Bunnygirl is right on the mark. When transplanting any succulent, let the roots/cut stem dry in the air for a few days so that any small injuries harden to prevent fungal infection. Plant in dry soil and do not "water in". Soil should be at least 50% inorganic materials like pumice, perlite, gravel, etc. Do not use sand. Peat retains too much water and should be avoided like the plague! Commercial potting mixes (including those labeled Cactus and Succulent) have too much peat. My basic mix is about 75% pumice. It looks like they are all are infected by fungus, and will certainly die without intervention. The translucent color is a very bad sign. Pull them up immediately and inspect the roots and lower stem. If they are falling apart, and the stem is dark and soft, the only cure is to cut the stem above the rot. This may not be possible for the pups, as I suspect the leaves will fall off the stem leaving nothing to grow, but the parent plant may still be salvageable. After transecting the stem above the rot, let it dry out in the air for three days or more to callous. Then place in DRY soil. You may need to prop up the plant. Do not water until the plant has started to grow new roots, this will take some time (weeks). During this time, water in the lower leaves will be resorbed by the plant. This is natural. Succulents usually have sufficient water reserves to last for months without any water at all. When you see signs of new growth, start watering. Let the soil dry out completely between watering. There is no proper schedule, everything depends too much on your local conditions (heat/humidity/season/latitude/soil composition/etc). The basic rule is: If in Doubt, Don't! This axiom is true for any action, watering, transplanting, fertilizing, etc. Succulents thrive on neglect. The ideal cultural practice is called Benign Neglect. In your case, there is no doubt that intervention is necessary to save your plants. For more aloe care advice, read the Aloe FAQ page here on the site. Good luck! Brad

Original info was: Probably 10" wide and 8" tall, thereabouts. Hard S-shaped curved handle, wrapped with ribbon/fabric and hard carved(?) oval-ish shaped frame holding clear material (celluloid or similar?) that acts as the fan. The clear material has etchings on it of what looks (to me) like South American or Mexican imagery. Fringed along outside with different colors of fringe I've never seen one like that! It looks like the curve might be enough to hold the fan on your wrist. What is the transparent material? Paper, celluloid or what? The framing appears to be rattan. I'm going out on a really skinny limb: The person on the fan appears to be an image of a Buddha holding a lotus flower with a curved stalk, the fan is also in the shape of a lotus flower ... it's oriental, not Mexican. It's not the usual shape for a "stick fan". Here's some links to get you going. http://www.fanassociation.org/links.htm

Thanks for those great photo imbedding instructions, Bi. I went ahead and posted Odessas pic on the thread about adopted pets of 2007. That is a beautiful story you tell about Siphon and Rosie.

Tends to be a bit slower for mutiple pic posting than it was three weeks ago but also works better if I hit the space bar once or twice after each pic selected to edit or add comments after all pic's are selected. Cant wait to see em Kathi (but will) hang in there. Just like X amount of years ago my adult aged children are still better and faster at computers that I am.