I have my next to last orders planted in pots and in partial shade - the next order to come will be the very last one - what a sad day that will be! I am planning a very larger parterre bed with birdbath in the middle to house these roses once they get ready to plant in the ground, along with all the others I have ordered the last couple of years. Will call it my Vintage Memorial Garden......it wont compensate for the huge loss of Vintage, but will be a place where I can enjoy them all together.....planning to have a vintage looking garden shed/grandchildren playhouse constructed, a hanging swing......Wish they would find some extras and have just one more release......still cant believe they are closing. Judith

Congratulations on your new machine, Patti!! Hopefully, it'll turn out to be something fairly simple and inexpensive to have repaired. I have a weakness for the older machines--they were so much better made. Silly, but it makes me feel sad to see any at Goodwill or yard sales, because I know if only the 'right' person would come along and buy it, how much it would be appreciated. Instead, there it sits, for sale, probably played with by every child who walks along (as well as a few adults!) :) My best friend got a free serger off freecycle--still in the box, never opened! From a young man. I suspect it may've been his mother's, or maybe he'd just gone through a divorce? The serger worked perfectly. My friend uses it all the time.:) She stays busy knitting and sewing preemie baby things to donate to Parkland hospital in Dallas.

That is so funny, especially because it reminded me of me, sort of. We were pulling a trailer with a small tractor on it and the tongue broke, shooting sparks, at 4 AM near Little Rock, on the interstate. After working on it for 2 hours in the dark, Woody left me there at dawn to guard it while he found a guy to weld it. There I was, in the tall wet grass, freezing my butt off, standing at the fence line hiding from view, scared to death that someone would stop and try to steal the tractor or that I was going to be attacked by a pack of wild dogs, I could hear them getting closer, yikes. lol This was a long time ago. After he got back and got us all fixed up and ready to go, a state trooper finally stopped. Woody jumped right down that poor guy's throat, "where the he!! were you guys when we needed you?" We had seen at least 4 troopers turning around about 50 yards down the highway, right before they got to us, even though they had to see our flashing blinkers. Poor trooper, he started stuttering all over the place. We were ticked. I was soaked up to my knees in 40 degree weather, my lips were blue, it was about 5 hours since it had happened and we weren't happy. I'm glad your friend didn't have any real troubles, Trin, other than getting busted by a cop. lol

Good to know you're back on better footing. It's a good lesson for all to sleep on the problem before you address it. That's a practice I always recommend. It allows you to cool down and respond correctly to the actual scale of the issue rather than the perceived scale of the issue that is always larger than life and emotional when first encountered. In other words, if this was the final labor on the project rather than just a prelim screwup that the GC hasn't even viewed yet, the scale of the issue would be much higher. You always want to save the escalated response to an inadequate response from the GC after he has had a chance, not the first response being volcanic. 20% for the material surcharge is for the time spent selecting the correct material, any associated required components, ordering the material, arranging for it's transport, receiving the shipment, inspecting it that it is correct and undamaged, and storing it so that it remains undamaged. Time is money and none of those services are free. ;) You'll pay it one way or the other, even if it's not specified in the contract. You'll pay higher labor fees, or you'll get less warranty, or something. The slack gets picked up somehow if the contractor is an actual business man and is going to actually remain in business. It's better to be above board with all charges in writing so you understand what goes into a remodel. If you elect to select and purchase your own materials, then you are the one responsible for all of the above and the contractor is no longer the point of warranty with the product.