Thank you so much. The plants definitely got smaller after the lower leaves fell so I WILL go to a smaller pot because, like you said, even the previous one was slightly big, but they seemed to do OK. I just never understood how the roots would deal with that. I mean, my plant got smaller because the lower leaves fell, but the roots certainly didn't change, right? However, it appears the consensus is that the pot should be 1/3 of the diameter of the plant (so it's about how big the leaves are, not about the roots). As for blooming again, I read that some AV-s do take a break from blooming, particularly in the summer. I also read that a good plant blooms for 9 months and rests for 3. Maybe these two of mine went through their rest period over the summer. Who knows? I'll go back to doing everything by the book and we'll see what happens. Thank you again!

kelly~ Glad you got this all figured out. And good of you to not let the guy in from off the street. You never know what kind of wacko's could "invent" a story like that. The fact that it was a legitimate appraiser is a bit of a relief (I was thinking it was a NUT case!!). I'm glad your bank is willing to let you send photos of the rear and let it be done. :O) By the way, I think your builder is a bum. After taking so long to build your (GORGEOUS, COMPLETELY GORGEOUS!!) home, and you being patient and waiting and all of that... well, I'm just irritated that he's fallen off the face of the earth. Too bad you can't recommend him now. GW is a big community, and he might have gotten more work from referrals by miss Kelly. Not likely now. Why would someone want to do that at the end of a relationship? Why not leave a happy customer..... referrals are the way of the world for most businesses. I guess he missed that fact in building 101. :o( Anyway, glad you and dh are able to fix the remaining items on the punch list. It looks soooo awesome already, it's probably okay if it takes you a bit of time to whittle down that list. :o) Merry Christmas to you and yours... in your gorgeous new home!

goldgirl- I live in the middle of wheat country (Kansas) and have been around grain production all my life, have used wheat for making everything from wheatgrass to "wheat meat" and have many varieties in storage (hard winter, hard spring, soft spring, red and white varieties, durum, spelt, Kamut, einkorn, triticale- which is a cross of durum wheat and rye), and have studied the subject quite a bit. Genetically modified (GM) wheat (when a gene or partial gene sequence was inserted or deleted using gene-splicing technology for herbicide-resistance, or reduction of celiac disease-provoking sequences - as examples) is ONLY being produced in test patches and it's NOT sold or used commercially in the U.S. Nor is it in general production or sold as seed wheat, so your friend doesn't have all her facts straight. What she probably means is that the wheat has been hybridized (crossing different strains to generate new characteristics - such as higher protein, shorter straw, white wheat - which lacks the genes for bran color, etc.), and that is NOT the same as genetic modification, but still has some concerns surrounding it. Even so-called "heritage" or "heirloom" varieties (such as Turkey Red - which was the first hard winter wheat grown in the late 1870's in Kansas - brought here by German-Russian Mennonites - and Red Fife) have been hybridized through selection, and are different genetically from the early varieties of wheat or wheat-like grasses such as emmer, Kamut, einkorn, and even spelt. As if going gluten-free wasn't enough of a challenge, many people who avoid gluten also need to avoid dairy. You may want to try recipes using coconut flour, coconut milk, and dairy-free coconut yogurt for the probiotics, instead of almond flour/meal/milk. Coconut flour is a low-carb gluten-free alternative to wheat. I tend to avoid the high-glycemic flours and starches common to many gluten-free baking recipes since we are also trying to avoid diabetes (rampant in hubby's family) by being on a low-glycemic diet. If you can tolerate oats, there are all kinds of oat-based recipes. Buckwheat is another gluten-free choice for breakfast foods, along with quinoa, amaranth and flax. I also make waffles using sprouted lentils - and that's just a partial list of options. Coconut, oat, and rice milk can be made at home (along with other kinds of nut and seed milks). I would personally avoid the commercial brands due to sweeteners, stabilizers, thickeners, and other ingredients included in these non-dairy milk products. They are less expensive and easy-to-make at home if you have a high-speed blender. I recently found instructions for making "oat kefir" and "oat yogurt", so they are on my list of things-to-try (mostly out of curiosity). Check your local library (or through inter-library loan) for copies of: -Gluten, Wheat, & Dairy Free - a LOVE FOOD production. -The Spunky Coconut Cookbook - by Kelly V. Brozyna (gluten free, casein free, sugar free) -Cooking With Coconut Flour - Bruce Fife, N.D. -The Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook - Anji Sandage with Lorena Novak Bull, RD You can also find an enormous amount of recipes using coconut flour on-line (see link below). The one down-side to using coconut flour is the large amount of eggs you also need to use. I often make coconut flour muffins and coconut flour bread to use for breakfast. You may also find some recipes that would work for you by checking Paleo and Low-Carb sites since they both generally avoid grains. Low-Carb recipes often use a lot of protein powder, but I have to limit the amount of protein powders I consume (from all sources - whey, egg white, rice, pea, etc.) because they cause inflammation. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Tropical Traditions

