Izhar! That is one beautiful leaf! Once that plant grows, you will be amazed at how much pleasure it will bring you. I have a few of these and what I like about them the most is that they take up no prime sunny space in the house or yard. I just stick them in the cellar where there is barely any light, or dark corners of the house, north facing windows where almost none of my other plants will grow, or the the yard under trees and shrubs. I just love them. I never get bugs on mine either. I can't even believe that you got one to sprout. I have tried and failed. That is a great job. Thanks for the info on the white stuff. I like your idea about keeping pH down. Very good idea. Toni: Thank you for that although they are not as pretty as Izhars! I will hold of on ordering. I saw some on e-bay from Vietnam too, and now those caught my eye. Sometimes I wonder why so many unusual plants are so hard to find here in the U.S. Hope everyone has a great day today! 82 here today again. I love it. Mike

A couple of years ago, I planted three low-growing evergreens in a small triangular patch of lawn down by our mailbox. I also planted pansies and primroses there. The only other thing living there is an odd pine of some sort that reminds me and my husband of California. The deer enjoyed the new floral smorgasbord and I have no idea what was ailing the evergreens. My husband never mowed that space and I was always too busy to take the weed whacker to it, so the new planting didn't do anything to improve the looks of the area. I eventually dug up the evergreens and dumped them on one of my compost piles. I was looking at them over the weekend and I think they may not be entirely dead yet. I should have thrown them on the burn pile because now I find myself tempted to plant them somewhere else to see if they'll come back from the near-dead. My husband and I have opposite ideas of what to do with various slacker plants around here. When we cleared out the area between our house and the road, he insisted on leaving some very scrawny, skewed cedars. He loves cedar. They looked horrible and every time I looked at that area, my eyes were drawn straight to those hideous cedars. I finally went out there with a handsaw and cut them down myself. I don't think he was too happy about that, but he admits that it does look nice down there now. As for me, I am always finding unidentified roses. I want to know if they are multiflora or something else, but just when it's about time for them to bloom, my husband rips them out. I figure they were probably just multiflora and put the incidents out of my mind. But there have been a few pretty little pine trees that I have wanted to save. My husband thought they looked like Charlie Brown Christmas trees and whacked them down. I felt sorry for them because I thought they had potential. Now we think that they were probably white pine, so now he feels bad about whacking them. (I'll have to remember that the next time I find one.) Well, between the two of us, we have managed to thin out the plant life around here quite nicely.

I use Ikea cabinets all the time - they look great, are reasonably well built and sturdy, very easy to install, and dirt cheap. Lots of people thought they were pricey European cabinets, especially when obviously high-end handles and knobs are used (or even some of the nicer Ikea cabinet pulls) and when surrounded by fancy appliances and tile. Some Ikea doors are solid wood BTW not covered particle board. Can't say I care for the lamp, chairs (which look uncomfotable) or the horsey fruit bowl though. And my knees and legs would crash into the bookshelf since the island/table countertop isn't extended over it.

Now Now!! You have to learn to think outside the box (oops!) Think of that table...with the rust all sanded off and painted a tasteful wine red with the handles gilded....and think of it reupholstered in a lovely soft muted gold velvet. Think of the tilt back...er up...oiled and in working condition. Imagine that in your media room. There are drawers to store coasters and napkins...perhaps even books and video tapes....and there is that lovely pull out tray to use for hors d'ouvres. To quote Jay..."Sold? or not sold?" I say "sold".. Linda C