Darn - Just found out this hosta is Plantaginia, not Aphrodite. Still a gorgeous plant though. Sorry for the confusion, but if you still want to trade, drop me a line. I'm a newbie, can't you tell!

Tongue and groove ceiling is beautiful and good for you for not ruining it with canned lighting. My family's house was built in the late 1800's (about 4000 sq. ft. including additions over the years). Lots of natural light. NO recessed lighting was ever added in order to preserve the beautiful, pre-war architecture. The house is well lit with lamps, chandeliers, and old hanging fixtures. (ceilings are 9'6"). Undercabinet lighting was added in the kitchen. Obviously, you don't see it, but provides enough light for a large kitchen, PERFECT. We are currently building a fairly large, custom home. I told my architect several months ago that I wanted NO recessed lighting in the house, ANYWHERE. To help with lighting, i've added extra windows, hanging fixtures where necessary, sconces and undercabinet lighting in the kitchen for "task lighting". However, i am adding a lot of tongue and groove paneling (including ceiling) and i think recessed lighting is very distracting (even including recessed lighting in high end homes). Well placed fixtures and lamps where necessary seem to be enough lighting for me.

I also use recipes interchangeably and haven't found a recipe that doesn't work both in the bread machine and by hand, as I only use the machine for kneading and then shape and bake in the oven. Everything from Grandma's old Farmhouse White to cinnamon rolls to whole wheat and rye loaves, they all work fine both by hand and in the machine. I agree that you need some more liquid/water in that hard to handle dough. I always check the machine and add more liquid if needed, I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough, I can always knead in a bit more flour if necessary. As plllog mentioned, you can add vital wheat gluten to the rye loaves for a bit more "oomph", rye flour is lower in gluten than wheat flour is. Bread is actually very forgiving, and I mess with it at whim. I want big holes I add more water, a dense loaf needs more flour, a tender loaf wants some milk and eggs, and I go by the way the dough "feels" more than anything. The only thing I've been unsuccessful at is a 100% whole wheat loaf with my own home ground flour. The results were consistent, they were all horrible. I finally just stopped, nothing helped that stuff and although I still grind wheat for flour, I use some of my own flour and some King Arthur flour for a passable loaf. Annie

I have 5-6 hen and chicks I can share for other hen and chicks I don't have :)