Hi, aliska, I'll try to get some pics when the crop of current buds open. I'm trying to figure out how to share a thought in a friendly "let's chat about roses and our experiences" way that doesn't sound pompous or preachy....when you say you hope you're not unlucky enough to get ones that are too orange....well, sometimes this rose *will* look sort of "orange" or at least the color of orange juice. Sometimes it will look the purest soft apricot sometimes a golden apricot, sometimes it will have apricot, orange juice, and soft peach all mixed and then a day or two later will be a different color. That is one of the beauties of many roses, and especially of the Austin roses. I'm just mentioning this because I happened to notice in some of your posts that you have some concerns that roses won't look like the pictures, or that they will look like one certain picture that is a shade you don't care for. Sincerely, I don't mean this in a "talking down to you" way, but you do need to be prepared for the form, shade and sometimes even the color of roses to be different (sometimes wildly different) at different stages of maturity, at different times of the year, and sometimes even from one week to the other if the weather changes dramatically. You should see my Gruss an Aachens right now, they don't look like any pics of them I've ever seen and I probably wouldn't have fallen in love with them if the only pics I'd ever seen looked like my whole bush full of blooms does right now; but part of the fun is knowing that next week or next month, or especially this fall...it'll be like having a whole different rose!

For all the African Cichlids I have had over the years, I am really down to mainly Clown Loach, Silver Dollars, and various catfish/Pleco's. This tank was once an active Malawi colony of hundreds of fish, with a few Tangyanika. I really like the Compressiceps family of fish also. For awhile it seemed like they were all breeding like crazy.. When I quit selling/trading to a local aquarium shop, I cut way back on my aquariums.. This tank was also a C. Frontosa colony, with the Burundi type, and even some Zaire Blue for awhile. I am tempted to go back to Malawi Cichlids, they are so active and colorful.

It would probably be the case that he pulled some muscles (strain) or maybe sprained a joint a little bit. It sounds like the elbow is ok though and he was checked out for bone injuries. That's a huge good sign. Another one is that he's not acting like it's too painful for him which means if it is a strain or sprain it won't be a severe one (if it were, those would result in obvious bruising usually and it doesn't sound like he has that). The last time he probably remembers anything to do with that arm, it was surprising and not in a good way. No wonder he won't lift it by himself. And, he probably loves parental touch too so having you or his father lift it probably lifts his 4 month old spirits. Today or tomorrow (soonish, within a couple days or 'normal' for him) you might be able to catch him moving that arm or hand. If/when you do, make all the noises you know he likes to hear to cheer him on and encourage him. It might hurt or feel weird and it's good for him to move it. As long as he won't, ask your pediatrician about passively moving it and wheather warmth or cooling might be helpful. Try to describe the actual motions his body and his arm went through at the time for your pediatrician. If he landed on his hand or something, then he might be more likely to have a wrist injury. If he was caught by an adult, by the hand which was lifted up or held up to keep him up that can injure the shoulder. If he landed cleanly on the elbow that situation would probably just be an elbow problem. In practical terms, sooner or later most babies or older children will at one time or another have different injuries. Some of those will be unpreventable and accidental. It's part of being human which is often independent of how conscientious a parent is (that won't stop parents from judging themselves sometimes, or others from seeming to be judgemental). It's important for you both to realize he's alive, and able to heal and that you can think back to see where things might have been preventable (if they were preventable). It sounds though like the cause of the injury was not predictable and therefore was not really preventable. You did get a chance to demonstrate in a tangible way what to do, and how to do it in a timely manner to get help for him. Breathe, try not to judge yourself too harshly because it sounds like you did act responsibly and in a timely manner. It also sounds like your baby is not acting like he's in a lot of pain. Ask your pediatrician specifically about what you can do to help him heal (warmth, cooling, having you lift his arm so it gets some motion); and if there is anything spefically which you should not do (and why).

I recently ordered our cabinets from Ikea in preparation for our kitchen remodel this winter/spring (ordered now to take advantage of the countertop sale that through the end of November). We'll be using custom doors simply because ikea doesn't offer a style we liked. Its funny that people can look at the exact same product and have completely different perceptions. We've been wanting to do our kitchen for a few years and now after deciding we will be staying in this house for the forseeable future decided we would do it now, but within a reasonable budget. The standard "good" cabinet lines are not inexpensive. Standard cabinet construction in these lines includes particle board boxes & shelves with solid wood doors (and solid wood face frames if not frameless). I looked at some "upper end" cabinets and still, the standard constructon is particle board for boxes & shelves and solid wood doors & drawers. Sure, you can upgrade to plywood boxes but for our use I don't see why we would. Our current cabinets are 30 years old with 1/2" particle board boxes that have not deteriorated - a little bit of sagging in a few spots but generally in good shape. I find it funny that ikea kitchen cabinets get a bad wrap for not being constructed of "solid" wood when in fact most kitchen cabinets are not made of "solid" wood. When I looked at the ikea cabinets I was impressed. I saw very solid boxes & shelves made of 3/4" particle board, soft close doors & drawers standard - yes the drawers are not dove tailed wood but truthfully, even though a dovetail joint is extremely strong, the main point of using it in a drawer is for aesthetic purposes. The drawers themselves are screwed to the drawer face as are the ikea metal drawers. Our current 30 year old stapled plywood drawers have not fallen apart in 30 years - I don't think dovetailed construction could have done any better than that. I can appreciate why someone would want solid wood drawers but we are choosing to spend our money elsewhere. As far as the doors, ikea has cheap ones, and they have some nice wood doors if you like the styles (I'm not sure the durability of the finish would be as good as with a typical catalyzed finish you would get in a more tradition cabinet however). Personally - I see ikea as a great value on a good cabinet box & hardware - that we can customize. For our kitchen (which I recently posted a thread on), the cabinets with all hardware minus legs & door fronts came in slightly less than $2500. Had we ordered the most expensive style door that ikea offers, the total would have been around $5500. I am expecting our custom doors / drawer fronts to run around $3500-4000 or $500-1000 more than using ikea doors. For us, this was the best value, especially since i can do the install myself. We only have 1 other piece of ikea furniture in our house and thats an entertainment center down in the basement. The quality is OK, nothing to write home about, but a good value for what we are using it for. The kitchen cabinets are constructed much better than this piece. If they weren't, I wouldn't be using them.