Junkinthetrunk, I love how your decorative patriotic fence matches your home with its pretty wedgewood blue shutters. Very nice! All I do for the 4th is to change my colored spotlights in back to red, white and blue for the week. (They're normally one white and two green for summer, and one white and two red for fall and winter.) Also I replace my summertime decorative porch flags (a sheltie dog sitting amidst blue flowers and a horse head against green meadow background) for red, white and blue July 4th flags with firework images for the week.

Thanks Sydney - yes, I've been over in the kitchen section for years... lots of pics of my kitchen have been posted (before and during some reno) - not sure it will ever be finished. It's a very small kitchen. I took down the wall between the kitchen and DR, put in soapstone counters, new sink, painted the cabinets. Still no new floor... someday I'll decide on something. ttodd - I love your house. Thanks for asking. I'll have to take some new LR pictures tomorrow. It's been painted and it quite a bit different than it used to be. It was dark blue, now it's off white.... Here's a bit of a preview I guess. Here are a few pics. I'll try to get some new LR pics tomorrow when it's light. DR Kitchen - as you can see, I'm always changing things... LR - partially painted (during/mid mess) and before

I also love bowls, especially ceramic, pottery, and brass ones. I use a variety of handmade pottery ones in a stand I have in my kitchen - a smaller one holds garlic, another holds shallots, another brims with onions, and another for potatoes. A couple shallow bowls hold my kitchen towels and cloth napkins. Next to the sink there is a tiny bowl where I can place my rings while I do dishes. On top of the fridge is a nice silver bowl where all the loose change goes. The cat eats and drinks out of old pottery bowls that are more shallow. In my studio, I have several large brass basins and bowls that hold my brushes and other supplies. A brass bowl on the entryway console table is where my keys go, and a larger ceramic basin is where I toss the mail as I come in. In my bathroom, I have a long shelf and I have several bowls there - they are great to hold hairbrushes and makeup brushes, Bobby pins, etc. In the bedroom, there is a small bowl or tray on each nightstand - great place for watches, hair pins, rings. I rarely use bowls as merely beautiful objects, because there are so often a utility to them so they can both be serving a purpose as well as being beautiful - for organization like I do in the kitchen and bathroom, managing loose odds and ends such as hair pins, loose change and mail, and even easily-dismissed functions like as pet dishes.

Hi, I have a large art glass bowl, with a crack of about 10" long, roughly half way across. It is clear glass, which is painted on the bottom side. (The crack is barely visible through the beautiful painted design on the underside.) The bowl is strictly decorative. The net talks about several ways of masking the crack and/or repairing it. What would be your advise for making the crack disappear? Thanks, ... john