Because we have taken them out of their natural habitat and changed the natural selection process by creating hybrids, we are already "playing God" to a certain extent. The trick now becomes "playing God" with responsibility and care. The first thoughts should be... what growing environment do I have to offer these bulbs, and how much time and effort do I want to devote to them? Protecting them from extreme stresses is a very good piece of advice. The growing environment you offer may have extremes that will require protecting from, or adapting to... such as harsh outdoor conditions, or indoor conditions that require supplement. Hippeastrum bulbs are extremely forgiving, and as long as a few very basic rules are followed, their culture is relatively easy... do not allow the bulbs to freeze, do not over water them, give them plenty of light, and allow them an annual rest period, whether of their choosing or forced. It has recently come to my attention that Hippeastrum bulbs not only shed their leaves before resting, they may also shed some of their roots. A portion of the root system may die off annually as the bulb rests, and may be replaced by new roots as active growth ensues. Due to the lack of a balanced micro-organism system within a container, it may be important to re-pot the bulbs annually in order to rid the medium of the excess dead root matter which will otherwise rest under the bulb, possibly causing fungal and rotting issues. One piece of information I haven't seen yet is what zones these are hardy in... I believe them to be hardy to zone 8, with protection. Hippeastrums are considered tender amaryllids.

Debelli, You have made so many of us feel better about our lapses of memory! I spent an hour searching for a screw that, all on its own without any help from me, jumped out of its proper place and buried itself in the carpet. If I had only put the screw in my pocket . . . . Yesterday I spent a lot of time looking at unlabeled paint cans, trying to figure out which one was the primer. It was the last can I opened! At least I didn't keep opening cans after I found what I needed . . . . I still have a partially assembled weedwhacker--took the handle off to replace a screw and couldn't get the devil back together. Right now the handle is wrapped heavily with duct tape, the solution to so many problems. Isn't human nature wonderful?

bake_sale, do you have any photos of your Cluny + Hood that you can share? I also have a La Canche range (Cluny) and am looking into installing a much-needed hood over it. Here's a photo of my range and the cabinet over it (click for fullsize): I hate to cover up any of the vintage tile, but the smoke and grease in the kitchen are getting out of hand (click for fullsize): So I'm looking at getting a black hood possibly with some stainless and brass embellishments to try to match the range but not out-cutesify the rest of this adorable little kitchen. I've been mostly looking at Vent-A-Hood bc of their performance record. But I can't decide between the 600cfm model and the 900cfm model. 600cfm will be much easier to install (bc it's only one duct) and the ductwork will consume less of the cabinet space so it will be mostly unnoticeable. The 900cfm has 2 ducts and will consume a bit more cabinet space and might look weird bc you will see more ductwork in that cabinet over the range. Do you think 600 will be enough? The Cluny requires 600-900cfm, but the ventahood people say that their 600cfm is like 900cfm with normal hoods (since they use a squirrel cage fan and don't pull the air through any filters). FYI, * the duct only has 5 feet to go (mostly horizontally) to vent outside. * the hood will be 8" or so higher than the mfg recommendation. * the kitchen is very small (about four Clunys' area). * i cook with lots of heat and fat. Thanks!