Oh gosh, thank you all. In the beginning, I didn't give much thought to my kitchen. I knew I needed one, but I didn't plan on spending much time in there. I wanted plain and simple cabinets. I had even entertained the idea of barn tin for inserts. I wanted really country and rustic. I even thought maybe some rafters or beams, with some mini-hay bales. Then when ppl asked my kids if there were raised in a barn, they could say, umm well yal :-) Then as you go through the build, your attentions shift from one thing to the other, and I began to think about my kitchen a little more. Mostly from a decor standpoint cuz I thought I wanted a barn look. Everyone I know and every kitchen I had ever had, was a theme. One color, one theme. So I started thinking about that. And I didnt figure I wanted a big fancy tile backsplash behind the stove top, and all that jazz, but I found this piece of art that I really liked and I began to think outside the box. Not so much about theme but about colors and textures, and just things I liked and made me happy. I knew it wasn't the best choice as far as practicality for a stove backsplash, but I really liked it. (and didnt think I would use the stove much anyways) :-) That one piece of art kind of set the mood, and my thoughts on decorating in the whole house began to form. But as my attention shifted to each project, and when I got around to the kitchen and I searched this board, I began to realize there were things I wanted and needed and I tried to think about how I would use each space as I was becoming determined to cook more and entertain more. So I played house alot, walking through the meal preparation process, and putting dishes away, etc, trying to figure out what needed to be where. I can cook, I just don't. My mother died when I was 13 and being the oldest at home, I was the one left to do the cooking and cleaning. About a month before my mother died, she knew she was dying but I didn't. She was trying to teach me how to cook and clean from her death bed, literally. I would get so mad at her, because nothing was ever right, it was never good enough. Took me a little while but I finally realized she was just trying to prepare me because she knew I was soon going to have to do it all. So when the time came, I knew what I had to do so I just jumped in and did it. So I do know how, I just never enjoyed it from that point on. Anyways, now I couldn't be happier with my kitchen. I have even started preparing menus and shopping at the grocery store! My oldest daughter was talking to my neighbor a few months ago, about how I never cook/shop, and they said, you know, come to think of it, we see everyone at the grocery store (we live in a small town of about 4000) but we have never seen anyone from your family. (funny sad, i know) I was going to go dark island, light perimeter, then just decided not to. Then I saw all these beautiful white kitchens on here, and almost went that direction, but I knew if I asked my Amish guy to paint all this beautiful wood, he would have a heart attack and I didn't want the guilt. I think the Oak fits the house, but I do love the white cabinets too, and anything would look fine if it made me happy :-) But thank you all. I am always nervous about posting final end pictures. There is always something you could have done differently, but I am very thankful to have this home, and to have this kitchen, to have food in it, and thankful to share it with my family. I couldn't have made it what it is, without the research and feedback from this forum. You guys are all great. Thank you! Oh, and yes chalkboard paint, and there is magentic board paint under that. Losing weight by cooking at home and not eating out, drinking more water... moving, packing and unpacking and arranging and rearranging furniture... I also add this stuff to my water that helps me too. I also became the cleaning crew. I became the clean up crew for things like the drywall dust and extra pieces, prepping the subfloors for flooring, and cleaning up the extra trim, and extra flooring, etc. They would have but I figured I could do the cleaning, keep them building so we could get done that much sooner. I would put in 8-9 hour days right along with the crew, just working on the floors. And now, we arent quite finished, the lower level is still going and we have plastic up between the spaces, but still lots to dust, sweeping several times, mopping every day. Before, I did everything online. Most everything in this house came from online or eBay all from the comfort of my Easy Chair. Watched alot of HGTV, and the pounds piled on. I even quit riding my horse which is my therapy. So basically, I am out of the recliner now, building the house is behind me, I am back to riding my horse out with my girlfriends or my family, and now I can get back to life and living again and what a great place to begin to live again. Could not be happier.