Keith, With Reimer's, I think you do know..... I know I have read about Beck's Big Buck okra in "Texas Gardening" magazine many times, but they don't maintain all their past articles online so I couldn't look for one of those articles, and my back issues only date back a few years so I decided to just link his website. It also has been mentioned in several gardening books and I think one of them is Bill Adams' book on southern kitchen gardening. Malcolm Beck is such a gardening legend in Texas. I was excited to see his okra finally becoming available commercially. Obviously it has been passed around in Texas (though not in the part of Texas where I grew up) for decades now. For most of my gardening years, I always planted just Clemson Spineless or Cowhorn, because those were the ones my dad always grew. After moving here and having space to plant more and experiment with different kinds, I've grown about 12 to 15 different types since moving here. I guess I'm an okra maniac because I've liked every single one of them. My only issue with okra is that the deer devour it so I can't grow it anyplace except in the fenced-in garden. For a few years, I got away with sneaking some into flower beds, but then they found it and that was the end of that way of cramming more okra into the space I have. When we lost the Gene Porter & Sons Seed Company, which was based in (I think, maybe my memory is foggy though) Stephenville, TX, over a decade ago, we lost ready access to a lot of great heat-tolerant varieties of vegetables that produced very well. Some of them were offered by other seed companies but many were not, and some of them that were offered by other seed companies back then (like the Dona F-1 tomato) no longer are available now. Other than Willhite Seed Co. in Poolville, I don't know of any other locally-based seed company specifically in our region that carries only types of veggies, herbs and flowers suitable to our region. Probably the company that comes closest is Southern Exposure Seed Company, based in Virginia and I have found most of their varieties perform very well for me here. I miss the old days when you could walk into any feed store and buy varieties from big bins or cans with a little scoop, measuring however many seeds you wanted into a little paper envelope. All those varieties were pretty much guaranteed to grow and perform well in our climate, or the stores didn't carry them. Now so many of the seeds have a national orientation and often that means they don't necessarily like our summer weather here. There still are 2 or 3 places I know of that offer bulk seed "by the scoop" but they seem to offer less seed every year, particularly as the big, multinational seed companies "consolidate" their offerings by dropping more and more of the regionally-oriented varieties. Dawn

I took a sectional from first house and cut it down to fit in my current house. It was a three seat/two seat and the corner it went into was not long enough for the three seat side. Sooooo, I took out the interior third seat. Pulled back the fabric and cut the frame down. Put it back together and stretched the fabric over the end. Not one person has ever guessed what I did. I would have got near nothing on CL for the sofa and so resizing it was the best option. We DIY everthing. The two times we hired someone we ended up with more damage and repairs than it was worth. Concrete patio had to be ripped out, concrete splattered on entire side of house, lien put on house by concrete company, etc. Crown molding guy took about two months rather than his estimated week due to his ordering wrong product, not painting it right color, and not finishing the wall paint that needing touching up after install of molding. I asked him to leave after last piece was put up and planned to finish the paint this fall. Due to my health this will take longer to complete than planned. I used to say that we have done all but tile. Then I singlehandedly installed slate in entry, hall, bath and laundry. Now I know why they charge so much to install slate. Every piece is different and requires individual install. But I saved a few grand on install. We ripped out fireplace and recentered it on wall and installed an energy efficient insert instead. All we paid the company to do was literally set insert in and hook up pipe. We framed, drywalled (including texture) and at same time installed complete 7.0 surround sound system with plasma tv and components in other room using infared remotes. Saved thousands doing it ourselves. We tore out original patio structure, had a pool installed (only used a contractor for that due to warranty issues being easier) and then reinstalled the structure to better fit yard. Installed spa pad and wiring ourselves. All landscape, lights and such we did ourselves. We did pay I think $25 to have fountain company deliver the fountain because if it broke they would replace it. We installed laminate and slate tile downstairs, paint our own walls, actually bumped a wall into a downstairs bath to make our big tv in other room fit better, then custom designed a cabinet system to fit the tv, with little lights and display niches. I make curtains and cornice boxes, we do all our lighting and plumbing as needed. We installed a whole house fan a few years ago and got $150 rebate from electric company so that only cost about $100. I like to tell my friends that our "pool boy" or "electrician" was over. One day a friend dropped something off. My "landscaper" walked by. She was so impressed. Then I laughed and told her that my my dh. He was all grubby and was putting in a new fence after a storm. My friend laughed so hard. Then I told her that the other day he was my "heat and air guy" because the system tripped the other day and we got out the manual and he fixed it. We have some leftover surround sound stuff we need to install in playroom. We need to do it when the attic is cool, like right now. Otherwise dh "my sound guy" gets really crabby when going up there. Probably need to tackle that soon. It would easily be a day project and clear out the corner in my bedroom where the stupid base is sitting. Oh, dh is also my mechanic. Over the years of having to fix our old cars he has accumulated quite a supply of tools. Now that we have new cars, first time in 20 years we have not had something to repair, he spends his time making his jeep more road ready for when we go to Moab and the Rubicon trail. That has to wait for me to get better but will be something really to look forward to.