Got in late on Thursday and spent the weekend recuperating from my vacation! Work is piled up to the ceiling but it was well worth the trip. First of all, that city was ridiculously packed with tourists. Mostly from Europe. Seems like a popular destination for French, Japanese and Scandinavian tourists. The weather was way warmer than I thought it would be. I took sweaters for the evenings but all I needed was a light poncho. I stupidly got a sunburn too! As for our itinerary, we did everything. We were out the door pretty early everyday and able to beat the crowds pretty much everywhere we went. Saturday -Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market: Beautiful food everywhere! We had breakfast at Boulettes Larder - really fantastic food. -Exploratorium Museum: Really neat place but we got there too late and the crowd was just too much. It was packed with unruly kids and rude parents and nephew isn't the pushy type so he didn't get to have very much "hands on" with all the cool exhibits. We did see a cow's eye dissection, so there's that! -FW/Pier 39: Aquarium - really one of the better aquariums I've been. We were early so lots of the animals were active, especially the very cute Otters; RocketBoat Cruise - super silly and touristy but oh so much fun and got to see the sea lions while on the boat; lunch of chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin which was lame but I guess an iconic thing to get at FW. -Chinatown - Didn't have dinner but walked through. Really dirty and don't need to go to another Chinatown ever. -We were so tired we order takeout sushi (can't remember from where) in our hotel room. They have a service in SF that's much like Uber but for delivers. Worked great and sushi was good but average. Sunday - Had breakfast at Waterfront Bakery around the corner from the bike rental place at FW. Very yummy French pastries at this cute little bakery. Maybe not the best choice for breakfast before a bike ride! - The GGB bike ride was awesome! Again, started off early and beat the crowds. Sister and I had to walk our bikes up two very steep hills but nephew powered through the whole thing. Really, one of the easiest parts was on the bridge. Wind wasn't bad and all the bikers were very courteous. Sausalito is a fantastic little town. We parked out bikes (valet bike parking!) and walked around town, had the best burger ever at Napa Valley Burger, laid in the grass for awhile at a park by all the sail boats while nephew flew a kite. Took the ferry back to SF in late afternoon. I clocked the bike ride at around 10 miles. Getting off the Ferry at FW and riding back to the bike rental place was a little stressful because of the crowds and cars. -Took a cable car from our hotel to Frascati on Hyde (Russian Hill) for dinner. Fantastic little neighborhood bistro. Monday -Rented a car at the hotel (free upgrade to a Mercedes was nice) and drove to Muir Woods. We arrived around 8:30am and got a parking spot in the second parking lot. Had a decent breakfast at the cafe there and walked about two miles into the forest before nephew wanted to head back. Really beautiful and peaceful. So glad we left when we did. As we were getting closer to the entrance, the woods turned into a shopping mall - people everywhere with a din of voices. There were cars parked along the road for two miles! - Drove to Point Bonita Lighthouse with the most spectacular views! Went to Rodeo Beach down the road where nephew got to fly his kite. Basically a very uncomfortable gravel beach. Wish we had thought to take a blanket. - Headed back to SF and drove around the Castro, Haight-Ashbury (found an organic hot dog place that was just okay), the Tenderloin (yikes!), drove down the iconic hairpin turns on Lombard Street. Went to Baker Beach just before sunset. Nephew was happy to jump into the bone-chilling water! Returned our car about five blocks from the hotel. We walked back to the hotel UP THE HILL. No wonder there aren't that many people walking those hills. Tuesday - Took a cable car to Union Square, had breakfast at Sears (very good hearty breakfast fare). - Went to Alcatraz, what a wonderful experience. The audio tour is awesome and there was a former prisoner in the bookstore signing his book. The island is a bird sanctuary as well so it was really cool to see all the nests and fledglings. - Got on a cable car at one of the manual turntables (nephew loved that!) near FW and went back to the hotel. - Had dinner in the Mission District at Pica Pica, a Venezuelan arepa restaurant. Not amazing, but good. Walked around a bit and headed back. Wednesday - Sister and nephew went to iFly in Union City. She said they were on the Oakland bridge in traffic for almost 45 minutes. I stayed at the hotel to take care of work. - Had dinner at Boulevard near the Ferry Building. Beautiful old building and the food was spectacular. Thursday - Travel day. Checked out the hotel a little more (rooftop garden with beehives was a joke) and had a late breakfast. Laid around a bit and headed for the airport. Really nice airport! My sister's flight was an hour before mine so I had time to get a pedicure in the salon at the airport. One of the best pedicures I've ever had. Notes: -Cable cars are hard to get with all the tourists but I found a trick. Hold up a hand with fingers showing how many people are in your party. They'll pick you to jump on every time. Showing your City Pass helped too because then the operator knows they don't have to mess around with taking money and giving change. - Our hotel sucked. Very expensive Fairmont Hotel wasn't even close to being worth it except the location was good - away from the crowds. The only good thing I can say is that the beds were very comfortable. Maid service was terrible, concierge service was non-existent, and our room was musty and smelled like smoke. They claimed they had no other rooms to switch us to and offered to bring a ionizer to the room which took them and hour to bring. Breakfast was mediocre at best. That was way more detailed than I had intended! All in all, great vacation. Loved San Francisco but wouldn't want to live there!