I keep all-purpose flour and sugar on the counter for easy access. Bread flour and other sugars are in the pantry.

Not a current pic, but it was taken in the month of April 2011. I recognize the Catherine Breer drawing.

Outdated makes me think I might go the other direction. My mother's, her mother's, and maybe even another generation before. They're empty, but maybe it would be better if they were used?

Outdated makes me think I might go the other direction. My mother's, her mother's, and maybe even another generation before.

Use them!

I have my mom's circa 1950 aluminum canisters in the pantry. They're used. Same with some of her pots and pans.

My husband doesn't want a BIG dog....but...I like big dogs. Isn't that a beautiful face!

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@Ninapearl....My last dog was a GSD, Rennie. She had the giant gene. An ONLY puppy, no litter. She was HUGE. At 7, hip dysplasia showed up. She lived to be 12 years old. She ate a lot + medication for her HD. Then the border collie & her would play. The nips got infected. She had them lanced and drained multiple times. She once ate prickly Pear cactus, thinking it had attacked her when she sniffed it. Vet had to put her under to pull out the spines. Missed a bunch...and he put her under again. It's just part of owning a dog. 💕 My cat Ivan, fell through the mesh seat of a bench, got his leg stuck, pulled it out...was dragging his leg around. We rushed him to the emergency vet on a Saturday. X-rayed it, not broken. They gave us a script for pain meds. Just part of owning a cat. $$ Its ok. We're spending our kids inheritance. 🤣Oh....and...Ivan gets car sick every time he goes in for his annual shots. Also, foams at the mouth...so we're going to have a vet tech come to the house this year.

Dogs are far less expensive than kids and give unconditional love.

You got some magic there! What a nice deck garden!

Elena - that sounds like a good idea to use soil. The thick styrofoam is what we've been using in zone 3. You're in zone 6. :) :)

Spectacular，so lush and beautiful

I wore my MJ’s to a fundraising meeting this morning and am wearing them to shop this afternoon. They are padded and comfy! A nude or light tan belt helps tie it all together:

(Bbstx that is an unstructured white linen blazer I found last week. I don’t think you can tell in the photo but it has panels of white ribbed cotton inset on both sides that gives it vertical princess type seams and therefore a great fit.)

I also wore these shoes to a piano concert with dressy black shorts and a nude light sweater over the same black top.

I could probably find a way to wear these shoes three times a week, and they aren't nearly as versatile as the ones Bbstx wants.

When you start a retin A/ Trentinion it takes baby steps…one one day a week if no irritation twice a week..and so on..at first you will have some reddness or a bit of peeling that means time to back off….eventually you will tolerate it on a regular basis….it really takes time…but so worth it…I like mixing it together with my CeraVe.

My mother had a long faux leopard coat in the ’60s, how I wish I had it (I do have my grandmother’s c. 1940s red coat with big brass buttons).

Leopard/other animal prints will always be in style to me. I don’t overdo it, but always have them in my wardrobe and decor.

I have dyed rabbit fur coat and fur hat (brown), sheared raccoon fur coat (red), 3 sweaters, a jacket and a pair of shoes in leopard print.

Hi, I did pick up my new wheels a little more than a week now and it has already amassed more than 500 miles even with a super busy work week. Had to spend the weekend cleaning out the garage so I could fit two vehicles in there. Boy did we have a lot of stuff in there that’s just been sitting for years taking up valuable parking space. Facebook market place worked out great for giving it all away since we are not on a street where you can just put it out on the curb. Here’s a few pics of my new ”Lady friend."

You have a beautiful garden! Please post more photos!

DIane, I will post BMS as soon as it blooms. As for the JC hedge, I initially did replaced them with another more JCs but they were slow to start so I transplanted the smaller JCs and thought I will try something different. I have to remind you that JC will not look this good in the summer lol, at my area anyway.

Ben, thanks for the interesting information. My Gertrude is on ownroot and it's stingy. I'll try your method.

Desiree is the leader of the pack this spring! I planted her in one of my metal raised beds.

