Linda and Irina, Once again, to the rescue! I so much appreciate the info! One of my variegates developed brown edges, so it must be due to the Eleanor fert I just started using, trying to persuade them to bloom. I will switch to Optimara until I can get Dyna Gro. I had another "sick day" today, so I curled up with the book, Growing to Show and read about fert. I also dusted and washed AV leaves and potted up some babies that were ready to be separated. It was a "spa day" for my AVs. I am wondering if it is ok to use chloramine laced city water in pebble trays for humidity now that the heater is on and the air is more dry. Or should even the pebble trays have spring water. Also, probably an Irina Question--on a neck that has two suckers on either side (the crown had broken off), when the suckers are big enough, should I pluck them both off, even though they won't have roots, and pot them? Or, should I cut the larger sucker with a portion of the neck attached and repot the neck with the sucker, burying the neck? If I do that, should I scrape the neck, dust with cinnamon, and bury it to form roots? I couldn't find info on that in the book I was reading. The two suckers have a few more weeks before they will be ready to remove. I have a leaf started from this plant, so it won't be a total loss if the suckers don't survive. (The crown did not make it, I did not remove enough leaves when I put it down.) Once it stopped raining here, I slipped outside for a little while and helped the gardener bury the daffodil and narcissus bulbs! It is so rare to have soft, muddy soil to work with! They are both for beauty and gopher deterrent. Joanne

I can't see your pictures but I recently got rid of furniture of that era which I had inherited from my grandmother. It included a large china cabinet with two curved glass sides and some ornate details. It was in excellent condition. As others have posted, furniture of this style has completely lost its value in the market place. - just google "brown furniture" and there are reams of articles on why this is so. Your grandparents might well have paid $1000 for it 30 years ago when it was desirable both in terms of function and style - people don't want large brown Victorian furniture and people don't have the use or space for china cabinets because they no longer have "good" china and don't collect tchotchkes to display. Keep in mind that your grandparents presumably paid retail. When I was getting rid of my stuff, a used furniture place offered me $350. Real antique stores have absolutely no interest in all in this mass produced Victorian stuff because there is so much on the market. I wound up giving it to my friend's brother who has a large house and just was happy to get some furniture - also gave him other "good" furniture that has no value in the market place like a golden oak buffet and nice large dining table with caned Queen Anne chairs :-).

You are so right, you'd not get near enough out of it. Especially now with gas prices being so high everyone and their neighbor are trying to get rid of extra furniture on Craigslist and it seems no one is buying unless the prices are dirt cheap! If it were mine to repurpose (something I have a small business doing) I would use the cubbies below the TV to convert into wine storage by making two sets of cut out pieces of wood. One larger for the back of the cubbie and the bottom of the bottle and a piece cut to hold the neck in a bit lower. Last time I was in Pier 1 they had stackable metal ones that just might fit if you don't have the proper tools to make your own. I'd also add another shelf about where the top of the TV is now for other liquor storage. It wouldn't have to be as deep as the cabinet so you won't have to worry about bumping your head when mixing drinks. You could add stemware brackets to the underside of this shelf too. Along the back of the cabinet below the stemware you could add shallow shelves for storing/displaying shot glasses. If the drawers can be moved up to the top two cubbies that would make for easier storage of cork screws, coasters and wine glass tags. I'm thinking you have an awesome idea here and I wish I had a couple armoires to do this too myself!

I did this with an old Stromberg Carlson Hi-Fi cabinet back in the 80's.