This is a fun thread! Thanks for starting it miss kitty. It's great to see what everybody else is doing on their places. I've been lurking for months, unable to log on and put in my own 2 cents worth. Very frustrating. Recently got a new internet security program and - voila - here I am! My hubby and I have 16 acres in central Texas. We have a live creek with a swimming hole, lots of 100-150 year old oak trees, and plenty of field as well as old rock wall areas we leave overgrown for the wildlife. My mom lives with us in a m-i-l apartment. We have 4 dogs, 3 cats and 11 chickens, so far. We moved into the barn and started builing the house here 3 years ago, having already owned the property for 6 years prior. (For six looong years we journeyed out from the city every single week-end and vacation to clear land, build the barn, dig the well, bring in electricity, etc.) It was all worth it once we got installed here permanently! I raise a big organic garden and can, dry and freeze so much stuff that we're starting feel pretty self-sufficient veggie-wise. The produce aisle at the grocery doesn't see much of me any more. And the home-canned soups, salsas, pasta sauces, etc. are SO much tastier! We got our 10 Rhode Island Red hens and one surprise bonus Silver Spangled Hamburg roo last spring. On a friend's advice I ordered more chicks than I needed because some would "inevitably not make it to maturity." Guess what? I didn't lose a single bird and now have a surplus of eggs! I get 9 or 10 a day, every day. We like to do everything ourselves and use materials we have at hand, so we built a stone henhouse under the pole barn, with a large covered run and optional garden access. Neighbors immediately dubbed it Hen Hilton and declared that if a tornado comes they'll evict our chickens and move into it themselves. (Us city-transplants provide plenty of wholesome amusement for our wonderfully helpful neighbors!) We planned on getting a heifer and producing offspring for the freezer, but gave up on that idea when we found ourselves unable to even slay the mean rooster! We have neighbors who raise their beefers naturally, so we'll just buy one from them to send to the butcher after we purchase a third freezer. No way I could raise a baby, then eat it. My meat has gotta be more anonymous, I guess. We would like to put some mini donkeys out in the pasture, but fear our large, city-raised dogs would run them to death (or get kicked in the head). Guess maybe we'll wait until the old pack is gradually replaced by a country-born-and-bred bunch. None of our current pals are terribly young! No rush. We are lucky to have a wonderful old pecan tree that some long-past resident of this place lovingly grafted and tended. Every other year it gives us more huge nuts than our entire extended family can use in 2 years. This winter I planted some apple trees, an apricot, and a blackberry patch. Two of the many fig trees I planted 5 years ago are finally looking like maybe they'll make something of themselves this year. And my vet gave me 3 pommegranet (sp?) cuttings that I have high hopes for if they're still alive come spring. His trees are awesome, but it can be difficult to nurse the cuttings thru the winter in pots. We also have mustang grapes growing wild - despite our best efforts to control their progress! Basically, I plant anything I can get for free and see if I can get it to thrive. Some experiments have worked better than others and it's all a learning experience. At least I have fun. I'm fortunate to be able to stay home and tend "the farm," look after my mom, etc. My work here contributes enough to the support of the household that my salary paled in comparison. DH hopes to retire in a few more years and become a full-time country dude. As it is he just works himself to death evenings and week-ends. He is finally easing up on his concerns about the klutzy wife maiming herself and teaching me how to operate the tractors, so I can take some of the burden off him. We would love to keep bees, but worry about the killer bee infiltration in Texas. Anybody have any words of wisdom on that subject? pam

Like everyone else, I love buttons...... In another life - I was the Notions and trim buyer for the large Fabric store where I was the manager. The owners used to buy the buildings that huge grocery stores had been in - just to give you an idea of the size of the stores - 1971-the beginning of the superstores except these stores were privately owned. Back to buttons. I was the "buyer" for 5 stores - Buttons were my favorite- sitting down with Mfr reps & picking out individual styles & lines of buttons~I was in heaven, but too young to recognize it ~LOL~ So yes, I love buttons...... Recently, I saw watch bands made of buttons - they were beautiful. Good-fun activity for kids - small and quick project. Enjoy your button stash - great purchase your parents made :)

I don't think that the things you have described are such "little" things. The grout shouldn't be in the crack. It should be caulk. It's totally unacceptable that the supplier would even send a warped cabinet. If the trim wasn't done properly it needs to be fixed. For me, the only thing that works when I hire someone is to write everything down in geat detail and make sure that both parties have signed it. Then I stay on top of the suppliers and in the nicest possible way, refuse to accept anything that is not up to standard. There is always a 10% holdback to ensure that things get finished as they should. No reputable contractor is going to have a problem with that, No fly-by-night is going to agree to it. Standard varies greatly depending on how much I am paying for something. If I am buying an item that sells at the high end of the price range for that type of thing - it had best be perfect, but if I am "getting a deal" I don't expect to receive any service or support and don't expect to get first quality merchandise. In some areas, it is not wise to shop for deals. In others, it is a waste of money to buy the "best". If I was in your position I would start gently haraassing the supplier of the cabinet and the painter until I got satisfaction. Send letters, call, don't threaten, just complain pleasantly. It might take a year or so but sooner or later they WILL cave.

Patricia - I like MCM, but I wouldn’t say I LOVE it. I think I’ve been influenced too much by what I see, and I see a lot of MCM today. I like that it’s trim (we aren’t big people so I feel like the overstuffed styles are just too frumpy to me and not needed). But I’m pretty sure that after seeing it for maybe another 5 years, I’d be so over it. I also don’t think it looks that comfortable - like I should be dressed up Draper-style to sit in it, and I confess to have been in nothing but yoga pants for the last 8 months 🤣. I think what I want for style is attractive, comfortable, and doesn’t get dated - the last is probably impossible, no? I liked the rolled arm style years ago, and still do today. Though I will say I liked sleigh beds a couple of decades ago, but dont anymore. I like the cognac color as well. Current couch is a dark brown and was basically a “quick, we have a new house, buy some things to fill it up” and doesn’t really have any style. But we also had babies. Youngest is now 9 yo, so I think there’s for the next 10 years, and then when I’m empty nest 😁.