Edna -- Greyhounds are just wonderful house dogs! Because they race everyone thinks that they are high energy. They actually like to sleep about 20 hours a day on a big, soft dog bed. Charm doesn't jump (her kennel was a lower one, so she never learned) on furniture after owning her for 5 years. Others that had top kennel cages will jump on furniture. They run about 41+ mph for 31 seconds! They are sprinters, not endurance dogs. Very little shedding and no body fat means that they don't smell bad. I have to brush her teeth everyday as they do have bad teeth from being fed poorly on the track. The brushing keeps their teeth from decaying and therefore, keeps away doggy breath. They are not aggressive by nature. Some of them will chase small animals (as in chasing the mechanical rabbit at the track). The rescue kennel will "cat test" them to let the owners know whether or not they are safe around a cat. Charm does NOT have a high prey drive and is safe around small animals. Our cockatiels can fly around the house around her and she leaves them alone. Greyhounds have very sweet souls. They make eye contact with you and learn to read you like a book. They KNOW everything that you're doing and figure out what you say, too. Their whole world revolves around their owners. Charm has learned such a big vocabulary that we have to spell all the time as she listens for cues about what we're going to do FOR HER! LOL We play "20 questions" with her to figure out what she wants. When we ask the right thing, she barks. The only time she barks is when we ask her questions or when she's playing with us. She NEVER barks at any noise, person, or animal. Charm raced for 4 years (maximum age) because she was a winner. Losers are retired much sooner. At the time we adopted her, there were 50,000+ greyhounds euthanized after their racing careers had ended. Adopting one is really saving a life. Okay, I could go on and on and on about greyhounds. They're very special. Cameron

Carol: Now is an ideal time to root pentas because of the natural heat and high humidity we are having. I use regular potting soil in a container that has drainage holes. Wet the soil and let it drain. This may sound silly, but be sure the soil is wet. For my small starter pots, I use a pencil or stick - whatever is handy - and "mix" the soil. You may be surprised to find that the soil in the just watered pot is still dry! If this is what you find, slowly dribble water into the soil and "mix" it with your stirrer until the soil does become moistened. I'm stingy with the size of my cuttings because I like to retain as much of the mother plant as I can. Therefore I take a cutting that has just two nodes (places along the stem from which the leaves grow). Any flower, bud, etc. is removed. The top set of two leaves is retained. The leaves at the lower node are removed. If I'm not in a hurry, at this point I'll put the end of the cutting into water and let it sit for about 1/2 hour just to be sure it's well hydrated. Then I dip the cutting end into rooting hormone. Pentas root easily so if you don't have this item, you'll still be successful. However, I have a bottle and, at the rate of use, there'll be enough to will to my next of kin so I tend to use it whenever I make cuttings. Make a hole in the drained potting soil with your pencil/stick and insert the cutting. Depending upon the container depth and the space between the nodes on your cutting, you can plant the cutting up to the top set of leaves. Water again so the soil settles securely around the cutting. Let the pot drain. Keep in bright light - but not direct sun - while it forms roots. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. New growth developing in the area of the top set of leaves is an indication that roots have formed and the plant is ready to grow. I use all sorts of containers for starting pots. For smaller cuttings, I especially like to re-use clear pudding cups. Poke 3-4 holes in the bottom for drainage and pot up your cutting. Because of the clear plastic, you'll be able to see when the cutting has formed roots. As you have success, you'll find it hard to throw away prunings because you'll see material for another plant! Good luck - June

I love the pinch and poke method and you can do some perrenials that way too. I do it with Autumn Joy, and it doesn't seem to matter when I pinch them, they all just plain root in the ground. I also do Artemesia Powis Castle and it does best with only a small tip cutting, no more than 2--3 inches soft wood and it looks pretty pitiful in the ground for quite a while, but then I notice it perks up into a new plant, does take a while though. Also Lantana same thing, it does propagate easily. I didn't know I could do gardenias, so now I am off to cut some and make new plants. I had no idea they were so easy. Pauline

Thank you everyone for your ideas and tips!! Our house is on the market now, and the bathroom looks heaps better! We ended up removing all the tile and vinyl tiles from the wall, repairing the drywall, and painting everything. I painted the vanity a darker color to make the ugly fixtures brighter. We were going to replace the vanity light but found that whoever installed the last one had just cut a huge hole in the wall for the wiring and there's nothing to mount a light to unless it's a wide Hollywood light (my biggest disappointment). We ended up leaving the floor due to lack of time, but recaulked everything and added a shower curtain that pulls in all the colors in the bathroom. I'm really pleased with what we did with limited budget and limited time. Thanks for your ideas!! The filtered photo is the listing photo, the unfiltered photo is mine.