Leaper We have an unused bedroom I call the pink room. There are some lights rigged up to supplement windows where young cuttings and seedlings are wintered after being taken off the prop mat. I have been toying with the idea of bringing in my large bananas and putting them in that room and letting the tree frog hang out in there. I've been reading up on them and might consider trying it. Seems they make a popular pet. I keep the door shut to keep the cats out. I'm not sure how I would respond to my wife's question about the bird chirping sounds though :-). randy

My sympathies -- you really do seem to be stretched awfully thin!! And not because all the news is good, either. I realize I'm not a "regular" in this forum (it's too easy for me to read instead of clean, so I clean), but I can say you've been offered some excellent advice here. First good for you for sticking up for yourself and your family in negotiating with your in-laws! I would suggest that you really need to examine your priorities for the next couple of months. You, your husband, and your family certainly take first, second, and third place. The rest of it -- I think -- is up for grabs. You have only 24 hours in a day, and much of it is already spoken for. Ration the rest carefully. The shopping trips for the 82-year-old lady can wait. I realize shopping may well be the highlight of her weeks, but you are in emergency mode right now. She should be able to understand that; I hope there is someone else who can take her either this week or next week, realizing they do not have to make a lifetime commitment of it. Despite your commitment to do the estate sale, it's relatively easy to hand that off. While it will cost some off the top for their services, you have other things you need do to. Not to sound mean, but other people know how to price items. Maybe you could just spot-check a few just before the sale and challenge them if a price seems horribly out of line? That's far easier than tagging everything and running the sale yourself. There are things you need to do (like talk with social-services types) that you cannot hire anyone else to do. The rest you should be able to let go. Can some of your Ebay business wait? Maybe you just sell and ship what's already up for auction and don't put anything new up for auction until things calm down some. Ditto for the home-based businesses -- maybe honor current commitments and backpedal some on new ones for right now? Since you homeschool, is there any chance lessons could tie in with what's going on now? Maybe the math lesson can be calculating how much paint to buy or how much it will cost to move, given the cost of the truck, per-mile charges, and fuel. Maybe the kids can do some research on available help options for your in-laws? And it may be time to lower your standards temporarily. Maybe more of the laundry gets shoved into the same load. PB&J for dinner won't kill anyone -- and it's even better if your kids can prepare it for you. I don't know what DH does for a living, but is it possible he could call and coordinate the Planning & Zoning folks or your church? He may not do the job as thoroughly as you feel you could, but it gets done and it gets off your plate. Doesn't hurt to involve him in the care of his parents, either. Finally, remember that actions have consequences and that people choose their own actions and their own consequences. Your in-laws are the ones who made questionable financial decisions. It is admirable of you to want to help out as best you can, but you are not responsible for digging them completely out of the hole in which they placed themselves. Hang in there! You'll get through this -- and be a stronger person for it!

I enjoy wrapping up the season, frankly there is no way I could keep up this pace of all that needs to be done around here with my gardens year round. It's kind of nice hunkering down for the change of the seasons and planning for next season. Seasonality is fun, come fall we fish and hunt, winter there's ice fishing and snow activities and then next thing you know spring is round the corner :).

Karen ... Thanks for the followup. I think Paul established they are both schneideriana. My question still is how does one differentiate between the two blooms: one red, the other flesh tone? Are there two names to differentiate these two? Bragu ... Spank, spank! You actually frightened me for a second there. I thought you were describing a succulent disease before I realized you were joking. Go ahead and laugh ... I did! I'm really not that bad. My C&S collection is contained to one baker's rack and one small table on the front porch ... really! That's a relatively small footprint for a collector. I give a plant 2-3 years, decide whether I like what it's doing, then move on if not. I also share / give a lot of stuff away because I like keeping things proportionate to the space I have. Right now, I'm very limited. Love ... Bromeliads: I currently have about 16, all mini or medium sized. I basically keep them all in one place, like this: One day, they will look beautiful in a multi-level rock garden, along with my C&S. See Bragu, there's a method to my madness! Back to bromelias ... I've had the Neoregelia "Red Fireball" for some time. Does anyone know whether 'schultsiana' is the correct name for this one? Here, they grow on trees and are considered a 'plague.' I also have Billbergia nutans and a couple of small saw-toothed dyckia-like ones. These are the newly acquired bromeliads, one of which is a "Red Torch" ... I also recall the classification 'guzmania' but don't know what's what. I think the spotted green/white one is Billbergia "Fantasia" ... I will very likely be giving away this last one because it may be big and invasive. The pup is attached by a very thick and hard whatchamacallit. Maria Elena