Im going to have to definitely look into that! Thanks for the source. I would love to see some pics when its all potted up. And Hawaii is definitely in a terrible drought. When I was there recently you could see the entire forest was dried up (the forecast wasnt very lush on that side of the island, it was kind of like a savannah. They said that the trees would become green again when it started to rain. The hotels didnt show any signs of drought and neither did any of the nearby streets because it was amazingly well maintained, but once you got past the hotel, a lot of the island was suffering from the drought. They also had a huge fire on the island of Maui which (If I remember correctly) was started by someone, but it took out a large portion of the savannah-like forest. At least we are getting some small amounts of rain here every once in a while. Some parts of hawaii arent even getting that (although there are parts of Hawaii that do get rain every single day even in this drought). Hawaii has such a diverse climate, but even though they are in the middle of the ocean, they seem to get droughts too! Good luck! -Alex

We ended up taking Mo to the vet this afternoon. It was so painful to watch him stumble around. She is still pretty sure its Vestibular Disease, tho. Everything else checks out just fine except he has lost 6 lb. in the last two weeks. She did prescribe an antibiotic just in case there is an inner ear infection that she can't see. I called Joe, the young man that will be taking care of the house and the dogs over the weekend. He's cool with everything. I also signed an authorization at the vet just in case Joe feels there is a need to bring him in during our absence. A lot has been going on for all of my family the last couple of weeks. I hope that all of us can just go to the wedding, relax and enjoy ourselves. A few cocktails will help with that, I am sure. The rest is in the hands of some higher being..... I'll check in after the weekend! Linda

I live in Ontario and we were alone too. We do have a son but he doesn't live close to us. I never pondered what to do like you but when my husband was in the position that we needed a caregiver everything fell into place. He was sick for a couple of years before we needed anyone but he was mobile. Some things he did for himself and some things he needed help with but we managed OK. He could still be left alone so my life was not disrupted much. Then he had a fall and ended up in the hospital and that's when I was offered many community services. I knew from then on he could not be left alone so I jumped at their offers. Home care offered me 8 hours a week of respite care. Because he had slight dementia the Alzheimer's society offered an additional 6 hours. I could have had more but I would have had to pay for it. The Red Cross offered it's Seniors Ride program which I still access for my own use. Because he was still mobile with a walker I was able to manage his personal care and used the respite care for errands and pursuing my own activities. I sponge bathed him daily and the home care worker gave him a bath when she was there for home care. We managed that way for a year until he ended up in hospital again and that's where he passed away. I know there must be other services available that we didn't need and you are wise to find them now.

Hi Al! All is well in my world (besides the few curveballs life likes to throw). My plant count (by pot, not species or plants) is now at 37. I've learned a lot. In October, I was able to connect with a small business owner who runs a boutique style plant shop (boutique = overpriced) that traded my ficus trees for store credit. I wound up bringing home a monstera adansonii, hoya varigata, peperomia tetragona and hypoestes phyllostachya in that trade (I know, I gave her a good deal). I had my first experience with mealybugs on the monstera adansonii and after trying to treat it the best I could without buying pest control stuff, I returned it (but kept a cutting from trimming up the damage, shhh don't tell). I then brought home a calathea freddie, amazonica polly and a good sized monstera deliciousa. These plants are doing quite well, even in winter. The hypoestes is quite finicky, but that's just what they do (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of them, but my boyfriend liked it). I also acquired a large wandering jew, peperomia obtusifolia, sanseveria cylindrica (from TJ maxx of all places, poor thing barely has roots), english ivy, and a 5 pack of succulents from my aunt for my birthday. I also just ordered four plant lights and cords for them... they should be here Monday. This way I can hopefully get them to look less crowded around the windows. I haven't mixed my own soil yet, I was in quite a hurry last time I had to grab some and so far so good (Fox Farms' Coco-Loco). I add in perlite for most plants. With life's demands lately between holidays, helping my boyfriend with his business, health issues and work, I've been mostly trying to relax and zone out when I can. Oh, one of my pilea peperomioides is finally having babies too!