Gary, a bit surprised at Sealing Wax Palms (Cyrtostachys) and Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) growing together. The BOP isn't a tropical (from South Africa) and the palm is an ultra-tropical. Rainforests are a bit overwhelming, there's no wasted space. Everything has got something growing on it, and that "it" sometimes has something else growing on it again. I like the way Elkhorns and Basket Ferns become hosts to other ferns, particularly the Ribbon Ferns, and also orchids and Hoyas. I did a lot of walking in the high altitude rainforest in Papua New Guinea, it was breathtaking. Was going to try it on Bartle Frere this last time in Queensland but the weather had set in bad on the mountain, becomes a bit dangerous on the slippery boulders near the top. You're doing a lot better for local native orchids than in my locality, we've only got about 46, I think. Most are terrestrial. Over in Queensland they have thousands. Our only epiphytes are Dendrobium affine, D. canaliculatum, Cymbidium canaliculatum and a rather obscure rare one I can't remember the name of. But at least we have a lot more native orchids than all of Hawaii. (Although, even Alaska has more native orchids than Hawaii, oh well...)

What a great kitchen! The main piece of advice I would offer is this: get rid of excess plastic containers. I had zillions of rubbermaid containers that didn't nest at all. I thought I needed every shape and size out there, so I bought far more than I could ever use. After we renovated our kitchen, I gave myself one drawer for plastic stuff. That's it. Now, it's a big drawer, but I have a family of nine people, so we still need quite a bit. First, I tossed or gave away that which would not nest. I standardized on 8" squares that fit into one another. I bought 6 of these and I've never needed more. All the lids are the same size. I have deep rectangular rubbermaid containers for holding flour and sugar in my baking cabinet. I have round containers for lunch boxes: my husband takes leftovers for lunch every day and reheats them in these lightweight containers that are as sturdy as regular rubbermaid. In this drawer I also store two rubbermaid butter dishes, three nesting funnels, 2 two-quart plastic pitchers, 2 small mixing bowls and 2 large mixing bowls, plus about 12 measuing cups from 4-cup to 1/4-cup in size. The key for my kitchen is that any plastic container we have is in this drawer. So I've gone from cupboards and drawers of plastic containers and measuring supplies to one single drawer. I will add that I have a plastic pasta scoop and larger colander that I store under the prep sink. I never save even the nicest of plastic containers that food might come in. If we ever need more, I can use a storage container from another part of the house, wash it out, then put it back when I'm done (like when I need to bring 60 cupcakes to school). I've also done the same sort of thing for lunch boxe supplies and ingredients. I have a baking center, which is to the right of the oven. My baking center is really just an upper cabinet with wire storage things inside that make it easy to cram a lot of stuff in a 30" wide cabinet. I do store extra baking mixes and flour/sugar in my lazy susan cabinet. I don't have a pantry. All of our health food is in another cabinet, near the blender where we make our protein shakes. I bought white plastic wirer coated shelves at the container store to stack dishes and baking goods in those cupboards. And also these tall, narrow two shelf units that fit under my sinks which sit next to the plumbing. They aren't really deep but just hold the basics in view (stuff tends to migrate to the back of the sink cabinet). I also got rid of excess pots and pans. I figured that if my pots and pans couldn't fit into one base cabinet, that I would have a hard time keeping tabs on those as well. My baking pans and cutting boards store vertically in a cabinet designed to hold tall thin items. You have so much wonderful space. If you can be judicious with how you plan your storage, you will find that you can even keep major seasonal items in your pantries as well, or gift wrap, etc. In fact, it looks like you could even put a desk in one of your pantries. Lucky you!

The plant I worked on today is F retusa, a VERY close relative of F microcarpa, your plant. They like the same cultural conditions, share the same growth habits, and would be difficult to tell apart if not for your gensing fig's unique (to the genus) root structure. It might have been sold as a bonsai or a pre-bonsai at some point, but the owner had no knowledge of how to tend to it, so just allowed it to grow - hard to say. The tree I worked was a leftover from a workshop our club had. It was a tree no one wanted. I've had it about 10 years and have altered it significantly through chops (cutting most of the trunk off, then training a branch upward as a new leader). It was only last year that I decided to train it as 2 trees. Eventually, the larger tree on the right will hover over the smaller tree in a mother/daughter arrangement. I'll repot it next summer into it's first bonsai pot where I can start refining it. Like yours, it's a strong (genetically vigorous) tree, which is why I removed a lot of leaves and cut the remaining leaves in half to slow it down. Limiting its ability to make food by reducing foliage volume limits internode length (the distance between leaves) and leaf size, both of which are desirable for bonsai. Good luck with your repotting and the recovery. Let me know if there is anything you think I can help with. I've spent time in Montana, the Bridger Range, Gravelly Range, Big Timber, and the Shields River Bottom, and loved every minute of it. What a beautiful State. One of my clearest memories was being on the ground while bow hunting elk, and ending up within 5 ft of a 42" plus Shiras bull moose in full rut who was raking the fresh blowdown I was using for cover. That was a scary moment, but still a fond memory of time spent in the mountains & foothills of your lovely state, which also has a way of making you feel humble while traversing its mountainous parts. Sorry to have wandered so far from the OT. Al

Sorry you're having weather ... and bird loss problems, Moonie. Many of the local birds have flocked and headed south. If you lived around here, you might mention coyotes to your neighbour, if he loves his cat, as a friend who had me keep two of his beloved dogs, at different times, for a short time when he was away ... was troubled, as was I, when both disappeared, we figure lost to a coyote/fox. It's raining some today, here north of Lake Erie ... and they're expecting it to change to snow, later in the day. Sunset has been moving south daily for quite a long time, and is to continue to do so for about another month, before it starts its northern trek again. Today, en route to the wellness centre (to visit the library here, so that I could "talk" to you), walking in light rain with no umbrella, I asked a lady who was walking a few steps ahead of me, also with no umbrella, whether it'd be O.K. if I shared her umbrella ... ... and we both had a bit of a laugh over that. ole joyful