Judy, thanks for the commiseration. Fortunately, my bug lasted only a few days. Being sick all winter sounds rough. You said, "However, I'm still slow to register when something untoward is developing... " I'm raising my hand on that one, too. One reason many of my orchids looked so far gone all of a sudden was because everything developed slowly, and my eye wasn't educated enough to see it in the early stages. Follow up to a couple of earlier questions - If that Phal was doing well in the West window, can you put it back there? Can you put all your plants there? :) Because your Catts and Oncs are putting out leaves but not spikes, they may not be getting enough light. Also, has the new construction from the East reduced the direct light for a significant amount of time? If so, maybe that's a factor. If the owner of that shop seems to have a clue, could you ask him if you could bring in some of your plants for him to look at? (Maybe ask one of his staff what his favorite sweets are and return the favor via calories. :)) Olya, Brad, Kevin, Cory - on second thought, your comments about science vs art make sense. My grandmother never used a recipe and was one of the best cooks and bakers I've run across. Everything from scratch. However, she had to have many scientific principles in her head to make dinner rolls so light that only lots of butter would keep them on your plate. LOL She'd learned so much science that her meals looked and tasted like art. Judy & Mehitabel, for some atypical, beginning orchid addict reason, I went for plants that would likely like my conditions. Early on, it was frustrating to learn definitions of "Intermediate conditions" were open to interpretation: Would all my ____ orchids die? Judy, this might help. After "Intermediate" turned out to be unreliable, I started emailing or spelling out details of my conditions to growers and *then* asking if a certain orchid would likely thrive. Direct light - direction & which hours; supplemental light & # of hours; temp ranges inside, winter and summer, and outside in the summer; air movement; fertilizer & schedule; and humidity ranges. Just realized - this is probably a transfer from choosing dog breeds and breeders. By comparison, matching an orchid to what I want & can provide is a snap. Once the orchids get here, though - more science, please. Judy, hang in there. From what you say, it's getting better already. WC8

You can also use the Clip Art to decorate your envelopes. I had a friend who used to do that and decided last year I'd try it. Everyone love it and raved about how different it compared to receiving "plain old envelopes". This year I'll be doing the same thing and mixing and matching different designs. It's really lots of fun.

I did this with a quote from Apple's Think Different campaign. I used a map as a background and played around with different text and had it printed on a custom tile. Here was the quote I used: Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. ... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. ... They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

That's a beautiful rug. I love it. However, I must say that I'd find another place for it. Kitchens get spills often; I don't know one that doesn't. Or, when crumbs get on the floor, you'll have to whip out the vacuum to remove them from the rug - unlike a bare floor where you can just wipe up the crumbs in 5 seconds. There's also a lot more walking back and forth in a kitchen than in any other room in the house. Either you will have to clean that rug quite frequently, or it will collect those spills, and within a year, or less, between the traffic and the spills, look grungy. For the art, I think it would look charming with your kitchen to find a vintage (or reproduction of a vintage) food advertisement, like vintage ad for Kellogg's cereal. They're cute, they're fun, and are colorful, and fit with kitchen decor.