The 'gnomes' are about 7 1/2 inches tall. I didn't use any kind of releasing agent - I had been reading a thread on molds and one person said s/he never used anything and made loads of stuff. Also they talked about a particular name-brand release agent and I'm not sure if I could get it here, let alone find any release agent here. Wouldn't even know where to look. And yes, I'll paint them. They need to cure for a further 4 days. Thanks concreteKathy for letting me know that 'pitting' is normal. Now I even know the term for that! I saw an orange teapot exactly like the yellow one but the lady wanted $5 for it. I passed it buy. Jeanne, you can always smash the plates! I know my hand tires after awhile from nipping.

How can you deduct what you're giving for samples? You're growing it same as the rest and deducting cost of growing. That would make me mad too - has this guy never bought from you before? Don't you have a sign with your farm name? I assume the absent vendor had. Some people are clueless. On getting it all done - I tied up all my tomatoes along the fences yesterday, counted I have 200 in ground (plus 1 volunteer that will have to be pulled b/c it's too close to a transplant - I didn't notice it among the weeds along the fenceline a month ago). 4 dwarf varieties trialing in 13 pots on the porch (plus 2 Cosmonaut Volkov in half gal pots that look leggy but healthy, I may put in 5 gal buckets to see what happens). Planted 16 more sweet (non-bell) peppers in east bed of tunnel to see what they do, that makes 96 in tunnel, 6 (5 of them superhots) overwintered in pots and need to be potted up, did just put 8 Hinkelhatz in 4" pots b/c they looked so good in cell pack and seeds are rare I'm hoping to sell plants. Have 3 Black Krim in 4" pots that look good, don't know if I can sell them now but I hate to compost them. DH didn't water the plants I moved into garage to shelter from Arthur so the rest are being composted. I didn't count the bean plants but have about 70ft of pole beans, about that of bush beans. Melons really aren't growing (do watemelon plants need LOTS of water when they're 3" across?), cukes are slow, squash is growing but no male flowers yet. Cilantro is flowering - I'm leaving it to seed and attract beneficials, will sow more, dill is just starting but I need to sow more, have to sow basil I never got around to. Been pulling bolting lettuce - trying to let kale flower (couldn't find Red Russian this year and used all my seed starting in March, got 2 plants in the garden and they're being skeletonized). Curly kale doing well but I'm going to seed more. Going to try carrots in tunnel since I have 36ft (x2ft) beds left on east side and that is nice fairly sifted fine composted manure (hope I don't get all tops, it tested Low in N but tomatoes and peppers like it). So I talk to my sister (now down from Boston staying with my parents) yesterday, make plans to take kids to my uncle's pool (1/2 mile from me) in afternoon weather permitting. I said I don't like DD to be out from 10-2, so after 2 sounded good. Said I'd probably just work til noonish b/c it was going to be too hot, call my cell I'll have it in the truck. She said she'd call after lunch. I don't have any missed calls when I knock off at 12:34 after frantically working (not even watering peppers in, not pruning tomatoes, no weeding or mulching that needs to be done out back). So I eat lunch, go pot up those Hinkelhatz in garage, run back in, no messages on house or cell phones, prune blackberries, weed in house garden, general putzing, at 2:30 I try mom no answer at house, call sis's cell no answer leave message but it's starting to sprinkle so I don't know if they decided to go to movies or something. Hop on GW and post on a few boards, read weekly Ag report from state, etc. 4:45 no answer my parents' house, call cell, my sister answers and says they're at pool, just ready to leave! My mom told her not to call b/c l"ikely I was busy". If I was busy I wouldn't answer, or I'd tell them I couldn't meet them! She had said she was going to call after lunch and I piddled around the house waiting, then was getting a little anxious if they'd been in accident or something (with my DD) b/c no one was returning my calls! We've got plans to go to concert at park tomorrow night, I have to get DD today to bring to fife and drum practice tonight, but I told them I was going to be busy today b/c it was supposed to be better weather than yesterday, I had things I needed to do that I had put off. How do you deal with people like this? My mom thought I'd be working and wouldn't have time but my sister and I had made plans to at least discuss the weather/pool/other ideas between noon and 2. If I had an office job and said I was going to take the afternoon off to be with them, even if the activity was dependent on the weather, wouldn't they have called??? I should have just gone back out and started seeding carrots. This post was edited by ajsmama on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 7:59

