I swear Marlene, you find the best junk! And free! Those are really nice. You're gonna need a bigger porch, lol. Oh my gosh I just had a great idea. You are blessed with such a handy dh, you could get him to build you a little chapel out back. (forgive me it's late and I guess I'm getting tired and silly and they just had that Lilies of the Field movie on- where Sydney Portier says to the Mother Superior- "Now look here lady, I ain't buildin' you no chapel" - kinda stuck in my mind. But really did you ever see a little personal contemplation chapel like that. With some stained glass. Just a small peaceful place. And you already have the pews ;) tfs, Donna

A buck a bale for something you were going to buy in the spring for more than twice that? Sounds like a heck of a good deal to me. (applause in the background) Some equipment is so efficient at thrashing the seeds out that not a lot of seeds are left in the straw. Now my old Massey 750 is a bit tuckered out so it isn't efficient as it used to be so there are some farmers (me included) that would have seedier straw. Hit or miss on how clean the straw is that you got but any "weeds" growing from a straw bale will most likely be from seeds of the original crop (wheat=wheat, oats=oats, etc. etc.). In a compost pile, the seeds will usually, A) be destroyed by heat, B) rot in the moisture, or C) germinate. If A or B, no problem, if C, turn before the new "weed" goes to seed and not problem. Now if you're talking hay, that could be a whole different story. Lloyd

Thanks for your kind words . . . and your enabling (LOL) ;^D I do have to make one correction, though: the gold & white plates were $1 each, not $2. Patty: girl, you get out a lot! I've seen your bargains, but if you want to zip down here, we can go out bargain hunting together and really do some damage! Jane: you have the turquoise? I saw a few of those recently; they're lovely! I have 4 (or 6?) of the same pattern in the cream and really like them. It's scary when you have so many dishes you can't remember things like that! You should have seen DD yesterday when she saw the 3 new groups of dishes (ROFLMAO). There was a lot of eye rolling! Jeanne: yes, you are a very bad/good enabler! I plan on checking out some tablescape pics here to inspire me. Kathleen: thanks. If you have any pics of white & gold tables, I'd love to see them. I need inspiration. Punk: Thanks! I'm anxious to get started on the plates.

Super. I got a great looking iron chair out of the roadside trash at a house down the road. They must have wanted someone to take it because they sat it on top. It needs paint, but I can do that.