Thanks again, especially for the candytuft ID, they are the stars of the spiral right now but they're starting to go to seed. I have a fountain in the front yard, and although I agree it would look great I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle in that particular spot. Birds love fountains, consequently they need to be cleaned frequently and it always involves splashing a lot of water on the ground and walking around the fountain a bit. Maybe I could get a birdbath and hook it to the irrigation system, but a statue would be easier and require less maintenance. I think I'm a one fountain person, a second is not something I relish taking care of but I wouldn't dream of getting rid of the one I have. Most recently a bench has been added to the garden, I realized that the place where the path brushes the raised bed is the coolest and most comfortable spot to hang out so I mentioned it to the DH and next thing I knew we had a new bench. I love it, it's perfect for sitting and enjoying my new area.

Hello everyone! Thanks for the link, Ming. How's it going in Arizona for you? Things are ok so far in TX, although grad school's been a bit rough. Hanging in there, though... pirate girl...I am wanting to say Karen, is that right? Nice to hear from you! I've not been online much for a good month with traveling home for the holidays and such. Glad to hear the cutting is doing well. My davidcummingi is blooming right now. The link shows all the new ones so far, the addresses show some better pics of some of the plants. I've got a couple cuttings on order that will be shipped when they are ready. The imperialis was received through a trade with a fellow GWber, it has been doing wonderfully since I got it in the fall. I think the aroid you are referring to is not around anymore, I need to go through my pics someday and update. Many things did not survive my moving. However, the hoyas have loved the move. Right now I'm just keeping the cacti and succulent things mainly in the GH, I had some hoyas in there until before the ice storm in Dec. Now that the ground is so dry here, I am afraid to run my little electric heater so everything is in the house for now. Not that my setup isn't safe, I take every precaution I can think of, but it only takes a spark right now. We're I think 8 inches below normal for rainfall. Well, thanks for keeping in touch everyone! I was lucky enough to receive a new laptop for Christmas so hopefully I will be able to browse at home and be a little more active here. :) Kim

Looks like it will be super! Now you have to do the boring chore of reading the manual. I hope yours is written clearer than mine is. I do not understand why Canon can't get writers who can explain it to the ordinary user!

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!