... Jayne Belnap,a USGS Biologist succinctly suggests that there are lots of voices to be heard while she continues studying the role and function of cryptogamic desert crusts,various soil characteristics of different desert sands,endemic rhizospheric relationships, plant communities and subsequent definitions related to land use issues addressing economic development.I have sat way in the back row near the exit door with city commissioners focussed on economic development/land-use planning issues utilizing effective versions of "Roberts Rules of Orders" overlooking a series of storm runoff issues,erosion control,buffering functions of wetlands and the peculiarities of the behaviour and role of plants based upon uptake studies...I have concluded a general aversion to inputs of biological sciences and just another definition of our "artistic" decision making processes under contemporary conditions.... (...no politics,thank you...)...

Hello! I hang in houseplants sometimes too, alot to learn over there! I think hoyas are pretty easy by comparison! Do you mean vines when you say strings? If so, sure you can cut them off, but you do take the risk of losing a vine that would potentially put out peduncles/buds. I usually just leave them be, I like the way they look, they add to the charactor of the plant...or u could wrap them around so they are no so obvious or in the way. If you don't like the bare look of the vines, keep in mind they usually do get leaves... eventually. As for repotting, hoyas can stay for years and years in small pots, and this is actually recommended for them. As they get more potbound you may have to water more or ocassionally top dress with some fresh soil, but the general rule is, the smaller the pot the better!

Walls. Oh, dear deity, walls. I can remember buying my first home--as a single person, I was looking at condos. My guess is that 99.999% of condos just plunk the kitchen in a corner of the living room, adding a counter/eating bar to create "separation." My agent had a hard time understanding that I wanted a kitchen that was a separate room. Open concept may be great for entertaining or if you have kids. But I am home alone a lot more than I entertain and I don't have kids. What I want is walls to contain the noise of the dishwasher and doors to keep cooking odors contained. The idea of having the kitchen in the living room and the smells and grease getting into my nice furniture is not appealing. And there's the dirty dishes issues, as expressed by lavender lass. There are mornings I don't have time to wash my cereal bowl before dashing out to work. There are days when I eat dinner and just want to collapse. So while the dishes get done promptly most days, some days they don't. And I don't want to curl up in the living room to relax and have those dirty dishes staring at me from across the room, reminding me that I'm being lazy.

I'm also excited to find everyone again!! Blessings to all, the Texas Jaybird