Okay... Here's the story. I have told you that Sande and I have "brilliant ideas" and Jon ends up "helping". hahaha We are lucky he is so good natured. Sande's father carved the totem pole (and other items) over 30 years ago. The ones he had left were buried in the ground at his home where his widow still lived. She sold the house and is going into senior housing so Sande wanted them. The problem was that the large totem pole which shows in the picture was about 12' long. So here comes Jon to the rescue with his large tractor toting trailer (say that three times after a couple of martinis!!). The big totem pole was standing up next to the garage which was pretty close to the road. The truck and trailer were backed up to the totem pole, which meant the truck was partially blocking the road. Jon walked to each crest of the hill and placed flares to warn anyone coming from either direction about the blockage. One of the flares was in front of a house and the people started yelling at him that they were going to call the police, etc. He came back to tell us and we all laughed about getting arrested for totem pole theft - as if we would bother to put up flares if we were stealing.. sheesh!! Once the big totem pole was on the trailer Jon straightened out the truck and then was just on the grass near the road. We were strapping down the totem pole and putting the small totem pole and carved sign on the trailer when a couple of police cars pulled into the house next door. Fortunately Sande's step-mom was there and waved to the police and they drove on by, checking us out VERY CAREFULLY. hahaha I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't been there. The totem pole is now drying. It had been out in the weather, with most of the paint worn off, for years and was water-logged. Once it is thoroughly dried we will have to stabilize the base as most of that is rotted away, and repaint it. I am going to check with the local museum and see what suggestions they might have. There are lots of historical water-logged wooden items in this area that have to be preserved so someone should know the best way to save the big totem pole. There is a smaller one that is just one eagle head and that one may end up planted near the spillway. I'll take pictures!! Anne

Beautiful! I grow that one too, and it's my favorite. I started more seeds this summer, since I don't know how long the plants will live (this is their 2nd year)

Thanks for the link, I passed it along. My friend adopted 2 brothers from the Ukraine. I think the children can still speak the native tongue....the language when introducing the piece. :0)

I can only guess at stuff from your pictures, how was this floor sanded? With what kind of machine? I do see what looks like drum marks...if that is what they are, then, no...they won't disappear when stained. If this is indeed a refinish, it looks as if not all of the previous finish material has been sanded off, but I can only guess here, as all I am looking at are your pics. I'd say let him stain a small area and look at the results. If the test area looks bad, then you know you'll have to have the floor worked until it is ready for staining. Note that stain will lighten some after drying, so the immediate result may not be what you want to judge. I hate criticizing another's work, but what I see in your pics prompts me to advise a stain test area.