I was in exactly the same spot six years ago, and have never for a moment regretted the decision to hire a professional. It's easy for me to lay out garden beds when there are specific challenges to overcome, and that's what I'd always had. Then we moved to our current home, and I was faced with a flat, wide-open rectangle. I was hoping to increase the sense of depth in the back yard (the lot is wide and shallow), but couldn't wrap my brain around how to accomplish it in that blank space. I was lucky enough to find a landscape designer who wanted to work with me rather than for me. I chose the plants and identified some elements I wanted to see, and she drew the master plan and sub-contracted the heavy lifting. Hope you're as lucky... do let us know how the meeting goes!

I have a copy of, "the NEW Fannie Farmer-Boston Cooking-School COOK BOOK", 1953. My father, in his retirement, took on the care of several Summer homes in Southern Maine. He would check on them during the winter, board up windows against storms, uncover rose gardens when the time was right, deal with emergencies...that kind of thing. During the Summer, when people were in residence, he was sort of a general, all around handyman. His largest client was old money...there was a beach named after the family, a road named after the family, and a huge home, loaded with antiques that had been the original furnishings. An elderly Black woman came up every summer from South Carolina to be their cook for the season. Little bittie thing, set in her ways and stubborn as heck, but since she'd been cooking for the family for decades, she knew what they liked and how to manage them. I had been separated from my father at age 5, and when I found him again in my early 30's, I went out to stay with him and my stepmother for a year to get to know them. He took me down to meet Marguerite. She was a kick, and we got along...several years later, when she knew that she wouldn't be able to make it up again the next season (or ever), she gave my father her Fannie Farmer for me. It still has a bunch of book marks in it, some with shopping lists, some with her name, some with cryptic notes I can't decipher, all in the same, slanted hand. I actually use the book quite a bit, but I don't disturb the bookmarks. I sometimes puzzle over the marked pages, wondering which recipe she had marked... I also have my mother's copy of "The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook",1952. It has a separate section of Passover recipes. There are no pork recipes, naturally. Generally, the cookies and bread recipes are good. As for unique...I have an Ethiopian cookbook...the only one I've been able to find. "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking-Society, Culture, Hospitality, & Traditions. I've only made a couple of dishes out of it. I love Ethiopian food, and when I found out how much Nit'ir Qibe (purified herb & spice butter) is used in most of the dishes I love, I realized why I love them. For example, in dishes made from 1 pound of ground beef, it is not unusual that they contain a cup of butter. A typical lentil dish pairs 2 cups of lentils with 2 cups of butter. No wonder I love it!

I just got a program called "Living Cookbook 2011" from my dd for Christmas. I was able to download a free copy from their website and use it for free for 30 days before she even spent the money. After a week, I was sold. It has a few built-in recipes, but I bought it for the build-your-own-cookbook feature. Then you can divide it into your own chapters. I've input a few pies and soups. I took pictures of my piecrusts, apple, pumpkin, and pecan pies from Thanksgiving dinner and was able to put them in the cookbook. There is also room for additional pictures and I have pictures of my nieces helping me roll out the pie crusts. My kids call me for recipes and my old favorites are in the recipe box, loose papers, my Betty Crocker & Better Homes & Gardens, Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking and a dozen other church cookbooks, microwave cookbooks. If I wasn't around, they were lost. So I've put it on my laptop and will be able to take it with me on vacation (Yes, we like to cook on vacation.) and eventually be able to print out copies of it. It also automatically calculates the nutritional values of the recipes once you put in the serving number. It has a lot of bells and whistles like meal planning and making a grocery list, but it doesn't have apps for you to go to the grocery store with. You can search by ingredient. But of course, my ultimate goal is to print copies of it out.

Let's see, before I get to my minor rant of the week... As to Penney's Blinds--what a shame you had such a terrible experience. I purchased custom-made blinds from them about 5-6 years ago, and was (and still am) delighted with them. Got exactly what I wanted, the size was right, and they've held up well. Hope you eventually get things sorted out and are happy with your purchase. The tax situation? Our state works differently--we have urban enterprise zones (my new house is in one) where the sales tax is half that of other areas. The system is set up to encourage people to come from other areas to shop there, to boost their economy--I've never had a problem with them charging me the regular sales tax, and even before we bought a home here, we frequently came down to shop and save a few $$$. Okay, my 'rant of the week'. I ordered a few packs of buttons last week from an online place (although I called to place my order). Small little sale--under $10 before the shipping costs. Well, the gal on the phone repeated EVERYTHING I told her except my zip code. I didn't think anything of it, she got the rest correct. Well, when I got home Sunday, checked my e-mails and found my order confirmation, guess what? Yep, she's transposed a few #'s on my zip. I e-mailed (Sunday night) and called (Monday morning--got an answering machine), but apparently they don't bother checking those things, they just barge right ahead with filling their orders, so by the time I got hold of anyone who could actually respond, they'd sent the package with the wrong zip. They're apparently unconcerned about it--they think the post office will notice the error when they scan the package.... Well, hope so, but I'm guessing it's going to slow down the delivery, and I was really hoping they'd arrive today--they're something I need desparately for a project I'm working on at the new house and I'll be leaving for there tomorrow morning.