I too have been searching for years for a live Piper Methysticum. In 1996/97, Gnostic Garden were selling them. Firstly, there is no law against the live plant. The kava ban was purely for internal consumption - products design to be ingested, such as dried root, kava extracts etc. Essentially, kava extracts could be sold for cosmetic purposes and stated that they are not for internal consumption. Live plants would have absolutely no restriction. However, there is a law in Hawaii that prohibits any live kava plant being exported. Fiji seem to be pretty protective of their living heritage too. I have made enquiries to several US based nurseries for them the get a phytosanitary certifcate and send a live plant. Unfortunately there was no uptake for this. Today, I have found this place: http://www.ktbotanicals.com/piper-methysticum-kava-kava-live-plant-p-12697.html They say they'll send out plants anywhere, but if it gets stopped at customs, then that's that! I too have thought of a holiday in Fiji and smuggling some live plants back, but that's an expensive and risky pursuit. I'm happy to pay money for the phytosanitary certificate to get one of these ultra-rare Europe-based plants... They do have some live plants in Kew Garden you could always try and lift. And what's all the fuss about zones? Surely this would be a house plant and tended to in a very specific way? Afterall, after going through all the trouble getting one, you wouldn't want it to die?! Just make sure the thing's well insulated before it makes its journey in the summer months - it'll probably be put in the hold of an aircraft which can get pretty cool... Here is a link that might be useful: Piper methysticum

I think the tub probably is cast iron. When I tap on the slope of the back, I hear more of a bell sound. The tiling on the apron may be muffling any sound when I tap on the sides of the tub. On the drain cover, it says "Made in Taiwan," and it looks like cast iron tubs may have been imported from Taiwan in the 80's. The main incentive for the bathroom remodel is a serious leakage problem with the shower pan in the stall shower. A secondary reason is that the entire layout has never been ideal. Third reason is that all the small tile and grout is a pain to clean. Fourth reason is the decor (tile) is dated. I don't know if it's possible or cost-effective to remove the tiling around the tub without damaging it. It would be challenging to design a new bathroom around the old tub with the existing tile. I need to operate the window; it is the only source of ventilation in the bathroom. Changing the layout would provide easier access to the window. I've thought of several alternatives - add a fan, add another window, change the window configuration (awning-type window), or find a window treatment that provides privacy without sacrificing ventilation. While the exterior length of the tub is 66", the interior length is 44". The depth is 15". I'm 5'1" and this size works for me, but probably not for the average-size adult. My teenage son likes to take baths. He's a foot taller than me and has long legs. I took him with me to try out some longer tubs - even some of the 72" tubs are too short for him, depending on the slope of the sides. Given that I'm accustomed to a cast iron tub, will I be disappointed if I replace it with a new acrylic / fiberglass tub? There are some other types of materials, such as Victoria & Albert tubs and WetStyle tubs; I'm thinking about looking at these.

Ginny, I could never get a straight answer either, whenever I asked this question. I can tell you what I have learned from experience, and hope it helps you. First let me say that I would DEFINITELY buy another card or two, perhaps one with more storage, such as 1 gigabyte, that way you will feel comfortable knowing that you have many more pictures yet to take. Secondly, my camera lets me know how many pictures I have taken and how many I have left to take, and this number changes since some pictures will take less space than others. Next, I would recommend taking pictures on a higher resolution so that you can enlarge them later if desired without losing detail in the photo. If you are taking a picture of something that you know you will not make an enlargement out of, you can set your camera to a lower megapixel setting to save space on the card. Personally, I leave mine set at 5 megapixels, that way I am always ready to take a picture that I might want to enlarge. I set my camera to take photos at about 5 megapixels. On a 512 card, I can get(on average), about 230 pictures. At 2.3 or 1.3 megapixels, you will be able to get many more pictures, possibly 2 or three times more, but there is NO exact way of determining exactly how many. The reason for this is that some pictures, even if they are set at the same resolution level, will take up less space than others. For example, my camera showed that I had room for only 9 more photos. I took almost forty before it actually ran out of space, probably since I was taking pictures at night, of the moon. I hopes this helps explain it...at least a little. Good Luck Kt

I'd guess that your sink is probably cast iron, which could also restore nicely. Soapstone will attract oil and repel water. If you put a drop of water on it and it just kind of mounds where it is, instead of soaking in, it's probably soapstone. If the opposite happens with oil, you put a drop on and it makes a blotch, clinging to the stone, it's probably soapstone. If both things happen at once, it's almost definitely soapstone. If there's a worn, abraded place that has dust that feels powdery, like talc, which is a component of soapstone, and it passes the oil and water tests, no matter what it is, you'd be 100% right to call it soapstone. Some of the hardest varieties of soapstone have more besides steatite and talc, and the occasion vein of quartz in them, and aren't as oliophilic, so don't really show much during the oil test. Conversely, if your stone has built up a layer of polymerized oil (which is what people are trying to achieve when they oil their counters), the water test also might not show big results. If you scrub an area with Dawn liquid dish detergent or another mild grease fighter and a soft brush or scrubbie, you could remove the polymerized layer to know for sure. Before you bother, you could look at the underside, which probably has portions that haven't built up an oil layer over time. Of course, those are general instructions for how to tell if it's soapstone and that implies that there are unpainted portions that are accessible. I don't know how you know what's under the paint.