Ingrid, I am so glad your friend had a camera! This brought back memories of when I was in Strasburg, the Black Forest, Austria and up in the Alps, etc. They do have tons of mums and geraniums all over the place. Seemed like everyone had beautiful window boxes or poles with hanging baskets full of flowers! We have similar plantings/displays here in the States as well. I saw lots of humongous hanging baskets and window boxes, and rocks with mums spilling over when I was back east. Can't tell you now exactly where (would have to check out my photos) because we did like five states going to different gardens, both private and public. They were so beautiful!

I really love your beautiful bathroom! We're about to embark on a master bath renovation, and are considering a tub/ shower arrangment very similar to yours. We've been a little concerned about having enough room to step into the tub with the shower walls blocking part of the length of the tub, but your layout seems to work just fine! Would you please share the dimensions of your shower when you have a moment, as well as the width of the "step in" space you have for your tub? This might help me do a "reality check" to determine if we want to change the size of the shower, or narrow it a bit to provide wider access for stepping into the tub. If we have to go *too* narrow, the shower may not work. We have one of those behemoth corner tubs in the room now, abutting the shower, that just eats up the room. We're not big bath takers, but still think we need a tub for resale purposes. So a possible solution is to go smaller, with a configuration similar to yours. Thanks in advance, and enjoy your scrumptious new space!

I've potty trained 2 puppies at different times and it takes a lot of time and attention. You need to keep puppy in a small area I covered with newspaper, corner of the kitchen or utility room. Take him out only right after he relieved himself. He should get used to going in the same place is why you want to keep him in limited space. They usually refuse to go where they sleep so I always placed in a crate to sleep. If he starts to poop or pee when you take him out of the papered area, take him back immediately to that area. They have to make that connection. I always gave the function a name, like "potty", creative, huh? and praised him. Once the connection with the paper is made, and hopefully the name, I put the papers in a smaller area and eventually moved them gradually out the door, eventually to the place in the yard i wanted him to use. My dogs have always just gone in one spot in the yard and would do it on command. They always were rewarded profusely afterward. It takes being home full time with them. I don't think it's right to take your dog for a walk and they urinate or poop here and there in other people's yards. My granddaughter trains service dogs and they are crate trained as puppies, taken out to their special spot for relieving themselves. Puppies go more often so it takes a lot of your time because you cannot allow them to think it's Ok to pee everywhere anytime. Of course, if your puppy is peeing all the time, you want to make sure there is no medical problem to begin with. Good luck.

bellsrus, I did report this business to the BBB, but the crook responded by saying something unbelievable like, "Customers cancelled the order and asked to get their money back. They are getting a refund within 10 days of cancellation". LIES, LIES, LIES. Anyway, since we had just gotten our money back when the BBB response came, we did not know what else to do. Sadly, his record on the BBB shows that the matter is resolved, but does not provide any details of our complaint. The trustee who was assigned to the crook's personal bankruptcy case (he apparently declared personal bankruptcy, not as a corporation) is aware of what happened to us and was instrumental in getting us our money back. I am not sure if the trustee can do anything about it or if he has any power to shut the guy down. While we were looking at our options, I called the state attorney's office who said to call the police and report the guy for fraud; however, when I called the police, they refused to take our statement saying that we should take this matter to civil court. Sigh....I get angry thinking about all of this! I don't know who/where the crook got the money from to pay us back. I do want to protect other people from the anguish we experienced. Besides the BBB and Angie's List, I am not sure what else to do....It's quite sad....