Aloha Danielle, A lot of how a plant is packed depends on where it is being sent from and where it is being sent to. California, Arizona, Louisiana and (is it Texas?) don't allow anything with roots to be mailed into them. I don't think any of them want dirt to be mailed since it can have insect eggs and other unwanted bits of debris. Basically, remove the soil, check for bugs, disease, etc. and then wrap the roots in wet or moist newspapers. Wrap the whole thing in plastic bags. I like to secure the root end to the box somehow, so it won't crush the leaves if the box is upside down. Take the whole thing to your local state plant inspection station, let them inspect the plant, the box and write the addresses down. Rewrap the plant, seal it in the box and the inspectors will put their stamp of approval on the box's tape. Then it is ready to be mailed and it won't be confiscated by the postal service. I've had better luck with using the U.S. postal service than with some of the other services. I think it had to do with the routes the boxes were sent, but some bananas sent via a service other than the post office arrived damaged from being overheated. You can probably leave the leaves on it. Prune away the dead ones. If the person planting it wants to prune it further, then they can. At least, that's the way I'd do it. A hui hou, Cathy

Update! I got home tonight and found email from the seller saying she would refund me all of the money. She has asked that I ship the bedskirt to the next buyer (she is re-listing) and she will reimburse me for the cost to ship. I told her I would be happy to ship to another buyer and thanked her for finding a fair way to resolve the issue. The money was back in my account within minutes. I expect she will reimburse my shipping costs. All correspondence was within the eBay system so it is trackable. Lisa, as for the suggestion to ask for details, I hear ya, but that is a rabbit hole. I mean, where does it end? The dishes I got ripped off on were listed as "New." It never occurred to me that they were new but seconds. Yes, I should have asked, but it just didn't even cross my mind. I'd like to think that if someone says 18" in a listing, I don't have to ask if it is indeed 18". Roselvr, I did not wash the bedskirt, just ironed it. The Dish Witch would have accused me of having washed and shrunk it! Nicole, I am glad your PayPal experience was positive. In my case with the dishes, PayPal was not willing to refund me the return shipping costs. I would have been out $25 and even then the seller was threatening to notify the police that I was scamming her. I don't think she actually would have had a leg to stand on, but I just wanted it over with. Red, if I order something that shows up defective, I will often call the company and have them pick up the tab for return shipping. It's only fair. I am glad your sconce situation worked out. I do use my dishes from the Witch! And they were a lot cheaper than they would have been from Replacements. Yaya, I have a PayPal account. I have always used a credit card that I have registered with Paypal. Is a "buyer credit account" something different, something with more protection? Thanks everyone for the advice and commiseration. I'll let you know in a week if I get the shipping money refunded. I am optimistic that I will. The bedskirt is already re-listed. Stay tuned! :-)

I'm thinking of doing this in our plan we are currently working on with architect. It is a galley style kitchen and the fridge will be between a 2 foot deep wall pantry and a 2 foot deep countertop. The other side of the fridge wall is in the master br closet. What do you think about recessing the fridge so it is even with the countertops, centering it on the mbr closet and building in shelving on either side of the recess in the closet? I mentioned to architect, but they didn't seem too keen on idea. Said I wouldn't get a good amount of shelf space. But just based on the fact that regular fridges are about 34-36 inches deep, that would leave me about a 12 inch deep shelf. I am going to show them the pictures on this thread. What do you guys think? countrysmile, I would love to see the other side of your recess!

Personally, I would prefer to shop locally (keep my neighbors employed, have a place to run to for a quick pick-up of thread, batting, etc.). However, the overhead must be incredibly astronomical because the prices are out of this world! Next best thing for me? A website called Fabric.com that I have found to be terrific. The quality of every fabric I have purchased is wonderful, the prices are excellent, and they frequently run specials. They also have a "frequent buyers program" that provides credits after I have purchased a fair amount of materials. They carry a lot of great names (Michael Miller, Timeless Treasures, Bali Batiks, etc.), so you know already the quality is top notch. Another benefit I have found for online shops is that they will frequently carry a large selection of one line in several colors which is much better than my local shop. And finally, they also carry machines, notions, patterns, home dec, and clothing fabric, too, so I am not just limited to cottons. You know, sometimes, a quilt just needs that perfect "something" and they usually have it. Friendly and knowledgeable staff, quick shipping, no shipping fees if the order is over $35 (which I usually hit!). All in all a great place to shop!