Thanks everyone! When we were packing the table and benches the owners of the house came home and after they parked they started walking toward us. Good thing it was a long driveway cuz by the time they were by the curb we were ready to take off. Which DH did pretty quickly. HA! I love curb shopping but get kinda embarrassed when the owners catch me at it. Do others feel the same way or have you gotten over it already? Cait

Mark , I meant to try to answer you sooner, but lost track of your post. 1) I saw the SL16 label on a box the last time I went to Home Depot. I had the box opened and saw they had the correct SL15 ballasts in them. I believe that they may be changing the style of the fixture and just used the old number and upped it by one, not realizing that somebody initially based the product number on the ballast number. Beats me. I always open one box to see if its got the SL15. Sunpark doesnÂt make an SL16. 2) The traditional T12 fluorescents were designed to use 430mA each, and use a magnetic ballast. The newer T8Âs have been designed for 265mA of current. The SL15 ballast is able to drive the old F40T12Âs, but it causes the circuitry to operate different, drawing less current than the older design normally would use. I use F40T12Âs in them, both out-of-the-box and overdriven. An overdriven fixture really lights up the older style 430mA tubes. (Extra design info: T12HO=800mA , T12VHO=1200mA, 34wT12=460mA, 20wT12=380mA, 20w/40w slimline=425mA, and thereÂs more, each different T5 wattage has a different current design.) 3) Probably not. It is nearly always cheaper to buy a good, inexpensive shoplight and remove the ballast Especially that Home Depot one. 3b) I donÂt know. I had downloaded brochures on them from GE months ago. They may be designed differently, as they are supposed to have special features, such as automatic line voltage matching. 4) I donÂt know the fixture you speak of, but reflecting back light that otherwise would escape is always a good thing. 5) Power Factor (not ballast factor) is a ratio of the how efficiently the current and voltage waveforms match due to the circuit design. Without trying to remember how to explain it, I can tell you this  donÂt worry. Poor Power Factor normally does not cost you. It costs the electric company, unless they have special meters on your house to detect it. That is rare. 7) DonÂt try to switch in and out of overdrive. Too late for details, but youÂre asking for trouble if you do it If you are using a single SL15 to light each bulb, then put any switches on the line-side/power-side of the ballasts (black wire). Zink

Candy, love your metal stand and everything on it. The pumpkin tureen was a beautiful find last year and it looks right at home on your stand this year. What are the red leaves on the right side made of? They sure look neat on this. The white metal thingy looks like a wedding column for flowers or a plant. Was it already painted like this or did you add your painting touch to it? You are a very busy lady and I sure enjoy seeing all you do. This reminds me I still haven't gotten all my pictures downloaded but still have almost 2 months to accomplish that task. Punk

Jan you have been busy !! I think it will have to be Sunbrella fabric though. Will post the pics of the glider when it is stripped , next week, and then we gotta pick the body color...will have to wait on cushions I bet as money is going to get tight soon...one more trip to NYC at the end of July for me and DH...we gotta get a cheaper hobby :) just: I think it would be beautiful. The dark green we used is from BM and I am very happy with it. It is on the fences in the pergola thread. It is hard to find almost black greens. The spray paint from Rustoleum...Charleston Green is very dark. I love it and used it on all my metal furniture in the Spring. Please post again to show what you do with it. c