Carol, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Ardmore.....we did arrange that one cool day just for you....LOL! Be glad you are not here today....it is currently 102 with a heat index of 108 and I have the hose running in the lily pond because it is down about 6" since the beginning of the week. We just came back from Ardmore few minutes ago, and there was little six-point buck in the driveway, making his way toward the garden. I guess he was going to eat anything growing out through the fence. The half-inch of rain we got wasn't much, but our fire dept. hasn't been paged out to a fire today, so it must have helped a little. People here do not pay directly for fire protection, but the county gives each dept. some money every year--it isn't even enough to pay our annual gasoline bill, but every little bit helps. We do lots and lots of fundraisers and it is never-ending, you know. Our citizens are VERY good about supporting Love County's 14 volunteer fire departments, though, and we always appreciate that. Dawna, It broke my heart to stop watering, but I swore I wasn't going to run up an outrageous $350-per-month water bill like I did during the 2005-006 drought....remembering that all that water didn't even keep the garden alive then, so what's the point in doing it this year? Only a little over 16" of rain here this year, and I think less than 3" combined for June, July and August so far. Combine the drought with the long string of days over 100 degrees (it's been as high as 106 to 108 here with heat indexes up to 116 degrees), and the garden (and the gardener) just can't take it. We've had lots of the usual hayfield fires started during either cutting, raking or baling, but its so dry that they have been burning lots and lots of acres per fire, instead of only a few. Lots of fires along the highways too, of unknown origin, but probably started by cigarettes thrown out of windows. I've spent as much as 10 hours at fires in one day, but usually only 2, 3 or 4 hours or so on most days. I'm just too tired. Between the drought, the heat, and the fires, the garden's just sitting there withering up and dying. It's OK, though, surely next year will be better. : ) Right? Moni, I bet Montana was wonderful! Well, I'm not giving up on gardening permanently, just giving up on keeping the veggie garden alive this year. Love County is in what the U. S. Drought Monitor terms a "moderate drought" and I believe our rainfall has been "below average", and sometimes severely below average, for 11 of the last 12 months. Our rainfall is roughly 10" below what it should be at this time of year. Even when rain does fall, we normally have severe drought conditions in July and August anyway, so without the "usual" rain, we are really hurting. The garden has been very productive thus far....tons of big, huge, softball-sized onions, a lot of potatoes, zillions of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, a moderate amount of beans (less than most years) and I'm still geting okra, melons and pumpkins, although the plants look pretty bad at this point. Both our freezers are full and I have lots of onions and potatoes in the cellar. I'm still getting ripe tomatoes because the plants had tons of tons of green ones when I quit watering. At this point, I don't have much time to garden. Fires are happening with a frightening regularity....mostly grassfires and a few of the larger wildfires, a couple of car fires, and one major structure fire (over 10 hours long) at a wooden pallet factory earlier this week. I've been gone to fires so long, or in town on fire business, or running to Sam's and Costco to get food and drinks for the 14 fire department's firefighters, that I wouldn't have time to work in the garden even if I were inclined to try to water and keep it alive. I've also been on-line designing and ordering custom safety vests, hats, and t-shirts for our fire dept., so lately its been all about the fire department. That's OK. The work the VFDs do is very important and I don't mind diverting "gardening time" to "fire department time" every now and then. I just hope it all settles down by next spring (we need rain and a lot of it between now and then) so I can start over with fresh plants in a new season. : ) What about y'all, Moni? Did you sell the house yet? Did you move? Somewhere in the madness of trying to survive the heat and drought, I lost track of what's going on with y'all. Let me know! Dawn

If your little guy likes those glow in the dark stars, and you don't feel like painting all of them, you might do what I did and use these. We put these up in my little one's room when he was a few years old, on the ceiling and some high up on the walls, and he wouldn't even let me take them down when he reached his teen years. My daughter had them in her room, too! That room is a guest room now, and I've had to sleep there a few times when my husband's snoring was too disruptive, and it's cool to look up and see those stars glowing in the dark. Here is a link that might be useful: glow in the dark stars

I have antique ironstone, antique hutches and English/Irish pine tables found at fleamarkets and antique stores, as well as many CL finds that I've refinished/reupholstered. They're all mixed in with newer PB and RH pieces and Hubbardton Forge lighting that may be considered trendy but aren't to me because they suit my style. DD's changing table was an early American drysink that I loved but unfortunately no longer have a home for, so it was given to a family member to use in her new baby's nursery. An antique dresser that DH modified with a copper vessel sink is now a vanity in my powder room. My favorite piece of furniture is DD's antique iron bed from the 1800's, which is exactly what I would have loved to have had as a child. My second fav piece is my RH reclaimed pine dining table. I'll probably keep most of the items in my home as long as they last. Not making any effort to be unique - I try to buy only what I love. Rarely does anything leave my house after it comes in! My sister is the opposite - she gets bored with her furniture after a few years so she isn't as inclined to spend the effort refinishing furniture or spending extra on quality hardware. She has a beautiful home!

I am currently shopping for replacement bar stools. We just had our kitchen redone and need to replace stools. We live at our kitchen island and never use the table unless we have guests. In my opinion, swivel is a must for a couple of different reasons. It is hard to slide a bar stool in and out because usually your feet don't hit the ground while on a stool. Swivel allows you to leave the stool stationary and just swivel in and out of the seat. It's also nice to be able to swivel to see the TV. Also having a back is nice if you plan to sit for any length of time. It's hard to buy online because you can't tell if the stool will be comfortable and return shipping on a heavy stool can break the bank. I'll keep watching the thread. Please let us know what you decide on.