Brooke, Did yours come from Normans? I'm a tad disappointed in the vigor of the two noblis I received from Normans. They just seem a little weak, for lack of a better term. The other plants I've received from Normans are doing fine, but both of the nobilis' seem to have struggled. I put this one in a CHC mix, hoping to ease the transition from Normans packed spagh to my preferred Orchiata mix. I'll pot it into Orchiata next spring/summer. Keeping a little dry and the Normans packed spagh seem like different strategies, but I knew I was struggling with them in spagh, so maybe the CHC will help until I get it in bark. Honestly, it's not terribly impressive and it only has 3 branches, one 'branch' turned out to be a bud. It may end up with 10-15 buds/flowers (if they don't blast...). They do seem to have a different looking initial bud (long collar and thin) than most of my other phals. I don't think my straight stuartiana is like it... As far as pics, my whole world revolves around technology, so in my spare/me time, I do everything I can to get away from it :) Maybe over the x-mas break... Thanks, Bob

ut you last post is the stressed part. You or anyone can not make that assumption of who is more stressed. You do not know their life. When I had breast cancer, my garden was my outlet for stress more than any other time in my life. I wintersowed very slowly because I could hardly do it, but it gave me a sense of purpose and things to come in the spring. I dreamed through the catalogs of what to buy believing I would be there to live to see them bloom. I tended my plants best I could in spring. I'm sorry I'm getting teary eyed now. I'm sorry. I know what cancer is like. My dad had chemical based leukemia, 14% chance of survival.. he didn't. Treatment was horrible, he did a clinical trial, I have to say that what he went through in the month plus that he was doing the clinical trial, I don't know why anyone would fight that particular cancer. Back to the garden & plants. When he came out of the hospital he was greeted by plants. My hubby, son & I worked really hard to plant his vegetable garden at his new house (it closed a week after being diagnosed) plus I duplicated my gardens at his house. We'd dug up a few of his roses, plus I bought more. I even bought a daylily that was not common, which I now call Matty for him. He was speechless when he came home. We used to like to sit on his porch & watch the butterflies & hummingbirds. While he wasn't allowed near the plants due to his particular type of cancer, he could sit there and enjoy it. He wasn't allowed to eat his veggies either until he went into remission a few months later. His guardian angel gave us really warm weather until November, we were able to have his Hungarian peppers in my stuffing for Thanksgiving. Through his whole nightmare, gardening & plants brightened the time he was out of the hospital. I'm not able to buy a lot of plants any more due to my back problems. There's a reason why I haven't added many photos to helpmefind, I'm not able to walk around the garden like I used to. I do want to buy a few roses next year & will probably be buying from David Austin. Since I'll use a regular credit card, I doubt I'll have issues and so far have not had a bad experience the last time we ordered. I'd ordered a Benjamin Britten rose, it was horrible, a phone call or email with no questions asked and they replaced it.

The weird thing about my little milk table, from my great grandfather's farm In Iowa, it also had some rain damage and I had sent it to a woodworker in my town; I sent FedEx the bill, just asked them to replace the damage to the leg, NOT the finish, but the check they sent covered it all. It took MONTHS to get that final finish and leg (the wood was from Europe), but wow, what a beautiful piece of furniture. Wish they were still here, the owner was an executive that had retired and went into this out of love of good woods. I just love artisans who love their work!

Good customer service often goes unrecognized. People are more apt to make a complaint to a company than go out of their way to commend someone. Last year, I ordered something rather insignificant for my son for Christmas. It was supposed to arrive via UPS within the week before Christmas (maybe even just days before, I can't remember exactly). I got an email saying it had been delivered, but I didn't have it. I called UPS to notify them. I wasn't a jerk about it b/c who knows what happened - it could have been stolen for all I knew. Plus, it really wasn't a big thing. I think it was a fancy pair of athletic/basketball socks that were popular like Nike Elites. The next day, I happened to check at my next door neighbor's house. They were out of town already for the holidays. There was my package, along with another one for them. I brought both home, left a note for them that I had their package, but then was on my way out somewhere and didn't have a chance to notify UPS right away. While I was out, the delivery driver came to my door and spoke to my husband. He was incredibly upset that he had lost the package. He said he had never misdelivered a package before and that he was very worried that it was a vital gift that would ruin one of my kids' Christmases if it wasn't found in time. My husband told him not to worry about it, gave him a loaf of freshly made pumpkin bread that he makes as gifts, and sent him on his way. After I got home, I told my husband I'd actually found the package. He told me how upset the driver was. I called UPS back to let them know I had the package and found it next door, then I asked for the driver's supervisor. I told him about the driver's visit to my house, and that I wanted to commend him on how professional and dedicated he was, that my husband was very impressed at his concern, etc. The next day, the driver came back to my door to apologize and thank me for the call I had made to his supervisor. Now? Same driver. I have a huge black lab that hangs out the front yard when my kids are playing outside. I had no idea, until one day when I saw him stop, that the driver was stopping and giving him dog treats when he passed by and saw my dog outside. One day, my dog was inside and heard the truck. He was running back and forth from window to window wagging his tail, so I let him out. The driver stopped and gave him a treat. I was watching, so I went outside and told him that my dog now goes crazy in the house when he hears the truck outside. About a month ago, I came home with a package on my front porch with a dog treat on top. Cute. Then just a couple of weeks ago, I heard the truck but couldn't get to the door in time to let the dog out. I heard the doorbell ring so made my way to the door. No package, but there on the front step was a dog treat, just because. I'm sure that being a delivery driver can be a thankless job sometimes, but I love our driver and hope his route never gets changed! And my dog hopes the same! ;)