Surprise,Surprise i'm back!!!!! It's been quite some time since i've posted here but I have been periodically checking in to see what's going on. This winter has been really bad for me so far. I'll start another thread with some details after responding to this one as I don't want to hijack this thread and it'll take some time to explain what's been going on in my life this winter. It's been VERY cold here this winter with many,many nights getting down into the teens and low twenties. I know a LOT of you had it much colder but you have to understand that I live in an area where typical winter temps are in the 30's and 40's. I doubled my gh length from 30ft long to 60 ft long and it's taken quite a bit more propane to keep it heated this winter. About $1400.00 so far and that's just since November and this is only for my gh. I have been able to maintain the temps at 50F which suited the majority of the hoyas but some have had a difficult time and are just barely hanging on. I have also lost some,probably 8 or 10 but they wee small not well established plants or newly rooted cuttings. Most of the stock plants have sprung to life now that the days are getting longer. Some grew all winter as I kept lights burning in the gh 24-7. I have noticed over the past few weeks a lot of them have already begun to develop buds on old peduncles and many are forming new peduncles. There may be flowers open today because I noticed some while watering yesterday that looked like they could pop open at any time. My H. heuschkelianas bloomed reliably all winter. Hopefully winter will be over VERY soon!!! This past week we have had temps in the 60's and 70's with nights on the 50's and 60's. Today is supposed to be close to 80 for us. So with temps like that of course I have had the gas turned off to the gh and it's been open now for just over a week which the hoyas have really enjoyed. david

I broke down last night and lugged a bunch of stuff in. It's sitting in a corner, bugs, dirt and all until I get around to cleaning and repotting.... Sunday should be nice for this, I hope I have enough pots! I noticed this morning that I missed a few asparagus ferns. Don't ask me why I'm taking them in, they were $1.99 or something this spring and if you look at my time and effort in overwintering, it's definately not worth it. Obviously gardening is not about the money..... at least I don't take cuttings of impatients when frost threatens! There was a time when I'd have a whole windowsill of them! hmmmmm. Now that I'm thinking about it I remembered a four foot rubber tree potted out front..... I don't know. I may have to play this carefully. With the five foot elephant ear in the kitchen (temporarily of course) and the banana that still has to come in, I think I'm skating on thin ice plant wise. The rubber tree may be the last straw. Plus the local nursery has it's 75% off-last weekend clearance tomorrow. If I end up in the dog house tommorrow I won't be able to sneak off, let alone come back with a car full of shrubs and trees I have no room for! It might be worth a frozen rubber tree. Maybe I can hide the R-tree in the garage for a week or two and sneak it in later. She would never be the wiser. hehehe (my sneaky laugh)

Thank you all. Chispa, I think my nephew will have a unique view of his moms life. My BIL threw my SIL a surprise retro frat party themed shindig. We weren't able to go, but it essentially was a living wake that went into the wee hours of the morning with people there she knew in grade school, highschool, college and post grad life as well as family. However in keeping with the frat theme, the guest could only get a "red solo cup" if they turned over a memory or story of LC. My BIL then had the memories all bound in a book for his wife. He told her it would help her smile on the rough days when she felt alone or worried she didn't leave enough of a footprint on the world. I saw the book a few weeks ago. Some of the stories are hilarious reincriminations of IHGS stubborn or mischievous side (like sneaking her dachshund into her back bag and into her kindergarten classroom so the dog could learn to talk too) to touching memories of kindness or slightly embarrassing but endearing memories. It was amazingly thoughtful. Some shared several short stories, others a detailed letter of why they loved her. It was so funny to see how she jotted rebuttal memories in the margins of some of those embarrassing stories or defenses or her own memory of the writers foolish endeavor. Just reading through it had some of us in stitches. Hopefully one day her son will appreciate the multiple views of his mother through other's memories or her short written retort. But the coolest thing (IMO) is what IHGS did for him. She couldn't write letters to a future son at various milestones. But she wanted to leave him some piece of her or her thoughts or how she approached life. She spent days in the hospitals over the last few years really cultivating playlists from her vast itune collections. The playlists tell chapters in her life labeled as these were your lullabies aka i rocked the mothering thing or are labeled with identifying things as songs to impress your future date, this will help you get an a, fight for your right to pahty, expression of the teenage angst, yes I know your dad is impossible, etc etc... I think it's such a cool glimpse into who she is and how she thinks. I think it's something he can go back to several times in life and listen with new understanding... Dorothy, I'm so glad to see your grandson is doing well. So much has changed from the time IHGS was a teen. The chemo is now so targeted and less harsh. Her particular chemo regimen is no longer available because they discovered a large percentage of the teenagers ended up developing new refractory cancers years later. Basically these kids would beat one to have something else pop up. Usually a transplant cured them, but not IHGS. She had the wicked trifecta of poor genetics, exposure to environmentsk dangers as a kid, and then the toxic demo, Her leukemia was termed beautiful and wickedly smart, mutating with each new treatment. anyway as IHGS would say hope your grandson is soon "hanging with NED at the cool kids table". Ned = no evidence of disease. I'll keep you, your gs, snd his parents in my thoughts. Cancer sucks no matter what the age. It's so sad to see it cheat kids and teens of their belief in invincibility.

I'd like to see the adjoining areas too. I'm thinking like remodelfla -- you would be better off moving the W/D and creating a galley kitchen that might have some extra storage on the long hall wall. If moving the water supply and drains is a problem (realize Florida might have concrete slabs like we do), then I would put the sink on that W/D walland the range would still be on the peninsula side, but look at a glass hood. I've seen plenty that look good over a peninsula. I know Candice Olsen has done one or more. I think the bigger issue is how that space works for you, and with 2 windows and 3 doorways in a small space, you have a better foyer than kitchen right now. It will function better if you can isolate the cooking tasks from the laundry (do you really want dryer lint where you are cooking anyway?). That looks like a galley with a hallway laundry pair either under the window or stacked to one side of the window. Assuming you need the three passage ways, I would consider keeping one large window and possibly closing up one or changing it to transom or backsplash windows. That gets involved in exterior factors and may or may not work for design, budget or other reasons, but I'd at least ask yourself those kind of questions now. Make sure you have thought about where the light comes from and how it shines into the kitchen -- now and with harsher angles in the winter. You may have views and light you cannot part with, but you could also have some harsh glare and heat. Good luck with your project and move.