I get such a kick out of your writing style, Frank! :-) It was just the ticket for today, which happens to be windy as all get-out, cold, and every joint and bone in my body is protesting quite loudly! I'm pretty crippled today. I just wish the barometric pressure would sit still for a moment or two! It wouldn't be a cure all, but it would definitely help! I've spent the majority of this morning hibernating, and searching online, using the The Orchid Mall listings, and I actually came up with a few sellers who have Bl. Richard Mueller crosses! I found about 4 or 5 different crosses... I was impressed! Well... you can always do what I did... I filled the window sill, then expanded the sill, then put in 2 large shelving units on either side of the alcove, added a couple of tall plant stands and tables, and then installed supplemental lighting to help out through winter! Yes, it's stuffed to the gills with plant material, but I love it! Anyone driving by would think I'm lit up for airport night ops, the lights are so bright! I run them a total of about 16 or 18 hours a day. Broke is my middle name... so I can only spend a few dollars here, or a few dollars there on plant material... and sometimes no dollars. If I save my pennies over winter, I will have enough by spring to get a few orchids. I've got a change jar... it's kinda empty at the moment. ;-) We're what you'd call 'in a low income bracket', but money doesn't buy happiness, so climbing that ladder of ambitious greed never did it for me. I accomplished what I set out to accomplish in life, and that's what's important to me. Of course, it does put a bit of a damper on my plant collecting, but I get there... a little at a time. :-) I've purchased from Edens Blooms before... they offer some unusual bulbed items from time to time, and I've always been happy with my purchases. The other places you mention I haven't heard of... but I'm off to check them out! The 2 Clivia plants I have were gifts... they're the more common orange and a yellow... both very nice! I was gifted with some pink Zephyranthes, and they grew so nicely that I opted to get some other colors. I'm waiting for some white one to flower, and I have a few other types in pinks and a yellow. I'm not sure any plant is worth $600 dollars of beautiful! The way I figure it, you can get a whole lot of lovely for about $25 to $30... which seems fair to me. If I spend $600 on anything, it better come with a lot of options and a remote control! ;-) Since getting into the old fashioned rose business, I've not been able to make up my mind as to a favorite flower color. Between everything we grow here, there are so many wonderful shapes, textures, colors, scents and everything else... who can make up their mind?! There are a few varieties that stand out in my mind as having all the qualities I admire in a rose... but they're different colors. I would have to say that green blooms and coffee colored blooms are more eye catching... but anything in bloom is beautiful! Well... here's me going off to surf for orchids... thanks for the suggestions, Frank! You know... you could always start out slow... allow yourself one nice orchid. Then hold off until next year for a second... hey, it might work! It depends how disciplined you are, and how many dollars you can afford to spend! ;-) Enjoy your afternoon!

EllenP123 , I have been mulling over what to post since I read the above last week. I am sure you did not intend it to be humerus but I laughed reading that you" went to bed 49 and woke up 100". I have been struggling with horrific leg pain for over two years. I daily think holy moly how in the world do people with chronic pain function.Although I have been dealing with my leg pain for months I am not going to categorized it as chronic. My first reaction to my leg pain was to see an ortho specialist who dx the leg pain as stress fractures since I had carried over 900 pieces of granite over a two week period. Yup I counted them. The M.D. gave me a few packets of celebrex that was given to him by the pharmaceutical sales rep. I told the Doctor I am allergic to Aleeve. Alleeve makes me swell and I gained five pounds after three doses. I was smart and had removed my wedding band . It took a good week to reduce the swelling since Alleve has a long half life. Those who are allergic to aleeve are recommended not to take celebrex. I questioned the Medical Doctor who assured me I was misinformed. I took one dose on the way home since the leg pain was horrific. Within two hours I was a mess. It felt as someone was squeezing my heart. I did not need to be hospitalized but monitored . I no longer take Motrin since this is a sister NSAID of celebrex and Aleeve. My point is there are some majorly hubris doctors out there who screw up at your expense. I have had a few nights where I cry cause the leg pain is horrible. No position soothes the ache . I have tried rest, aspirin, warm soaks, ice packs, massage therapy,accupuncture and a dose of darvocet . I came across a book a few years ago about how the body is aligned in two parts. While attempting to find a position to relieve the pain I massaged my toes, foot pad, achilles tendon, tibia ,fibula, knee,thigh, hip ,butt and lower back with a tennis ball. What I figured out is that the pain is in my knee area but when I massage the upper thigh and achilles the pain goes away. A few years a go I had tennis elbow from shoveling the driveway for five hours. When I massaged the shoulder blade and my pectoral muscle the elbow pain disappeared. Pain is not simple . One must identify the source. For me the pain is due to overused muscles and menopause. I am tiny but can llft 60 pounds with ease. If you gave me 62 lbs I balk. I think for some the pain we are experiencing is the lose of estrogen so our tendons get brittle. I too went to bed feeling great and awoke with the crippling pain. What i found that works is to take care of yourself. Take breaks when doing your chores. Swim. Stay active. Place down pillows under your hip and knees at night. Take calcium with magnesium DAILY eat bananas three times a week. The potassium helps with any cramps MAssage your legs from toes to butt with a rolling pin or tennis ball. Make sure you stretch the ham strings( the rear thigh leg muscles). So after two years of several medical visits, accupuncture treatments and masseuse visits for me I figured out what works for me. Some who go into menopause never experience leg pain whereas others are crippled. I was 45 when the periods stopped. My male ob gyn said this was impossible. Sorry but not everyone is a text book case. I have had some wonderful male physicians but at this point in my life I need someone who is informed on a women's life cycle. THe key is to enjoy life. Drink the coffee if it makes you feel good. You will need to experiment with your diet , and supplements. I found that black cohosh did squat. Eating the bananas and religiously taking my calcium with Mg helps. You are not alone. Pilates helped too!!!!!! My mind is racing since I need to get my chores done. A sip of wine at night helps some. For me a little rhum took the pain down a notch. My best solution is the stretcthing and staying active. I am still in pain at times but I can manage it.

I get ovarian cysts too. It's very common for women in their 40's and 50's because of the fluctuating hormones- primarily high levels of estrogen. Estrogen feeds the cysts- same way it does Endometriosis and some breast cancers. The cysts usually pop or dissipate on their own. There's a couple things your Dr. could do. You could be put on birth control pills and that way your hormones are controlled. They could also give you Progesterone pills to counteract the estrogen that leads to the cysts. I know Dr's won't do anything until you go 3 cycles or 3 months of bad ovulation pain. Lucky for me- my cysts always go away within that time:) And Ibuprofin is the only thing that stops the pain for me when I get them. Good luck!!

Justgotabme - Ha ha! Sadly I wasn't much better before I had kids. At least not about getting organized and staying that way. But I did have more energy to just stay up an extra half hour and tidy up so it didn't get quite so crazy. The good news is that after I wrote my pity-party posting last night I did get up and pick up the scattered mail, any trash on the floor, DD's books and got the toys back to her zone. Some of the stuff is gone off the couch too, mostly just the trash stuff though. Looking at what I just wrote about not being able to get organized and stay that way... I'm not sure that's true. I don't think I have EVER been organized. I have gotten my house neat and clean, but I think I can't keep it that way precisely because it is not organized. On the other hand, I think my kitchen is fairly organized and everything there that belongs there has a home... but it doesn't stay neat because other things like to camp out on the kitchen counter and table. I don't think most of my house is unorganized because I have too much unloved stuff (though that's certainly true of the garage), we do haul stuff to Goodwill several times a year and there's an ongoing goodwill pile in the garage. But I'm sure if I started digging through my closets I could find more to haul away.