It's Sunday morning (well, technically for a few more minutes!)  Didn't have a job last night, so I feel relatively rested.  I've been puttering around, doing some watering, and I took a few photos to mark progress...

First, I took a photo of Hoya meliflua - it's got at least 3 new growth points, so it's going to do well for me this year.  I've had it hanging in the sunroom east window since last summer and it seems very happy there.  I hope it blooms for me this year - the blooms are spectacular, and it hasn't bloomed since 2010, which is why I moved it to the sunroom.  I think the light is actually a little brighter in there than in the GH, mostly because of the afternoon reflective sun off the house next door.  I guess we'll see if I'm right about that.  Here's what it's looking like today:

This is, of course, just a closeup of a few of the leaves.  It's in an 8" pot and it's a fairly large plant - heavy, since the leaves are relatively succulent.  I'm anxious to see how the new growth progresses.  New leaves are extrememly sensetive to dropping if disturbed or bumped when they're young.  Once they get past a certain point, they're tough as nails, but you have to be VERY careful while they're developing.  So here are photos of the flowers, which can be quite variable (as you'll see...)  In 2009...

...and in 2010...

Wildly different colors!  The second one reminds me of bubblegum!

Another one I wanted to show today is H. merrillii.  This one has been in the same spot in my sunroom pretty much since I got it in 2008 (from Carol/Aloha Hoyas).  It's turned into quite a spectacular plant (another sideways photo, I'm sorry to say...)

(If anyone out there can tell me how to turn these photos on here, I'd appreciate it!  I turn them in my editing program on my computer, but they turn back when I upload them here - damn!) 

This one has developed some big, beautiful, shiny leaves and it's stayed nice and compact.  I grow it in a Chinese teapot that I drilled a hole in...

I think this might be one I show in the C&S show this year.  Now, if I could only get it to bloom!  The photos of blooms I've seen are nice, but I think the foliage outshines the flowers.  One note, though - some of the photos I've seen of the leaves are quite bronze, which would be nice.  I'm not sure I can give it enough sun to get that bronze-kissed coloring, though...

And speaking of coloring, the other one I wanted to show is H. obscura aff. 'Philip'.  It has taken on some nice dark tones as it sits in the south window in the sunroom...

THIS is why I grow obscura!  My old one (which I lost most of last year) was a fabulous bloomer, but I just could not get the red tones I got with my first one.  So I bought this one from Gardino's last year.  Well, initially, it lost it's redness within a month or so of me getting it.  I thought DANG, it's that I can't give it enough light!  But last fall, I moved it to the south window in the sunroom where it got some full sun once the sun moved far enough south.  I just moved it to one of the east windows this morning as the sun has moved far enough north, now, that it's not getting any full sun in the south window.  We'll see if it keeps those tones.  On the up side, it's putting on all kinds of new growth and I'll bet it's going to bloom for me this year.

Now, as for this bathroom project we're planning...  I've wanted, for a long LONG time, to have a whirlpool tub so that I can come home from a 12 or 15 hour day on Saturday nights and let it massage my weary muscles.  I have a lot of back issues, so sometimes, it's hard to sleep on Saturday nights when I'm so sore and so bone tired.  Anyway, there for awhile, I had decided I would get one of those walk-in tubs.  I mean, I'm fat, I'm not getting any younger, I have arthritis...it's hard for me to get up out of a standard tub.  But then I found out you need a 60 gallon water heater to fill one of those!!!  I refuse to heat 60 gallons of water 7 days a week only to use it once a week!  It's crazy... So I'm back to a standard whirlpool tub that will fit where our old tub is.  I'll just have to make sure we install some safety bars for aiding me in getting out...

So I've picked out the tub, a new commode and a new sink and cabinet.  I've actually ordered the sink & cabinet as it's been discontinued and Lowe's found one still in stock in Michigan and I figured I better snap it up if I want that style.  It just seems right for the time period of our house.  Here's a photo...

Kind of old-fashioned looking, which is what I like about it.  I'm going to have a tile floor put in that is similar to the ones you see in these old houses - Mom's bathroom still has those old tiles... The little white ones that are kind of hexagonal shaped.  The walls, I'm up in the air about.  I have a tile guy coming tomorrow to help me make that decision - anything will be an upgrade over what we have now, so I would rather spend my money on having it done RIGHT than having some fancy-schmancy tile on my walls.  Old-fashioned 4x4s are fine with me, but there may not be that much difference in installation costs, so I may go with something a little different.  We'll see what he says.

So my goal is to have this done - or at least done enough so I can use the tub - by May 1st, when all hell breaks loose at work.  If it turns out to be a huge-er (I know, not a word!) project financially than I anticipate, we'll be doing it in "phases" as I can afford it...

Well, that's about it for today!