Cindy, have you ever ordered from Jack before??? I've always been very pleased with what I get from him as far as quality and size goes. Also if he doesn't have something that you're looking for often times he will try to track it down for you. If this is your first time with him,I think you'll be pleased with the hoyas you receive. Sudee,it's advisable to have an import permit any time you bring plant material to the states from a foreign country or vice versa. Dealing with customs can become a VERY unpleasant experience if things aren't done THEIR way. I do have an import permit to import/export plant material but only use it in cases where I bring in more than 13 cuttings/plants. Many people don't know this but it is legal to have up to 13 cuttings/plants imported into the U.S. without a permit. Over 13 i'd highly advise that you have a permit and a phyto if required. I'm pretty sure that in most cases a phyto is a requirement for any size order. A few years ago I had a shipment of very healthy hoya cuttings destroyed by U.S. customs simply because the shipment was not accompanied by a phyto certificate. All I got was a piece of paper stating that they had destroyed my pest free,disease free hoyas because of a single document missing from the box.

Thanks you guys!!! The check was in the mail yesterday and I deposited it this morning! They didn't reimburse me for shipping costs, only the items but I'm surprised I got anything at all really! I do find it funny that they think it's reasonable to still pay for their service when it failed and leaves you paying shipping for broken items! haha! Andrew - that's another thing that gets me - either just sending it the "scenic route" or when you pay for 2 or 3 day shipping and it doesn't get there in that time. It's so strange they can charge for a service they don't have to fulfill. I am truly grateful I got the item costs back though!

Pre-approvals are worthless. I got one from every single one of my buyers and it gave me no insurance whatsoever. If I lose my latest buyer and have to do this whole thing all over again, this time I will demand a very long closing date and I will sit tight and do nothing until the buyer has the commitment and everything possible that needs to be done is done. THEN, and only then, I will pack and schedule whatever I'm responsible for. It's the only way I can think to do it if a bank is involved. I could not do this for my current contract or the previous ones because the buyer picked the closing date. Actually, with this last one, the banker and the buyer picked the closing date together! And now they missed two closing dates, it's been a month since we were supposed to close, and all they're saying is it all looks good and they've got everything they need now. In the meantime, I'm supposed to be ready the minute they decide they might actually want to get this show on the road.

That bathroom is more cottage than spa with the white tile and mosaic. You can see in the other photos how repeating the 12" diagonal tile on the floor and using the mosaic throughout makes it a cohesive design. I like the look of a tile carried from the shower to the vanity as a backsplash. I do have some photos of larger subway tile used as a backsplash. I like it combined with an accent tile too. I think you can pull off a 12" H backsplash (2 rows of your 6 x 18") if you use a taller faucet. I don't mean one of those gooseneck faucets, but a traditional design like my Delta Cassidy. 6 x 12" would be a better scale for a backsplash though. Using the counter material as backsplash, you could do a simple ogee edge for the counter and backsplash. It would be nice with your traditional wood stain. I can't recall your vanity style but I know your home is mostly traditional. An ogee thins down the side of the quartz or granite a bit instead of it being a thick block of counter material. If it's a single sink vanity where the sink is far enough away from the wall, I wouldn't even do a side splash. And finally, I thought you might like this pretty tile. They framed the herringbone in the shower too.