Hello, All! Hope everyone had a nice holiday season! Like Rosey, I managed to suck up all the local germs while visiting my kids and grandkids... the younger of which are walking virus factories interacting daily with all manner of other neighborhood children and schoolmates... and came home with a nasty chest cold/flu combination. The old guy and I are both sick. I'm glad for things like Vick's VapoRub and antibiotics! I'm a believer in modern pharmaceuticals, as long as I know what they contain and how they work, and whether or not there are more side effects than good effects! My grandson was full blown sick while we were there, complete with fever that makes your ears red and hot, a horrid cough from a tight chest with infection, packed sinuses, runny nose, chapped lips, the whole nine yards. It's the kind of sick that makes your skin hurt! You know you need to eat, but you can't stomach anything. We felt so bad for the poor little guy... and now that we have it, we know what a trooper he was! I'm off to a bad start with the new year... my monitor burnt up, I got sick, and to top everything off, I managed to leave my camera behind when we packed up to come home. I think I did, anyway... I can't find it. On the positive side, H. "Minerva" has kindly waited for me, and is just now starting to open her large buds! And nothing died while we were gone, meaning that my orchids hung in there with the watering I gave them before we left for Christmas. I also have a Gloriosa vine growing tall and looking to bloom, I think. I had thought the corm died in the pot, but when I gave it a small drink to moisten the medium a bit, it began to grow! It will be interesting to see if it does bloom, as it's growing in an east facing window. Nice photos, everyone! Josh, that is such a wonderful Catt! Well... trying to get caught up with reading and posting, taking my time through this cold. I sure hope no one else gets it... it's a nasty one! Talk at ya all later!

Hey Mark, I usually just let the bananas unfurl by them selves. So far the plants you gave me are doing well and I have little seedlings of the tomatoes too. :o) Glad your garden is growing well.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I, too, have returned to the forum. My kitchen was finished 3 years ago this month. The very hardest decision I made was the darn backsplash! The wonderful folks here helped me w/ that dilemma. I still love my backsplash and it is a fav part of my kitchen. Have a wonderful feast this Thursday!

Thanks all! Vala, she does have her own litterbox now in our bedroom, but before we started keeping her in here permanently Cali would block her from the food and water and litterbox. She bullies her every step of the way which is interesting because when Amy was pregnant and then when the kittens were little she scared all my other cats, going "mama cat" on them if they got near her babies. I don't know why she has totally changed into a meek kitty, I think she misses her babies and has no reason left to fight. I am so sad that she has to live this way, although at night she LOVES sleeping between Jim's and my heads.