She was pruned back hard as I do all my roses so even tho she looks small she’s about 5 years old now ! She is one of my favorites of all . Her colors warm my heart on this chilly spring day . I can’t recommend her enough!!

Mystic beauty . This gal is about 4 or 5 as well and own root from roses unlimited. For some reason she is a slow growing one for me personally, so I don’t prune her back at all . I love her beautiful blooms especially against the lavender next to it .

thats all for today :)

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

In 2008, Craig Schmidtke began drawing his dream house on a home-building software he bought on a whim. Schmidtke, an oral surgeon in Alabama, had never drawn a house or used this type of software before.

“But I’m always looking for new hobbies,” he said. He figured if the home didn’t turn out well, it would just stay on his computer forever.

Seven years later, he and his family were living in it.

Now, after using the home as a primary residence for nearly a decade, Craig and his wife, Anna Schmidtke, are downsizing and have listed it for $4.979 million.

Every detail of the home was imagined by Craig and signed off on by Anna. An avid golfer, Craig included a golf simulator and a movie theater, where he often watches golf tournaments. There is also a 500-bottle wine cellar and a television hidden behind a mirror in the primary bathroom.

The Schmidtkes moved to Dothan from Colorado with their children in 2005 to be closer to Anna’s parents, who lived in the city. They moved into a four-bedroom home and fell in love with the community, Craig said. In 2007, after Craig opened his own practice, he and Anna began thinking about building their own home in the area.

“I started to do some research and found some homes I liked on the internet,” Craig said. “I thought, ‘I could draw the house myself.’”

With some training from the software company, Craig’s drawing came to life and around two years later, he and Anna were ready to hire a builder. In 2011, they bought an empty plot of land in the city for $275,000. The home took four years to build and was completed in 2015.

“We didn’t want something that was going to fall out of favor, like ultra contemporary,” Craig said. “The neoclassical style is something that rang with us.”

While Craig declined to comment on how much they spent on the construction of the property, he said it was more than both listing prices.

“We didn’t build this to make money off of it,” he said. “All we want is for the next buyer to love it as much as we do.”

There was much more to the story but this maybe explains his reasoning.

" the dreamer grows up and inhabits that dream for a while ... they find that it isn't as dreamy as they expected. "

A life truism for everything - sometimes it's about living in a mansion, sometimes it's about living in a heritage farmhouse. Sometimes it's about living in the city of 2 million, or living in a small town of 2000. Yet, I don't think it's about finding out the dream isn't as dreamy, it's about changing lives, priorities, and preferences.

To me, those changes are a normal part of life, and changing dreams is to be expected and welcomed, not regretted or resisted.

I’m a little plump right now and the skirt isn't zipping, so it might be a minute.

Chisue, cordless window shades still have cords.. This simply means you lift the shade with your hand to open, pull down to close. There is no cord that hangs down when the shade is open, and no cords to worry about children being injured or killed.

When we had our natural woven shades installed two years ago, the owner told me they were changing the law to no corded shades by 2024. But I see here it is in appeal.

ETA: After Google image searching the shade deegw purchased, they are on a roller (new to me) and work like this:

I was just given a Dyson Cordless V6, the V8 stays charged longer....a better vacuum! You'll LOVE it deegw!

@1929Spanish-GW...AMAZING outfit! WOW! Styling gurl!

@jb1586...I have a go to bakery too. At the end of the day it's still pastries & fresh bread! Yum!

@Allison0704....I hope you like the store reccomendation. We have a boutique Goodwill. It used to serve coffee, danish, cookies...free....and have a book reading area with tables(before covid). I purchased a few high end pieces there.

@Bumblebeez SC Zone 7...They sound "hard to find". An online buy? Nice!

@beesneeds ....Nice!

@mathias_lang....I collect boxes...photo please? I have them ALL over the house....truth be told...

@deegw.....Love those shades! Great buy!

@Jupidupi...Yum!

@mnzinnia.....So cute! The water color is a great find!

eld, chloe, kath, Sue, Carol....You ALL got some great bargains! LOVE hearing and seeing what everyones finding out there.