Julie - JULIE NEWMAR is one of my Top 10 favorite daylilies. She is great in every way. WITCH'S STICK is a very nice late bloomer for the spidery part of the garden. I would highly recommend both. Juliet - I just got AMERICAN DOLL this spring, and I only had seven buds. But every flower opened early, flat and looking good. I imagine next year's blooms will be bigger and even more ruffled. So far, so good. Debra

Hi guys! Good to see everyone checking in! Patti~ Congrats on the grandbabies! Hope you get to hold them soon. How are your relatives in Texas doing? Are they okay with the weather and all? Amy~ Well, I'm glad you hung in there with your friend. I bet you were the voice of peace and reason for him and helped him through his rough times. LOVE the photos! Absolutely serene and beautiful. I can imagine NHSuzanne and SP riding through the wooded trails! NHSuzanne~ You little brat! You're making me really envy you with all these end of the summer trips and time outs with friends. JK! Have a great time and bring your foot warmers!!!!!! Raeanne~ Shame on you for falling asleep! Morgan the magician's assistant went this time! In her family moment (brought to the viewers by Febreze fabric softner), her mother said there was a spa appointment waiting for her. She'll probably get a LOT of ribbing for THAT one! Anyway, I was glad to see her go instead of our fish monger from Washington! :) DeeMarie! Jam packed weekend, I see! Make healthy choices! In answer to the QOD: Friday: Went to donate blood, but hematocrit was too low - under 35. So I'll try again in a week. Then went to a furniture consignment shop and picked up a cool perfectly round mirror, cast iron 6' tall candle stand, and a cool red shallow bowl. Now it's paperwork at the title company, grocery shopping, and working on a new design. After school, I am taking the girls to Corpse Bride, the new Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie. I can't wait. Then I might throw a steak and some spinach on the BBQ to give my red blood cells a boost. Saturday: Gotta get party junk for the my DD's party next weekend, so I'm going to Archie McPhee's, the cheap magic store. The kids love it and I do too. Tomorrow night, it's my company yearly Holiday party. WAY too busy where I work between Thanksgiving and New Year's, so they do the party in September. Just remembered! Gotta pick up my dresses from the cleaners! YIKES! The company is hiring a hypnotist, so it ought to be a gas. Sunday: YARD! YARD! YARD! LAUNDRY! LAUNDRY! LAUNDRY! I have to get my yard completely weeded b4 winter rain comes and get bark sprayed to keep the springtime weeds down! I might even get a burst of energy and work on the garage a little. It needs it---badly! Check in people! We wanna hear from you! MARCI! Have your little ones handcuffed you and held you captive? BESH! Have the junior high kids over-run the town and tied all the adults to the witch burning stakes? JEN! How did the ear operation go? Did our little 'Miss' get her Dora the Explorer boots? TIKANAS! You said you'd be back soon!!!! COME BACK! KYSUSIE! JOANNE! Aand all the others I missed! And MADDIE, if you're back - give us a story or two!

I make minis for my guild (same as Kate's) every other year and for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative every year. Most of them are traditional piecing, though I occasionally PP them. One of the AAQI ones this year was about 4" x 6" - it had pinwheels that finished at 1-1/2" and a couple of borders. I've been doing a Civil War BOM that has a whole bunch of stitch & flip pieces in each block, and I've been doing a second stitching in the corners to make HSTs that finish at 1". I used a bunch of those for the AAQI quilts this year, and I think next year the guild will get a lot of minis with those too! :) Donna

Wow, Kathy, I think I'm as impressed with your "can do" attitude and common sense as your impressive kitchen redo. Thanks so much for sharing. Love all your color sections, especially the way the fabric in your kitchen window curtain pulls it all together. Before, the kitchen was chaotic, and now your colors are so soothing. Also love the way you rearranged the cabinets to maximize your space and storage. By the way, I know what you mean about measuring as that scares me too when I'm spending real money. I do have two suggestions for when you save up more $$$. The first is that you order full extension drawers, or trays, to go inside the large base cabinet with the double doors on the right side of the range. I ordered from Quikdrawers.com for the cabinets in my dining room and am extremely happy with the company and the result. They make a quality product, the guy who helps you (Keith) knows his stuff, and spacing between the trays is fully adjustable to maximize storage for what works best for you. Those pull outs certainly beat standing on your head and rearranging to see what's in the back. The second suggestion is to add a light rail and led puck lights run by batteries that you can just tap to get them to come on. My daughter-in-law knows a number of her neighbors who have used that approach and that it works pretty well if you don't want to go the electrician route. Those lights should be available at the big box stores or online elsewhere. Again, five stars on your project all the way around. It is well worth all the time, stress, and worry. Also, your low budget is hard to believe.