I know. It's so very true. I'm lucky it's a 2hr. drive for me or I'd be broke and living in a Vanda jungle.

TC = tissue culture (or mass produced.)

I am ignorant of 99% of the abbreviations out there.

....and that is probably a good thing. You know those boffins will change things tomorrow or the next day anyway.

I have never texted, not once. That's why I am so far behind everyone else.

It's worth it to make the effort to keep up with your kids as long as you can, Ken. Jmho. Texting is a nice way to send a short message when you know the person may not have time to answer a phone call.

I know, I know. You don't even have a cell phone. Now THAT one I really don't understand. It's a safety feature for me, especially for us older types. Husband travels a lot and I'm alone quite a bit. I even take my cell phone when I go up on the roof to clean the gutters. If I knocked over the ladder, I can phone for help (my DH is very deaf and I can't depend upon him hearing me yelling).

Right now, I am attached to my cell phone waiting for The Call from our daughter that she's going into labor. If I didn't have a cell phone, I'd have to be staying in range of the land line . .. not happening!

Biggest plus? I've always got a camera with me - really great camera, too. It's a whole new world, stay on board!

I ONLY have a cell phone. I gave up my landline during the last election 4 years ago. I haven't regretted that move in the slightest.

My Hubby is a little hard of hearing but his biggest problem is that it never occurs to him that if the phone rings, you answer it. If the doorbell rings, you answer it. People who want to talk to him call my cellphone and ask me to ask Hubby to call them.

Texting is my favorite activity but I can't remember all those abbreviations so my texts get pretty long spelling everything out. Also, I am old enough that it bothers me to see a sentence that reads: I m thking of u.

Daisy

Not yet convinced, gals. One day I will weaken.

Safety is the biggest issue for me. I was with a friend who shuns cell phones when she got in an accident. We were fine but the car was toast. I had my cell phone and was able to call for help. Who knows how long we would have been sitting there or who or what might have stopped. It was the middle of winter and we were in upstate SC, it was cold.

Back in 1989, when hurricane Hugo blew through the entire state from Charleston to Charlotte, NC, knocking out all power, cell phones still worked so we ran right out then and bought one. Never be without one again.

I just received my plant from Owens Orchids: C. Pisgah rashberry'orchidheights'. She billed 22.00 for a large 8 PB healthy plant. I called her to thank her and talked a little about the good old days. Dove right in and repotted into large bark mix since they had it in potting soil (I know everybody has different growing condition). This is the first plant I have bought in 2016.

First new orchid in 3 months? You have will power!

Hi ,
Posting the image of Schumburgkia Elata.
Prabhi S

Oh, that's a really lovely cluster of blooms, Prabhi.

That's a great price for Raspberry 'orchidheights'. The website says $125. WooHoo, it's a beauty too.
Ken, you may want to check them out and see what's left when you are in Asheville.

Nice blooms, Prabhi!

I can take a look, Alice.

Bert I agree that's a beauty!!! I didn't know you can grow Catts in a potting soil.

I'm with you, Gigi. I never heard of anyone doing that and never really considered doing it. I love to experiment, but............I don't knowingly execute my plants. I can grow in sphagnum, but I have to be very careful about the retained moisture. There is a fine line between bone-dry and slightly moist. I guess with really well draining potting soil (lots of coarse perlite), soil could be used like sphagnum, closely monitoring retained moisture. Maybe someone out there grows in potting soil and give some advice. I cannot believe a well-known grower like Owens would use potting soil for epiphytic orchids and I am going to contact them and ask how/why they do so.

Ken, please share he info when you find out.

I am in the process of inventory (orchids/plumeria). It is quite a process, particularly with my orchids. Before, I used a color-coded label for each variety but now am going to use a numerical system for each variety, 1-100. That way I can label my "tree-shelves", 1-2-3, 4-5-6, etc. For my single/double plants, I am using the numbers 60-100, and I might have one shelf with a "90-100" label. Then when I sell out of a variety, I can simply use that number for a newly purchased variety. I think this will make finding orchids far easier, particularly since I have over three dozen varieties with only a single or double plant left. Those are always hard to find. With hundreds of orchids, those singles/doubles kind of get lost.