Hey everyone. Been a while since I've posted here, but I'm loving seeing everyones plants so much that I thought I'd share some of my favorites with everyone as well. My oldest Thanksgiving cactus. It'll be 4 years in January. It doesn't look like much, but I'm thrilled with it 'cause it lost all its segments during the spring and I think it's coming back quite nicely. Opuntia santa-rita. One of my favs. Will be 2 years in April. Jade ovata 'Gollum'. Turned 2 in September. Haworthia fasciata. Really like this one. 1.5 years old. Philodendron scandens. 3.5 years old. Another Phildendron. Not sure of its exact name. Only 6 months old. Dracaena deremensis 'Yellow Stipe'. My mother can't grow these worth a bean, but mine's doing quite well I think. Will be 3 years in May. Dracaena marginata. Turned 4 in September. Ficus elastica 'Black Prince'. 2.5 years old. Hildewinteria aureispina. Will be 3 years in April. Coleus blumei. Looks quite pathetic right now but that's because I just cut it back hard. It always grows back beautifully. I'm proud of this one because Coleus plants are classified as annuals and this one is turning 3 years next month (Decemeber). Hope I didn't post too much. Thanks for sharing everyone and thanks for looking at mine.

Ned stated it well, but to go a bit further, there is no blue pigment in any of the birds you see that appear blue. Like Ned said, the color appears by refraction. The structure of the feathers reflect back the blue light. Here is a link to a page by Cornell that explains feather colors. It's pretty fascinating. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Lab of Ornithology - color

We just got rid of a raccoon after 3 weeks pilfering my garden and tearing up neighbor's roof looking for larvae from hornet's nests. Borrowed my brother's trap and it took 3 weeks before it finally went in the trap.....My son relocated it to another area quite a ways away near a river and orchard.....I guess they are all over our town now.....This is something new....didn't used to be raccoons anywhere right in town!! I first noticed that all our water bowls I have out for my bees and cats were tipped over and those that weren't were muddy with partial strawberries/blueberries, onions, garlic and you name it!!! I had a feeling it was a raccoon because we had problems with them when we lived in Oregon. I stayed up late enough one night to take a video of it on our porch!!

"...do you think I should put the sink across from the fridge?" I wouldn't because you'd lose counter space directly across from the fridge and pantry. That's where I set groceries down to put them away and where I set items I've just taken out of the fridge and pantry. Plus that aisle is less generous because of the fridge so you could be doing more butt bumping when you're at the sink and someone wants something from the fridge. And yes, definitely consider a single bowl sink for your clean-up sink. I went from a double bowl to a single bowl and I love it! I'd never go back to a double bowl again. I have a very large sheet pan soaking in my sink right now (roasted veggies for dinner last night). It would never have fit inside one side of my double bowl so I'd have to soak it on the counter. Since you prep at your island, it makes sense to have your trash at the island, too, unless that means that you're giving up much needed cabinet space in your island. If you got a single bowl with an offset drain for your clean-up sink, you'd have more than enough room for a larger trash bin under your clean-up sink. Something to consider: put your trash on the left and your sink on the right. That moves your sink away from the edge and moves the trash closer to the clean-up sink. You'd still have quite a bit of room to prep at your island, plus someone could prep on the short end, too. I needed 4 bins: trash, glass recycling, mixed recycling and returnables. My trash and glass recycling is under my sink and my mixed recycling and returnables are in a pull-out in my island across from my sink (my sink is diagonally across the aisle to the right). I prep between sink and cook top (to the right of my island) and at the island. These trash pull-outs are convenient to prep in both locations. Hope the above makes sense. Still fighting this bloody cold.