Oh, I'm so sad to hear about the kitty!!
My boys send you their love. They are settling down well in the house and are fascinated with the birdies outside on the bird feeder. I couldn't have one of those in Chicago, so they are unfamiliar with tons of birds being around!
About the lights... you can just use a regular lightbulb like that? That seems very handy. In theory, I could just place my orchids near regular lamps?
I'm a little worried about them. I've never had them during the winter, and I worry they will get too cold near the windows at night. But then again, all the books say it's OK. I'm also slowly learning the winter watering thing. My new house is not nearly as dry as my old apartment, so I'm watering less.
Funny story about how the minis died. I had two of them in a little glass cage. My parents came to Chicago to help me move and packed my apartment while I was at work (they are amazingly nice!). My mother accidentally PACKED the orchids into a box. They were on wood, so she didn't realize they were live plants. I asked her where they were that night when I realized they were gone and she said they were out in the truck. Oops! It got down to 30 degrees that night! So the orchids were packed in newspaper and stayed in the truck in the box for about 3 days. Needless to say, they were dead when I got home. She felt SO bad. I told her it was fine. The fact that she came to help me totally made up for it. And it was an honest mistake. So they went to orchid heaven. But you know what that means? I can buy MORE!! Bwah ha ha!
Moved My Orchids to Iowa
glad you found your way back to the neighborhood. Ross has a nice set-up with his collection. I have 2 65 watts for added light in my breakfast nook and could use something brighter for the winter months. They are rather inexpensive to run and an excellent alternative. 
Linear Mode
