hnycrk- NOW we're talkin! So, I get photobucket on my phone and also gardenweb onto the phone as an app? I think if I can get the basic idea down I can go to BB and they have a Samsung guy there all the time. We're also going to take an I-pad class, so I can do it from my new I-pad mini. Getting closer rhizo-the one that still (or again) lives with us knows the basics (texting, facebook, photos etc). The other one I don't see much and is always busy when she's around!

musicgal, is your carpenter building all your items? Everything is just stunning! I love your back porch! Robyn, glad you are there now! I bet you were totally overwhelmed walking through the new home. Breathe and those decisions will be made as you go along. bluemoon, love your arches!!! carson, that snake creeped me out! We see lots of wildlife where we are building: deer, fox, racoons, groundhogs, crawfish, wild turkeys, heron by the lake. I've only seen one snake so far and it was a black snake. I don't want to see another! :-) Our carpenter is trying to finish up today. He's going to build our fireplace mantel, install the hideaway wall mounted ironing board in the master closet, and install the closet rod brackets. DH will help him and continue to finish trimming out the closets. He will have to come back to install the window seats when those ever get here. I emailed our sales guy to find out when they would be ready since he thought they would be here this past week. I didn't hear back from him. DH & I went shopping yesterday afternoon. Productive day. Found dining chairs to go with the double-pedestal table I had bought. They are on order. Bought laundry cabinet hardware and master bathroom hardware. Bought LED light bulbs for the can lights. And, picked out laminate countertop for the laundry room. Whew! Found some counter-height bar stools we liked, but dang, they are higher than we wanted to spend. We're going to wait on those. We had heavy downpours yesterday so that didn't bode well for getting the septic laterals dug. We can't pour concrete until those laterals are in. We still need to have driveway, walkway from garage to front of house, and the large back patio poured. I feel we are in slow mode right now getting all the last minute stuff done. Granite still scheduled for June 12 and hopefully plumbing will be able to come right after that. At least DH is getting stuff done that might have waited until we moved in.

You can get Benedryl that is dye-free, but it is hard to find. You will be amazed at how many things have Red 40, like bar-b-que sauce, yogurt, many medicines. One brand of cake mix has it on the label for both yellow and chocolate cake. Then of course, all the red and pink things like jello, candy, some jelly, canned cherries, cherry pie filling, many toppings, ice cream, mixes with artificial berries. It's everywhere. A small percentage of people can taste red dye and it gives food a bitter taste to them. I am one of those people, so I have never been big on eating "red" things that other people think taste great. That is probably why I am not dead. I remember getting sick as a child on a desert that had red jello in it, and once ended up in the emergency room after taking a common (pink) med. In those days, I think I had to get a lot of it before I had a real problem. I always had problems after I would fly because I always took a pink motion sickness pill. I didn't know that everyone else didn't have gas, bloating, and diarrhea after flying. LOL Since I tend to get dizzy easily I had taken a lot of pink motion sickness meds before I discovered Meclizine. Also check any kind of vitamins you may take. Beware of anything red, pink or orange. I do really well most of the time, but occasionally when eating out I will get something without knowing it. If I get very much, I will have severe cramping within minutes. I practically live in the bathroom for the next two hours because my system will just try to "flush" it out. In addition, I have pains in my heart. During a very serious attack I will just be freezing and can't get warm. I sit in a hot tub of water, and keep running it hot until I finally warm up. I shake like I am having a siezure. Do you do any of these things? When it started to get so bad about 10 or 12 years ago, I thought I had some serious stomach or bowel disorder. Then I would get better and be fine for a few days, so I would think well, maybe not. If it does turn out that it is red dye, we are not alone. More and more people each year and learning that it bothers them. I am not a drinker, but I read an article about a lady being taken to the emergency after having a drink with grenadine. I hope this is not what is wrong, but at least if it is, you can control it. You will have to give up a few things, and maybe prepare more things from scratch, but you will soon learn what to avoid. Good luck. Carol

Thanks, Martin! I'm relieved you that you consider that an acceptable shot lol And yes, that was a bit of fur from Hodor the cat who likes lying down on my haworthias. Macro photography (and my battle to learn it) is what got me into plants in the first place. I am a firm believer in splurging on lenses and prioritizing it over a camera body upgrade. Also, other than the fact that my old D60 has extreme sentimental value, the reason I have been successful at talking myself out of getting a d3300 is because I shoot almost exclusively on manual mode anyway and have no use for bells and whistles. Although I could certainly use the 12k ISO with that yummy 25k ISO boost. I also have this crackpot idea of getting a cheap D3200 and having the block filters removed so I can shoot in UV. I'm told my D60 is so old its IR/UV built-in filters are weak anyway and can probably do this already but I haven't tried. I need to get a UV black filter to test it. And a xenon flash. On and on and on. Bottom line, it's really the D810 I want. And I just confessed to my real hobby, to which plants are only incidental.