I really honestly can say that I don't understand how people can afford to smoke nowadays. We have patients come in on state aid to our ER all the time who smoke, which doesn't make sense to me. If you can afford to smoke you should be able to afford the insurance you will need to deal with the chronic health problems associated with your habit. I don't understand how people can afford smoking either. It's all the more puzzling if they have low enough income to be on state aid, yet I doubt if quitting smoking will provide the dollars it takes to buy insurance. My mate and I pay $1365 a month at a group rate and we think that is a good rate. I can't imagine anyone really spends that much on smoking. Do they? What do cigarettes cost?--about $4 a pack? On the other hand, I've heard that the various stop smoking aids, over the counter and prescription, might cost about the same as smoking. Presumably they'd be a one or two time only expense though. If smoking is really and addiction, it is a medical problem and I wish it could always be addressed successfully.

Some other advice... Do online shopping. There are so many options and great deals available, especially for fixtures I would advise using online pricing to negotiate better prices at local supply houses and shops. It is rarely worth the trouble to return and/or get warranty service on items purchased online. An installation of a defective item can destroy all your savings from online shopping. Many supply houses will match or give you some discount to make them a better choice. For items that are easily replaced such, such as lights, online shopping can be great as a defective light will have little collateral damage. Talk to local stores for bargain, discontinued stock, deals, clearing sale, etc This is great advice, but you must be ready to purchase when the items are available and have a means to store the item. I purchase closeout items for my rental properties that I don't currently need in anticipation of needing them. I have replacement faucets, toilets, etc waiting for breakage or lease end. Talk to the builder and get builder-discounts at some stores This should be nearly automatic. I get my painter's discount, my plumber's discount, and my electrician's discount for projects they are working on even when I buy the stuff (supply houses will usually just give me the discount even if they are not doing the stuff). Use basic standard stuff and upgrade later, especially appliances This is incredibly common bad advice. This is essentially the same thing as put your money in the toilet, but wait a few years to flush. There is only a marginal cost of upgrading today. Why in the world would you want to not only ignore the reduced cost, but increase cost by buying stuff you don't want? If you can live with cheaper stuff indefinitely, then buy cheaper stuff. Don't make your financial situation worse by buying cheaper stuff that you don't want to live with so that you can buy more expensive stuff later. Current mortgage rates are barely above inflation rates, you are not going to be better off by having a lower mortgage and deferring costs. A wild suggestion from a co-worker: Use no -interest-for-2-years credit card to buy some of the stuff instead of charging it to construction loan. Once you finish the project, then you get some time to make the credit card payment. This is not really saving anything for me. Just a suggestion to defer the initial burden. This is actually solid advice. In fact, for the last 10 years I have been carrying a zero percent credit card balance. I just balance transfer it to a different promotional card before the interest period kicks in. Interest free money is great. Even ignoring my investments over that time, every dollar I financed at zero percent interest back then is only 83 cents of purchasing power to pay off today. However, that debt should be factored into your loan app when you apply for credit. You can get in trouble increasing your debt while working out a mortgage loan.