@ Amber It does sound like you have more in common than not. Maybe if you can remember major wrestlers, he will eventually learn major Hoyas. xD I have to say, punk rock and wrestling is an unexpected combination, for me. @ Kittee I try to keep my plants orderly looking, but after you surpass a certain quantity the effect is nowhere close to the monastic simplicity that many neat freaks adore. I'm thinking I probably need to slow down and focus on order for a while. There always seem to be a couple of bark pieces on the floor. I learned everything I know about cooking from a vegan, so I also am most happy with Pho Chay. @ Cindy I've often thought about installing computer fans around my plants. You are lucky!! @ Ingrid I am so sorry to hear about your legal battles. To add such stress onto your existing condition must be tough. I hope things get better for you, soon. I have had such a fear of Lyme disease for many years, because I have a close friend who suffered under very extreme symptoms. Even with friends he seemed "alone in a crowd" and though he never complained, it hurt me to see how abnormal his life had become. Happily, after all this time, they have finally had some success with some treatments and his life is much better. So, now I feel more hopeful. There are several others in the Hoya community with this diagnosis, so you're not alone even here! My favorite sentence you wrote was "So, we have a lot on our mind and a lot of stress, but we have no struggle at all when it comes to being together or the Hoyas." I couldn't help but smile. If you have that, everything else becomes easier. :) @ goddess lol @ your boyfriend. Having a sense of humor about our addiction is a good way to go. I actually think the video game/plant care dynamic probably works really well, because both are very absorbing activities that take up a couple hours, but you can still be around each other. No, sadly I'm not. My guy's Vietnamese - that's how I got hooked on the Pho. ;) @ Planto I look forward to the day when 90 year olds are dominating the MMORPG scene. That would actually be a retirement home people might enjoy. ;) And they could totally own the real money auctionhouse! @ Aggie I just realized you're saying your husband took that nice photo for you. Does he snap all your Hoya pics? That's doing his part! @ Mitzi Yes... this is why I fear the onset of joint checking accounts...

I have read the whole thread and the thing that strikes me most is that you think you could sell your property for a great amount of money with this "contract" easement issue hanging over it like the Sword of Damoclese.It sort of applies to this situation, see below. Every prospective buyer I have ever known, including myself, looks at every piece of info about a property before buying. The law ,of course, says you have to disclose this "contract" easement to the buyer. I also know from my daughter who is in real estate in Atlanta , that she has every single customer she deals with go to the place they are thinking of obtaining and look at it at several different times of the day/night and different days of the week. It is a real eye opener on a property. That being said I would be hard pressed to purchase your property with the fantastic home and views because of the huge nuisance of the easement. Maybe there will be someone, should you decide to sell, that won't care but a lot of folks would be as irritated as you seem to be. As far as biking and hiking clubs being "welfare recipients" whoa...I will have to share that with all the NYCC members I ride with in New York and all the trail runners/hikers here in my town...they would be "intrigued" I am sure by that description LOL. c Here is a link that might be useful: Sword of Damoclese

Well, I guess I'm in a somewhat similar boat in that I'm so ready for it to be over! Ours started early May, and I still have no cabinets in!! Now, I did widen a window (and changed to a counter-height bumped out window), and I did rip out and install new flooring on the entire first floor, and the appliance layout is changing -- so it's a bit more complicated of a project than perhaps just a typical kitchen remodel where the layout is not changing.... but I am so tired of trudging into the garage for the frig, and doing dishes in the bathroom, and "cooking" in the dining room.... My husband just last night said to the kids, "what is today's date" -- July 1st -- and is the kitchen done? No!! [I had told him it would be done by the end of June for sure!]. So we're all just getting a little tired of the situation. We've had no progress in about 2-3 weeks. I'm trying to get an install date for the cabinets - hoping the end of this week, early next week. At least today the window wall drywall is going up, and I was able to get outside and stain the cedar trim around the new window.... I just want my you-know-what cabinets! As far as contractors -- I actually do like to put things in email so it's in writing, but I do like to speak to the person as well. I think that helps in making sure they understand what exactly you're saying. I just feel like there are times they should check with the homeowner before making decisions on how to do something -- if there's a choice, they should ask. So far there hasn't been anything major, but there's a long way to go!! Good luck! I just keep telling myself, it'll be done by Christmas for sure!!

Monique doesn't work for Holtkamp. Monique is Monique Holtkamp, wife of Reinhold Holtkamp, Jr. Heavens, I'm no expert. I only know what you couldn't kill in 3 years. I grow some in the window so I have some that may work for that and I like blue. I have seen so many put downs of Optimara that I do stick up for them because they are the ones many new growers start with and they are also good ones to start with. I think it must be depressing to send off an order and have them all die. I usually spend around $75-100 when I order. I can get out of Lowe's for $30 or less. There's no reason to discard them later if you like them and they're doing well because if you think you are going to get better ones, you may be in for a shock. Right now good old Optimara Texas is blooming just fine and Faded Denim looks like the devil. When it gets a flower, it's pretty but I think it's about a foot tall. I grow Fredettes, some trailers, some wasps now, some little ones, vintage ones - I like violets. Gardenweb (Houzz?) is not bad about Optimara but you may run into some other people/places where it's like you have cooties. ;) Yes, Kent Stork took the myViolets and hybridized with them and calls them the Ace series, I think. Someone said what perhaps others were thinking and said she'd bought one at Walmart, lol. (He hasn't officially introduced them yet.) I said they looked bigger and that so far the myViolets had seemed to run a bit small and he said that had been his experience. It will be interesting to see them side by side. It was a small photo but the leaves did look large compared to the myViolets. I expect we will be able to see the differences more clearly once they are available. Some plants may not make good show plants but that's okay because I'm not a show grower. It's good to remember that sometimes show growers' objectives may not mesh with a pleasure grower's objectives. Optimara may not be perfect but I don't think I've ever seen some of the crazy foliage on their plants that I've seen on other hybridizer's. The kind where it looks like it stuck its finger in the light socket or something of the sort. Of course their foliage changes course immediately when I take it home and never looks the same again. I'm used to that. FC2 Holtkamp 370 entries P. Hancock 210 entries (and I know some aren't in there) H. Pittman 728 entries K. Stork 160 entries Lyndon Lyon Greenhouses 313 entries P. Sorano 164 entries S. Sorano 784 entries (+ 20 under S. Groeneman) R. Robinson 245 entries Eyerdom 559 entries Should we be picking on Holtkamp? There were fewer Buckeyes than I expected. It's always seemed like there were a lot of them. I had no idea how that was going to turn out but it was interesting. Diana in PA