for those that i have enjoyed communicating with, have moved from indy to watertown new york. new contact info. send me a line if you wish grins jsf

The main point of my post was to see if it odd for the 'Mac' to grow in shade,like the mother did for like 4-5 years, and bloomed constantly, and basically to grow so fast after re-potting? I intend to trade, or sell, cuttings either rooted or unrooted as soon as I can. And as soon as i get my first umbel, I am going to figure out how to post pics. of the blooms. I have some now, but I still do not understand 'photobucket'. I've tried and tried and all I get is a row of numbers and letters in my post. But I have pictures of the mothers blooms, on 'real' film, and on the computer, I have to look for them, and see if I can post them. to get the hang of it. I just wondered if I got lucky and got an odd 'Mac' that likes what it isn't suppose to like, shade, water,and small potted. I think it likes to be potbound, right? So it will be in the 6in basket for a while. It is humid beyond belief and hot as all heck, but it is a outside northern exposure open porch. It WAS on a semi enclosed southern porch, getting morning sun on it till 11am or so. And it grew little, it was just stagnant. Then I potted it up into a small hanging basket and in less than 1 month it is growing like gang busters. Is that odd? Or pure luck? Just wondered if others grew their 'Macs' with that kind of exposure ,or some other way? Maybe had some hints to get it going even better? So far my new starter plant of H. Albiflora, my new 'big flower' is taking off to. It is on the back porch right now, but I have to find a place right next to the Mac to hang it, and see if it likes that area as well. Want to hang it up in a basket as well, and get vines all over the place. Still trying to find places to put all the other more common hoyas that I love, all my fuzzy ones:) Like my 'Red Buttons' plant, a place to live out front. Thats where every hoya I have lives, except my 'Tsangii', it is on the back porch and it grows great,and the smell of hot melted butter from the blooms is just overwhelming! But every other one likes the front. I guess its the air and humidity and it is very bright,just no direct sun. Even my most common 'H. Carnosa Variegata Rubra', that I got at Lowes, just for the foliage, never thought about its blooms, is covered in about 20 big round balls of pink fuzzy flowers! I just looked at the 'Mac' next to it, and its only been two days and the new growth has doubled in size, and the newest growth is still deep red...so pretty. Maybe this is my reward for all the cr-p I have had last year and this year, so far. I hope. Send me even 1 'Mac' flower, and I'll be thrilled!

rosiequilts, I lost 50 pounds last year by calorie counting, which is just another way of saying "eating-loads-of-fruits-&-veggies-so-you-can-eat-the-most-food-with-the-fewest-calories". I learned to love vegetables! A pile of eggplant, onions, mushrooms & peppers with a little spaghetti sauce on just 2 oz. of pasta & 1/4 cup grated mozzarella is delicious & filling. Spaghetti squash can be substituted for the pasta (just put the spaghetti squash whole in a crock pot & it's done in 4-6 hours). For salads, I love to mix spinach, lettuce, diced raw green beans, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes and use 1/3 cup dried cranberries for dressing, or sometimes green olives and a little of the olive juice in the jar. If fresh produce isn't on hand, then combining frozen veggies & cooking in the microwave is tasty: kale, lima beans & cauliflower, for example. Veggies in combination taste much better than just plain. In winter I enjoy turnip greens & squashes. Cabbage is a versatile veggie, good for filler in soups & stews, sauteed, microwaved, or sliced for low-fat cole slaw made with Splenda. For munchies, I love to microwave a tub of Brussels sprouts or cauliflower & keep it in the fridge for mindless snacking (you know, when you get those urges to eat but you're not really hungry). A little butter or oil won't hurt you and, in fact, makes the vegetables more nutritious. Your body absorbs the nutrients better when a little fat is present with the veggies. Sometimes I like to make a green sauce of chopped fresh spinach & French parsley in a little cream & parmesan cheese, heated in a sauce pot. I serve this over a big plate of broccoli & cauliflower, and it's delicious. There are so few calories in the veggies that you can afford to indulge in the cream sauce. But then, that's dinner -- no bread, no side dishes, no heavy meats. Anyway, didn't mean to hijack this thread. Just wanted to pass on some good veggie food ideas. When you walk through the cookie/cracker aisle with indifference, but your mouth starts watering when you get to the produce section, you know you've made a good change!

We got one at a yard sale very cheap about 2 months ago. My husband ordered the baskets and lettuce and herb seeds. The lettuce came up quickly. I can't get used to the light being on for 17 hours. And I don't like it being on when we go out. Other than that it is cool.