OK, let's back-up a bit here. There's some misconceptions happening based mostly on, I suspect, hearsay & rumor, not actual knowledge. I was a bank work-out officer for a couple decades. I specialized in distressed real estate. First, not ALL or even the majority of foreclosed residential properties are "trashed". Yes, there are some & they get the attention. But, bad things happen to good people in this world & the vast majority of home foreclosures fall in this category. Somebody gets sick & the medical bills pile up, a job is lost & the new job doesn't pay but half of the lost job, and in today's world...the ARM has bumped 3% plus they suddently have found themselves having to care for an aging parent they hadn't counted on. These people do not generally "trash" their homes. What they do is come to my office crying & showing me pictures of their little child who is being treated for leukemia & they don't have medical insurance. And, I have to tell them how very sorry I am but the bank has to take their home away. It's heart breaking! I've been there so many times, I can no longer do the job. So, I am now retired after doing well over two thousand foreclosures in three states. Also, banks can be slow but they most certainly are not ALWAYS slow to respond. Banks have dozens of Committees. It's just how they operate. A loan officer will have a "Loan Limit" where they are free to make decisions up to that amount. Over that amount & it goes to Committee. So, if you are making an offer that exceeds the bank's Loan Loss Reserve by a certain amount...the Loan Officer will have to take your offer to Committee & those committees often only meet once/month. Here are a few suggestions for considering the purchase of a bank-owned (REO) property: 1.) Call local lenders direct. Side-step the Realtors. Ask for the REO specialist (or loan officer). Use the word "REO" so the bank receptionist knows who to transfer your call to. 2.) Do be prepared to do an inspection. However, it is a false that banks will NEVER do any repairs. So, certainly discuss this upfront with a lender who has a property you might be interested in. 3.) Banks are most assuredly interested in price negotiations. Forewarned though...most large lenders have some pretty qualified people doing the negotiating. So, if you're the sort of person who backs-off the minute somebody tells you, "No", then purchasing a REO might not be the best solution in your case. If you're a capable negotiator...fire right back at the lender. 4.) The lender is HIGHLY motivated to sell the property. they are not in the business to own real estate (even in JT's they do not take a lead position). Lenders have set what's known as a Loan Loss Reserve on each distressed piece of property. They know they will lose money...it's a matter of how much money they're going to lose. You, as a BUYER, can increase your chances of being successful by doing a little homework. Take yourself to the court house & look up how much the foreclosed mortgage was & when it was recorded. That will immediately put you in a better negotiating position presuming you already know approximately what the market value of the property is. Now, you also need to add the lender's costs to that mortgage...figure $10K pus delinquent interest (which lenders never expect to get back). Now, there are laws that prohibit a lender from just dumping a property. They have a fidiciary DUTY to the mortgagee. Example: if they have a property with a market value of $100K & a loan (including accured foreclosure costs of $40K...they CANNOT sell that home for $30K UNLESS that really is the true market value. Exception: If a lender has no intent on seeking a judgment against the mortgagee for any deficiency then they can sell the property for any amount they so choose. 5.) Some smaller lenders do list their REO's with local realtors. So, it doesn't hurt to call around & ask. But, again it's much easier, faster, & cheaper to deal directly with the lender. 6.) Purchasing an REO requires a lot of legwork on the part of the purchaser. Be prepared to spend some time doing what's known as "due diligence". In CO right now there are hundreds of homes available as REO's. Many of these properties are in good condition. Some are only a couple years old. 7.) Also, ask the lender to provide the end financing should you purchase one of their REO's. And...ASK for a reduced interest rate & no closing costs! You just don't get anything you don't ask for...I've done that to move an REO hundreds of times. It will, most likely, be a non-conforming loan for the lender & they'll need to keep it in their portfolio. Most are prepared to do that. During times like we are in now, the rules change with lenders on a case-by-case basis. You might very well be told absolutely, "No", by a half-dozen lenders before you find one who's more motivated. Keep trying. To be successful in purchasing an REO, it best if you don't have strong feeling about what you MUST have in a home. If you are willing to consider all options then purchasing REO can be a real savings. You can then wait for the market to turn & buy your 'dream' house. Don't expect to find just what you want in an REO property. They are what they are...maybe, it's only got 2 baths & you really wanted 2-1/2. So what? Maybe, it's got formica countertops & you had your heart set on granite. So what? If you can save tens of thousands of dollars...I say those dream features can wait until the next home purchase or you can change them. A lender WILL NOT change stuff like that for you. They MAY, however, be willing to correct major structural items your inspector finds. Negotiate smartly on those items. Tricia

saphire - one day the crayon drawings will stop. Every parent I know has had this problem at one point or another, and if one child "toed the line", the other one would be a total rascal and decorate lots of walls and/or window sills....My best friend's daughter is real fond of Bob the Builder, whenever she would find any cracking plaster or loose dryway tape, she would peel it all off. There are three spots in her house from the floor to 4 feet up where the drywall tape was stripped. Wouldn't you know! After 4 weeks on market with NO SHOWINGS OR INTEREST (other than the open house folks) 2 separate realtors came by. One couldn't get in because she was supposed to call me ahead of time. This is standard if someone is currently living in the house. But I was at work. So she called and said she was waiting outside. That is why there is a lock box. Evidently she didn't come in because she was waiting for a response or something from me. Who knows. Someone else did come in.....OF COURSE this was the one morning that I left the house a bit messy. Something in each room out of place, and dishes in the sink etc. Didn't plug in the air fresheners (which from all the responses may have been a good thing), didn't scoop the cat boxes which are out on the porch. It's just ironic, that the one day, the ONE DAY, I was truly lax, was the day someone came in to look. Of course my kitchen, which is my only true "showpiece" in the house, was the room which was most out of sorts. Oh well. Good warning for me to not let my defenses down, even when keeping it up seems a futile waste of time. SIGH. At least the bed was made, and the garbage taken out. And thankfully there was nothing embarrassing out, such as a bra left on a dresser or something like that.... I have no idea how parents of children keep up a house on the market.