Aw thanks everyone for the warm welcome back. I missed chatting with you. I used to have kind of a "meh" attitude about Florida and now I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's so easy on the eyes. And really nice folks there - although maybe they're just so nice because they're living in paradise. /Eileen. I hear you about the furry babies. I have been out of town so much lately that my cat is punishing me. ._.' So great that you have 3 sisters down there! I definitely hope I get to retire near my sisters someday. /Poseidon. "I agree, joni is one of those people that you just do not forget meeting." You just could not have put it better. That's what I keep trying to explain to people about her. I can't quite put words to her, but she's one of a kind. /Pug. It is exactly like that. I felt like Homer in that episode of The Simpsons where he is in The Land of Chocolate. All those little planty faces staring up at you, and their moms nearby so you can see exactly what they will look like when they are of an established size. It should make it easier to decide what you want, but really what happened to me was that I suddenly saw the appeal of all the plants I'd previously vetoed when merely viewing them online. Unfortunately Kelly has been busy addressing some health issues. We recently heard she was making some progress and I'm sure she'll be on here again eventually. I miss her too. /Renee. Whoa a vacation with both Bulbophyllums and Hoyas?! That's pretty posh. :) I hope you're able to make it out to Sarasota/Siesta Key. My sister really wanted me to drop her off in Siesta Key while I was visiting Joni but unfortunately for her, she slept in and I wasn't going to wait any longer! :P /Ima. It's a really pretty area, so I think it would make a fun day trip. If your daughter takes you, maybe as a thank you gift, you'll be faced with the same conundrum as I was: what a person's First Hoya should be. I went with polystachya, but Joni's suggestion of merrilli was a really good one, I thought.

hey babs.. MERRY CHRISTMAS ... is there any reason to think.. that perhaps some level of over-fert may have led to its lack of sleep.. sorta like the old days when i was a teen .. when i would drink a big pepsi in late evening ... and then lay there twitching in bed for hours.. wondering why i couldnt fall asleep?? can you ID any reason why this one did NOT want to go dormant??? there might be a species reason.. in its dna.. but there should really be a 'cultivar' reason ... though i am too lazy to look up the cross on this one ... HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!!!! ken

My sleep has VERY much improved since my last response on Feb 3. I still wake up but now only once on most nights, and I go right back to sleep. Usually the reason I wake up now is a full bladder, but now I'm so sleepy when I wake up that I just roll over instead of get up to go to the bathroom (the problem with that is that I will just continue waking up as my bladder gets fuller and fuller, but the good thing is that it means I'm sleeping sounder and not waking up for no reason all night). I believe the improvement is due to the sensible lifestyle changes I made: regular, daily exercise; eating healthy balanced diet and less sugar; and calcium / vitamin supplements. Prior to that, I had already increased my water intake (to about 64 ounces a day) and stopped eating within 3 hours of bedtime. Even if you don't believe (or do believe) everything Dr. Lee says, one thing he states that is right on is that if we aren't eating right, exercising, etc. then no cream or pill is going to fix us. And any good doctor should tell us that right up front even if he/she is a strong supporter of a particular medication or cream. It took a few months to notice the changes. And my sleep is still not the good heavy, all-night sleep I used to enjoy until I hit my 40's, but it's normal to sleep lighter as we get older. Try making simple lifestyle changes (if you haven't already), one at a time. Just make one change for a full month before trying another one.

I lost a precious young cat to it as well. In her case it was fast and deadly. She seemed the peak of health and vigor and a week later was fighting to breath. The doc pulled off the fluid around her lungs ( I had no clue it could present itself like that) and he was also amazed tht she was so healthy and robust and had never seen a cat be compromised so quickly from it. It didn't help that this cat, who had never set foot on earth, but raised totally indoors had FLV (mother was a feral born kitten), and that probably set her up with the response from the corona virus. He also gave me the option of steroids and bringing her back in to drain off the fluids to keep her with us as long as possible. I told him to immediately put her out of her misery. I wasn't going to put her through that. Calvinette was about six then, and had just lost her mother from cancer. Very hard to wrap your mind around with it just comes barreling at you with no warning. I remember the posters in the vet's office years ago when there was thought to be a vaccine effective against it, but it's not recommended anymore. FIP is not a virus induced disease in the strict sense of the word, but an immune response to a common, and often minor viral infection. I'm so sorry for your loss. Of course it hurts, a lot. Know that the short life she lived, was a wonderful one and I don't believe that those links of love are really lost through death.