You could definitely do it, but I would worry more about the damage to the tree. If up high enough, and hanging from a branch, I can't see the birds having a problem with a wobbly feeder. I take a lot of joy watching the birds from our various feeders. I managed to loop a chain over a high branch on one of our trees, and did a tiny anchor lower down that I can reach. I can raise and lower the feeder from that anchor. It might be equivalent to the same thing you want to do -- but I don't feel like that anchor for the lowering-chain is much compared to supporting the whole feeder weight (the weight of the feeder is looped over the branch vs. just a tiny anchor for the chain to raise and lower the feeder). However, trees are tough. Good luck and get a great bird book. I love watching our birds and feeding them :)

I'm an infrequent visitor to this board after my project was mostly completed over a year ago, but I do love lurking and looking at pics of gorgeous homes, etc. Anyway, this was a very interesting read with my morning tea. I had no idea! My sheets are washed weekly (though the exact day may vary). They are washed and immediately go back on the bed (king-size--HATE to fold). I wash the mattress pad when I think of it (it's so thick, it has to go to a laundromat, so it's not often) and the duvet cover gets washed 2x year. Luckily our ancient kitty no longer chooses to sleep with us (the bed it too high up for her--she's 20). My mom (very "old-school"--born 1919) would never have washed any more often and was sometimes known to switch the sheets around from top to bottom. She rarely washed blankets and never (that I know of) washed quilts--she aired them out. All of us kids survived quite healthfully. My MIL was worse about cleanliness (and even I cringe) and none of her children were ever sick or had allergies, etc. I think that keeping things overly clean is a detriment to our immune system. Humans spent many more years barely bathing, etc., and only in the last half-century has regular washing of any kind been less of a chore. Maybe ignorance IS bliss? When I was a kid, I'd never heard of dust mites, so I didn't fear them. Oh, and I laughed about the towel on the bed thing, Sherrmann.....I've been known to grab one too, especially when the sheets are fresh clean! Now if I had a live-in maid? Oh, how lovely to have fresh bedding each night......but it ain't ever gonna happen with me having to do it :-) I bet those of you that change your bedding so often also use clean towels each time you bathe?

First of all, it is probably impossible to have a tidy home 100% of the time. Sometimes life just happens. You're in the door and out again before you have time to sweep up the debris and put away the school papers. Don't feel too bad! I *try* to live by two rules ... don't buy it if you don't need it and make things EASY to put away. You won't find me with a garage full of not-quite-ready-to-use furniture. (Sometimes I wish I did when I see other's great finds, but that doesn't work for my current lifestyle. Maybe later.) First decide what needs to live in each room. Then decide how best to store those items. For example, for years I nagged my children to take their school shoes to their rooms. Their shoes, socks, and belts always ended up scattered all over my living room. I finally realized that I would never win that battle. I bought a pretty basket from Pier One and placed it on the hearth. All shoes and belts go into the basket. (I prefer that socks find their way to the laundry room, but if I have to pull them from the basket once a week, that will work.) Now, I rarely find a shoe in my living room. The kids are more than happy to use the basket. Also, before every Cub Scout meeting, we scrambled to find all the pieces to my son's uniform (hat, slide, neckerchief, and handbook). I placed another basket on top of a desk in the laundry room. Now all his Cub Scout essentials are out of sight yet right by the door and ready to go. I love Polly's end table/hamper method. You have to find what works for your "stuff" and fits into your decor. I lived for years with a Thomas the Tank Engine table in my living room. You know what? That was perfectly fine for my life at that time. I might not win any decor awards, but I was a good mommy (in a small house)! Decide how much clutter (toys, etc) *you* can tolerate, then look at your furnishings with new eyes. Could you place large bins on the bottom shelves of a pretty bookcase to store books. (It is easier for a child to throw books back into a bin or basket than to stand them neatly on a shelf.) Instead of storing blankets in a blanket chest or storage ottoman, could you use that hidden storage for larger toys? Is there a closet near the living room that could be used for toy storage? (The vacuum can live elsewhere.) I use the kid accessible storage in my kitchen island to store playdoh, coloring supplies, craft supplies, and jigsaw puzzles. My kids like to be close to me while I'm cooking. Use your best storage for the items that are a priority in your life today. Tomorrow you can change to something else. The key to organizing your home is that you are never truly done. You are constantly re-evaluating your family's priorities and storage needs. Good luck, Nin

Absolutely can I relate to this topic. I live in a 70's split-foyer, split-entry, bi-level, whatever you want to call it. In looking for information on how to update or decorate these houses, etc, I have found entire threads devoted only to people's intense dislike of these homes. The thing is, by buying this house, I got in a celebrated school district (I have no kids but I enjoy living in an area where if the kids graffiti your garage, the graffiti is spelled correctly), with an acre of land, with a creek in the backyard. It is about 2000sf, and into that amount was squished 5 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a family room, and a laundry room. The bedrooms are TINY. Which I know people hate nowadays. What we've done, is, instead of adding on, we have tried to reconfigure. We turned one of the bedrooms into a dressing room, and turned our master closet, the windowless half bath and the windowless full bath (these were miniscule, as anyone familair with these houses knows) into one big walkthrough bathroom. Our master bedroom is still small, but we don't need dressers since we have a nice big dressing room adjoined now. We replaced the nasty hollowcore doors with frosted glass doors, which helps add light, and makes rooms feel a bit more spacious. We are updating the kitchen and adding more windows, plus putting in a banquette for dining. We added more closet space to the bedrooms on the garden level (sounds much nicer to say that than basement level). We are switching the huge laundry room and teeny full bath so that the bathroom is the big room and the laundry is smaller. Which also enabled us to seperate our family room into an area where we could view the fireplace, and another where we could watch TV by the walkout doors. These are all changes for our enjoyment. I have no idea if we will recoup any money when we sell, especially since we took out a bedroom and lost a half bath. Nothing can really be done about the outside. I mean, it's a split entry...Me and DH call these "house volcanoes, like the earth is trying to push a house out and hasn't quite made it yet. LOL I am loving our house now, because it's where I live with my darling genius of a husband and I have a huge yard to garden in and to let my three precious dogs run around. I know many people think my home style is ugly, that it's generally despised and realtors hate selling them because nobody wants to look at them...but I live in a wonderful area surrounded by homes that are worth much more than mine. I get to enjoy the very same benefits they do, but I pay A LOT less for the privelege of this excellent area, all I have to do is live in a house voclano:-) Joanna