I have six plants of Mr. Bluebird since I love this rose so much. It has China heritage and was bred by Ralph Moore, I believe, and seems to bloom all the time. It's very hot and dry here but my plants are young so I don't know how they'll fare in the heat of summer. Their color is gorgeous though, and with their five petals they look so cute and really go with everything. I have little disease so can't comment on that. I bought my plants at Rogue Valley nursery, by the way. They're very bushy and have beautiful foliage. Ingrid

Linda, Your charms will go out tomorrow from the PO. I forgot to put the note in before I taped it up. Please send me you correct addy. I seem to have something different from what is on the evenlope. Sandra, You keep the charms I sent to you by mistake. Call it a Suprise treat. Last night I had a CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE IN A CUP. Has anyone done this. What a great idea if you don't want sweets sitting around the house. Didn't taste bad. Have a great day. gmom

Your cabin is charming! I wouldn't change a thing in the original living/dining room and loft. I would take out the kitchen and square off the space...or add french doors and make that the play room. Since the driveway is on the right side of the house...have you considered 'flipping' the kitchen/family area and master bedroom? I'd rather have the driveway off the closet/bath and the view off the kitchen/family room. Then, you could put the screened porch on the left side and have easy access to the kitchen...and great views out the back of the house. As for the kids' rooms, I think they work well as is, but if you need a bedroom closer to the master...then I'd put it in between the living/dining and master area (as you have it now) but eventually turn that into a guest room/study. Can the kids go upstairs, eventually? That loft would make a great bedroom or playroom area :)

Good questions, Paul. I do all of my terrariums with a thick layer of coarse perlite on the bottom. If it's a bowl, maybe an inch or a little more depending on the size of the bowl, and if it's my big 75 gallon terrarium, then a couple of inches in front and three or more in the back. That allows me to /see/ how much water is standing in the bottom and whether roots have reached down into that layer. If you get too much water in there then it's easy to slip a siphon down to that layer if a huge terrarium and suck out the excess. If it's a bowl, just tip it and the water will pool to be siphoned out easily. I use my standard potting mix over top of that, which is roughly 1/2 Miracle Grow potting mix and 1/2 perlite. To that I add charcoal, a touch of lime, worm castings, and insecticide granules. In terrariums I then always top dress that with moss, dried leaves, wood, plants, and course sand or gravel so nothing washes around when watered - and it makes it look much more natural and pretty than bare soil anyway. Two things are key. Start with /sterilized/ materials. I sterilize my soil mix by baking it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour if it's thick layers, 30 minutes if thin layers, covered with aluminum foil. Be careful of steam. Once cool, it will be free of mold and fungal spores should you choose to do a sealed system. Mine are usually open with some air circulation but it still cuts way down on blooms of unwanted molds, etc. I also wash my plants carefully with dish soap (not anti-bacterial) and if they are hardy enough, a brief 105 bleach soak, roots and all, for five minutes, then rinse. Epsicia however are a bit too tender and can't take the bleach well. It is however a standard phyto laboratory plant sterilization method that is safe for most plants. Wash out the terrarium as well with 10% bleach water and you are good to go. Always wash your hands before you mess with it so you don't bring in mites, mold, etc when you open it up. Here's a photo of the 75 gallon terrarium I had going last summer. Mostly episcia and corytoplectus cutucuensis planted in there. I hope to set it up again at our new home this next year.