Thanks Everyone for participating. It's the same story for box #2, nothing made it (all the leaves turned totally brown, even a good-sized plantlet with several leaves couldn't handle the heat)! It's no one's fault, the heat is too much and baked all the leaves in the box. This has been really disappointing! Let's do this again when the weather cools off. Hugs, Deb

It is not very accurate or informative to make statements like "RoundUp is bad". "Bad" is relative -- RoundUp and similar products have well-defined and acknowledged uses and are no better or worse than any other pesticide, including many that are described or considered to be 'natural' or 'organic'. The persistance of RoundUp in the soil is minimal and it breaks down rapidly with typical soil biological activity. It is also not inclined to leach. If applied according to directions and to appropriate plants, it is a very effective and relatively harmless tool. Vinegar is acetic acid - household vinegar is just a very low concentration of acetic acid and therefore not nearly as effective as something like Burn Out. Repeated applications are typically necessary. And it requires the same type of conditions for application (sun, dryness). Personally, given the situation described above, I'm not convinced any product is necessarily called for. Manually remove any remaining weeds, cover with newspapers if you wish and top off with decent soil or mulch.

Thanks for your kind words about my abandoned mosaic child :) I *will* get back to her soon, I will, I will :) And oh dear..I sit here at my desk surrounded by my current favorites of my Goodwill-sourced modern art pottery collection, looking at yours...we have very strangely close tastes...I love those splendid little vases and have to restrain myself from buying every one I find, because of my visceral love for glazes and textures :) Those are so dear; I *love* them. Thanks for posting -- maybe I'll photo some of mine and post them so you can see -- not many people appreciate them -- my DH very sweetly tolerates my slight obsessions :) (side note: what's the grouting situation on the plane change of your shelf? Is there grout between the vertical and horizontal tiles? )

Hi Jules, We ended up using Amber Tours, based in Delhi, and they were excellent. I basically planned the itinerary, and the hotels, but they had someone with us every moment we were in India. A local guide, our driver and his assistant. It was better than 5 star service. Exceeded my expectations (as did the entire trip). I don't usually like or want my hand held, but India may not be a good DIY destination especially with a family and if one likes creature comforts. You of course balance creature comforts against "authentic" experiences, but I felt pleased with the balance for us. I chose them over Greaves because they are based in India. The pricing was very similar (no bargains anywhere for sure). We flew into and out of Mumbai, but only to get free flights (for five people in flat beds over spring break, not easy). The only way I could use my frequent flyer miles was by taking that route, so that was pretty compelling (the seats would have cost 10-12k each). I would not suggest Mumbai otherwise. I didn't go to Delhi because I had been on business before and I generally didn't want big cities. But at least Delhi makes sense geographically if you want to see Agra and Rajasthan. Once I get over the jet lag, I am tempted to go back. We didn't see the Himalayas, or the South at all (many recommend river cruises in Kerala). We were not interested in any safari-type destinations, BTDT, but many seem to like those too. Our itinerary within India was: Mumbai, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaiselmer, Jaipur, Alwar, Agra, Varanasi We stayed at a the Oberoi Mumbai, Oberoi, Udaivilas, Umaid Bhiwan Palace, The Serai, Oberoi Rajvilas, Amanbagh, Oberoi Amarvial and the Nadesar Palace. As far as itineraries go, Mumbai is interesting but I wouldn't have gone there if we hadn't landed there. I would also take Jaiselmer and Varanasi off the itinerary, and maybe even Alwar (where the Aman is). The rest of the cities are musts, and we loved visiting them. India is such a beautiful place. Mumbai is mostly just a big modern city. There were some interesting temples, the market, the laundry, a house where Ghandi lived, but .. ehh. Jaiselmer had intrigued me for the sand dune camel rides and the 14th century fort, near the Pakistan border. The fort was kind of honky tonk, plus you will see soooo many forts. The camel rides were fun, but you can do those elsewhere, and people say the dunes are even better outside Jodhpur. The best thing about it was the hotel, where we stayed in luxury tents that were fab. we had never done the luxe tent before and I thought the kids would love it; they did. But it is a long way to go! We rented a plane to get us from Jaisemler because otherwise it was 10hr on the road. Not worth it. Alwar is where the Aman is. And not a whole lot else. There is a fort and a temple, like just about everywhere, and the property is gorgeous, just a show stopper ... but TBVH I don't think it is worth a detour in the context of a once-in-a-lifetime trip to India. We had a wonderful stay at the Aman (big fan of the brand) but the Oberois "-vilas" brand is every bit as good as Aman, if not better (heresy!). I do not think it is hyperbole to declare Oberoi -vilas the best hotel brand in the world. Since the Aman is out of the way, I would take it off the list, if that allowed me to visit say, the Himalayas, or Kerala. We knew Varanasi was a "challenging" place to take a family. I'm glad I went but not sure I would recommend it, esp, since, like Jaiselmer, it is out of the way. It is a crazy circus of a place, like Time Sq New Years eve and Coney Island, times ten, with lots of cows, bulls, dogs, incessant horns, rickshaws, tuks tuks, and motorcycles thrown in, and incredible layers of dirt and stench and the infrastructure of a war zone. It was important to me to visit the Ganges, even if it would probably be a Superfund site here at home. I think we will always remember it, I will say that. Some people think it is the most important site in India. Maybe if you are very spiritual (certainly if one is devout Hindu). I thought the Aarti ceremony with fire was interesting but not worth the trip itself. The cremations are interesting but I didn't feel it was a terribly moving expereince, YMMV. The holy men, covered in white ash and dredlocks and wearing loincloths, seemed like something out of a NatGeo film. As far as hotels, they were superb. I would make only one change. In Jodhpur, everyone favors the Umaid Palace. Look at the room photos online. For some reason it makes me think of 70s Moscow. I found it depressing. The common areas are TDF and it is cool that the Mararaja lives there, but I would choose the hip Raas downtown. We lunched there. In Varanasi, another former palace, the Nadesar was cool (Reza Pahlavi slept in our room once -- sp?) but a tad rundown. That said, it is the best in Varanasi. The service and food (both Western and Indian) at all of these hotels was more than 5 star. But, as you know, the prices are Western. I was told even domestic travellers pay those prices, and I can believe it; there is tremendous wealth there alongside the poverty. Eye-popping wealth. We took Ciproflaxin with us and ate everything, including foods offered to us by locals in a few cases. Three of us got sick over out trip but within hours the Cipro cured it, and we all just took one each day from then on. I was very surprised at the quality and hipness of the Western fare, we also tried a lot of Indian dishes, did a cooking demo, and gained new favorites. The people are very warm, and it seemed, genuine. They truly seem to have a light, as corny as that sounds. We drove for hours through many small towns, deserts and farms and saw shepherds and farmers and women in saris carrying things on their head. They wave and smile and say hello. We saw very very little begging, and at no time did we ever see anyone who appeared malnourished, to my great surprise. I was told that Rajasthan, where most of our touring was, is one of the wealthier states. Flights within India were fine (usually only one class of service), but Air India is just ok where as Indigo is a great airline (seems identical to Jetblue). HTH! I will post pictures soon but I still have a laptop issue with Iphoto and it is a long saga to fix.