After my orchid blooms, I cut back the stems. It takes time, but then they grow and bloom again. African violets are easier.
VH, I had my LR furniture reupholstered by a semi-retired man, based on recommendations from someone who had used him. If I used a chain like Calico Corners, I would be there complaining.
@alooknac - Miss orchid lady uses ice cubes to create a microclimate around the plant that is like a cool 63 degree night temperature. The ice cubes don’t touch the plant or it’s pot. Is that the method you heard of?
I agree with you about gifts of exotic plants. I got some after my premie twins were born. I quickly realized I couldn’t take care of exotic plants and new babies at the same time! The plants went out to die. If you give a plant to someone, make it the super easy and air cleaning Peace lily. No trouble at all.
You can usually look at upholstery examples in the shop. I did a piece myself and have to say, it drove me batty. “Don’t try this at home.” Piece looks good, though.
Orchids do well with benign neglect in warm, humid climates like HI, where they grow fairly effortlessly. There is a reason plants thrive in different climates.
I think orchids are epiphytes? That’s the botanical name for “easy to kill”, lol.
My random question is, did we run out of questions???
my random question is, what do I do with all the leftover “specialty” lego sets that are taking up space in S’s room? (ie, Bionicles, Star wars, etc). You’d never be able to get a complete set in a container (who knows if they’re still 100% complete), and even if you did…who still has THOSE instructions?
And the pieces are so…strange…can you even build random stuff with them?
Sell them! Lego can’t keep up with demand in North America and are actually encouraging people to buy less. There are always “collectors” out there who will take that possibly incomplete set, stuffed in a shoe box if need be, and use it to supplement their own set.
@JustaMom5465 if you still have the boxes for them, sell them on ebay.
Oy. Legos.
S2 was obsessed. I could get him to do anything by bribing him with the promise of another Lego kit. It was like a dog with the promise of a Milkbone.
Finally donated them all to our temple, for the nursery school program.
There is a store not too far from me that buys legos. They don’t have to be a complete set.
I googled “lego buyers” and a bunch of places popped. Who knew!
I may have to take advantage as well.
@MotherOfDragons We have a lot of the boxes, especially the bionicle boxes - but how could I ever get the right pieces in the right boxes? Would ebay buyers want that? ugh
^^I’d sort out the bionicle stuff and then sell it as one big lot with the boxes, and mention that the bionicle pieces are not sorted but that they do come with the box.
Same with the legos-sell it all as one big lot, include the boxes.
I wouldn’t sell them together, because usually bionicle buyers are not lego buyers, and vice versa.
If you have a huge collection and don’t want to deal with shipping, try selling them on Craig’s List. I did that with my little ponies and it was simpler. It was worth getting a little less money to just get them out quickly.
I feel like the random question queen lately.
Anyhow I’m in love with this soup:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cream-of-fresh-tomato-soup-recipe.html
I’ve got lots of fresh tomatoes at the moment…do you think I could make this and freeze it? Maybe put it through the food mill without the cream and freeze it that way - and add cream when reheating it?
Whaddya think??
She’s one of my few never-fail sources.
The general idea for freezing this is to omit the cream, add it later. And some say add spices later, too.
I freeze nearly anything and can’t tell you why it works for me. You can freeze tomatoes whole, chopped, or puréed, raw or cooked. But the texture, when defrosted, can be mushier than fresh. Some say blanch and peel, some don’t. Creamy soups don’t go through this well- either some of the water content separates and you have to baby it or the texture can be grainy. It kind of defeats her “fresh.”
I’d just freeze the tomatoes, chunked and drained, flat on a small sheet, so they aren’t blocks, then bag them later, get all the air out. And I’d think you want to do this asap after picking.
My eyebrows are turning gray - now what?
I’ve colored my hair forever. It’s medium brown, and even though I’m not that old (54), I’ve been 90+% gray for years.
My hair is thinning, including my brows, so I don’t want to pluck the white ones.
What do others do?
They can dye them at the same places you get them waxed or threaded. Or you can dye them yourself.
Also- for thinning, some people do eyebrow tattoos and sometimes they look just like eyebrow pencil.
I’m having mine just barely darkened while my hair turns totally white. Then I don’t know what I’m doing.
My question: Do white eyebrows go with white hair? Or is light brown better? I’m not going with anything darker, cause I’m too fair.