layers of cheaper foam which tend to sag over time, and mattresses with pillowtops sag the worst. I once saw a chart showing specifications of big-name "latex" mattresses and you wouldn't believe the small amount of real latex. There might be five layers of different types of foam with one or two thin layers of latex. About four years ago I was looking for a latex mattress and did a lot of online research, including spending many months reading posts on a mattress forum. I learned about several online companies that sell real latex mattresses and provide great customer service. Specialty stores in some geographic areas (not mine) also sell latex mattress, some organic. But I was on a limited budget and knew I could never afford any of these (and I question the concept of organic latex but that's for another thread.) Based on suggestions on the mattress forum, I took a risk and made an online purchase from a web site called foambymail (the company is Foam Factory.) I purchased a 6" firm base, a separate 3" soft topper, and upgraded to a terry cover, which has a zipper around all four sides (a $20 upgrade.) The mattress comes shrink wrapped, shipped by UPS. Shipping is free. Latex is very heavy and a friend helped me lug it upstairs to the bedroom. We placed it on the platform bed before unwrapping it. As we cut through the shrink wrap carefully, it made a whooshing sound as it expanded. The 6" latex base had already been placed by the company inside the mattress cover, so we only had to shift it into place on the bed. We placed the 3" topper inside the cover and zipped it all around. Since I like cushy beds, I bought a separate mattress cover with its own pillowtop made by Cuddledown (from Costco). After four years, the bed is like new and it's the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on. If I were doing this again, the only change I would make is to get a 2" soft topper rather than 3". I might also substitute the Cuddledown cover with a wool topper since the Cuddledown is filled with polyesther and sleeps a little warm. I paid less than $700 for a full size mattress and topper; it would be a little more today. Here is a link that might be useful: Foam Factory

I work for a utility company. Water meters DO NOT speed up. They measure rotations as water is pushed through the meter. Imagine someone on a bike. They pedal, the wheels turn. The faster they peddle, the faster the wheels turn. They stop pedaling, the wheels stop. Unless there is an outside force pushing on the wheels, they will not turn. About half the time the readings are incorrect because the meter reader got a number wrong. Easy fix- read the meter yourself and compare it. They're pretty simple to read. If the read is wrong, they will fix it over the phone or can send one of theirs to reread it. The other half of the time there is a leak. Plumbers seem to be TERRIBLE at finding leaks outside of the house. There are Leak Detection specialists. It's almost always an irrigation line because they don't have the same robust pipes. You won't necessarily see standing water or green lawns, but those can be indicators. You can have an entire pool's worth of water flow into the ground and you would never know, depending on how porous the earth is where you live. Leaks sometimes fluctuate due to erosion, temperature, etc. Dirt and rocks can get moved around and periodically block the flow of water. That's why you might see ups and downs. But the meter itself should have a Flow meter on it. It's usually a red triangle or red needle. If the triangle is spinning when you're not actively using water, then you've got a leak. If the red needle goes up, you've got a leak. Both of these red indicators detect very small quantities of water passing through the meter. Water meters do slow down over time or get stuck. Miniscule particles of dirt get into the mechanisms and slow the gears down over time. Meters last about 10 years but can be shorter or longer. If you replace your meter, you might see your bill jump UP because it's now operating at the correct speed. Think twice before you ask for a replacement. Bottom line- it's not the meter making your bill high. You either have an incorrect read, a leak, or you forgot that you filled the pool last month. Tiny leaks REALLY add up. Running toilets are just like turning on your faucet 24/7. If the read is correct, call a Leak Specialist, not a plumber. PS- Depending on where you live, the sewer company can reimburse you for some of the leaked water because it doesn't actually go into the sewer, it goes into the ground.