I never cared for her. In case you ever want to make the mash recipe: FULL RECIPE, THEN DIVIDE BY 8 FOR 1/8 RECIPE 1/2 cup dry black-eyed peas 1/2 cup dry pinto beans 1/2 cup dry kidney beans 1/2 cup dry split peas - a mix of green and yellow 1/2 cup dry garbanzo beans 1/2 cup dry black beans 1/2 cup dry soy beans 1 cup dry great northern white beans 1/2 cup dry wheat berry grain 1/2 cup dry pearl barley grain 1 cup dry wild rice Rinse the beans, grains and rice, then soak them overnight (8 hours or so) in a large pot, covered with about an inch of water. Do not change the water before cooking as you want to retain as many of the nutrients as possible. In the morning add or remove water as needed to cover the mixture with about one inch of water. Bring the water to a full boil and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot, continue to cook for 20 minutes more. Ideally there will be just enough water to cook the beans, with very little extra. 3 medium sweet potatoes 4 medium white potatoes Scrub, quarter and then slice these into 1/8 inch slices. Then steam these lightly in a steamer, stirring every few minutes to cook them evenly. 3 pounds frozen corn 3 pounds frozen peas 3 pounds frozen carrots 3 pounds frozen green beans I add these to the hot beans and potatoes. It cools them off and stops the cooking process while barely thawing the vegetables. I like to cut the carrots up a bit, just because my birds prefer the different shapes and I think that they tend to be a bit large most of the time. 1/2 pound fresh parsley 3 medium zucchini 4 large tomatoes 1/2 pound of mustard greens 6 large bananas 6 medium apples 4 peeled oranges 1/2 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen) 1 mango (peeled and pitted) 2 papayas (peeled, leave the seeds in) 1-1/2 pounds of green grapes I run these items through a food processor to chop them a little. Do not process them too fine, the birds prefer the chunks of things. An alternative Is to slice them up by hand (this will add more time to making the mash). 1/4 cup dried pumpkin seeds 1/4 cup sesame seeds 1/4 cup dry powdered kelp 1/4 cup alfalfa powder These things I just put in whole (or powdered as the case may be). I mix this all together thoroughly and then freeze it in sandwich bags in daily serving portions. I take one bag out of the freezer and thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and serve it the next day. I do not recommend the use a microwave to thaw or warm this mash, as this may destroy valuable nutrients and according to some researchers it can also change the molecular structure of the foods. I�m not sure if it does or not, but it�s easy enough to avoid nuking these foods. You can warm it by placing it in warm water. Posted by: "Adrianne" : 2 - 3 rinses before the initial overnight soak. Keeps the water clearer, removes toxins that the legumes produce as they soak/germinate and increases digestability. I also do not use red kidney beans, and have cut back on the black beans as well, as they are more difficult to digest. I use navy beans for the white beans and substitute adzuke (also called aduki or azuke) beans, mung beans and lentils, as they are much easier to digest.

The easiest thing to do is to add fresh greenery to what you already have. I don't know if you are in an area with Trader Joe's, but I was there today and they had beautiful fresh boxwood wreaths for $9.95 each. You could lay a wreath flat on a table (be sure to protect the table) and then put a candle in the middle for an easy decoration. Costco usually has huge live poinsettias for under $20. One on either side of your hearth would add lots of color and texture. The nice thing about fresh items is that they don't require storage from year-to-year. You can just dispose of them when you finish using them.

Hi, Stef, how much light is it getting? I have mine as close to an east/southeast window as possible. Once we are further into the Spring, re-potting into a porous and free-draining mix will really help this plant. Removing the old potting mix is going to be a chore, but it will revitalize the plant. Christmas Cactus Re-Potted Josh

Pls. water it, it looks quite thirsty. Is the existing soil hard to the touch? I'd buy some African Violet mix & Perlite & mix them 50/50 for a complete repotting after removing all the old soil. That will give it some of the organics mentioned above, but will be a bit lighter than C&S mix. I learned this the hard way myself. C&S mix is just too heavy for these, AV soil does better in my experience ,along w/ 50% perlite. If I may, I believe Rina's last line meant to say there is nothing WRONG with healthy woody parts, as the plant gets older ... (she forgot the 'wrong'). Lena