We are lucky to not get too many big birds as they travel from the river channels around our area. However, we have had attacks and losses ourselves and we came up with a pretty neat solution. Since the dog barely does anything to protect the backyard, we installed a sort of "panic room" for the fish to hide in when being attacked. Our panic room consists of a large travertine marble slab perched on the pond shelf on one side, and cinderblocks on the other. Not only does it allow for a really sturdy (and large) space for the fish to hide in, but it gives you more space to add border plantings and lily flats so that in warmer seasons you do get natural covering. It's worked really well for us and we haven't had a single fatality related to birds since. Now...you can't really train your fish to go in the panic room when attacked...but prolonged exposure to the tunnel will put some retention in their brain that "this is a calm place". So if you do have enough room, give it a shot. You may not see your fish all the time (they tend to like their solitude) but when they do finally grace your presence, they won't be dead! Happy Ponding & Good Luck! Mike from CA

Wow! We got blasted today. I was driving on a road this afternoon and the water was running UP the grade. That was wild looking. I was getting into it until a transformer got struck by lightning and blew up about 100 feet behind me. That gave me a pucker factor of 9.5 out of 10. Cooler temps mean better fishing this weekend!!!

I recently had the same predicament with my KitchenAid s/s. It is 15 years old and under normal circumstances I would replace it, but we are selling the house and don't want to spend a lot of money right now. We got an estimate on the repair for $1500 so we set out to research what a new one would cost. For something that would fit in the same space (it's a built in) the cost was at least $6000. We decided on the repair and the serviceman told us it was good for many years. It was completely rebuilt and has run great since that time. Only you can decide what your pocketbook can tolerate, but new b/I ref are really expensive and if you like your ref then I would go for the repair. Since I've had my house on the market, about 5 months, I've had a repair on my stove, my hot water dispenser died, my microwave died, and Friday my plumber told me we might need a new furnace! It's like it knows we're leaving and is getting even with us!

My thanks to all of you who posted comments, both good and bad. I can't begin to tell you how feedback about my florals opened my eyes, so I was able to change things for my next set of photos. I'd never think that removable "props" would turn someone off. I also have to say that you're taking it well and seem to appreciate the feedback. Those of us selling can now see our house through strangers eyes and what a potential buyer might think when seeing our house online. How the photos look will dictate whether they take the time to actually walk our houses. The last time our house was for sale we did not get any feedback, so I'm very thankful for this forum and hope that the feedback you got helps you. I noticed that the wallpaper in my home got some of the most frequent and critical remarks and it's left me wondering about something. Is wallpaper no longer in vogue in new or remodeled homes or is it that my particular wallpaper is not to the liking of most of you? I've walked a lot of new communities with model homes and can say that here they are still using wallpaper but not in all of the rooms. You might pick the nicest rooms to keep the wallpaper. I love the foyer wallpaper but not with the door color and not with the flooring. You might think to leave some of it up and paint other walls, using it as an accent. Back entrance wallpaper - I would take it down. Half bath - I like the wallpaper but not with the light fixture. Study - I've seen similar paper used in homes I've walked. Utility - dislike the walls - would sheet rock & paint 1st floor master - would paint 1st floor master bath - I like the paper but not for a room like this. I would paint and think about putting up beadboard 2nd floor master - while I like the top paper, I think it would look better painted. The wood on the door is much too dark. I'd also think about putting up a scarf on the windows, then opening the blinds for the photo. While I like pink, others do not :( Second floor vanity/dressing area - this paper you could get away with leaving. Bath 2, second floor - I would try to lighten this room up or leave the picture out. Living Room - I would paint this I also realize that the paneled family room is dated but my thoughts on that is to either paint the paneling a neutral color or rip off the paneling, put up sheetrock and then paint. I also want to install engineered wood flooring in that room and perhaps extend it in to the foyer where, I admit, the tile color is also dated. Another area of critical comments was due to my home having so much carpeting. Has carpeting also gone out of style or do I just have too many rooms with carpet? We just did this in the master bedroom. I would sheet rock. The carpet wouldn't bother me here. I'm one of the weird ones that actually likes carpet, especially for my bad back. Walking on wood floors kills me. BTW, the Saint Bernard that appeared in at least one photo and brought about a comment or two that some people wouldn't even consider buying a home where a dog had been passed away on June 10 much to my hurt. I'm in the process of cleaning up all traces of his presence here. That is, everywhere but in my heart! Very sorry for your loss. After 22 years, I still miss our German Shepherd.