Ah, don't worry. :o) We've been so busy with preparing dinner, having family time and opening gifts, plowing us out and having to drive 40 miles to go get my brother who wasn't going to make it out here because he couldn't get his car moving in the snow. Well, we had such great fun opening our SS gifts! We were spoiled and will post pictures later tonight. Thanks for thinking of us, Leveta! Bear Hugs! Kirk

I'm looking forward to these sort of things happening at the Lake County Extension Office. As I understand it, they only just recently got a replacement Horticultural Expert after being without one for a couple of years. I was told that she's 'really Gung-Ho' about getting things going and having various garden/landscape workshops (Rain Barrel workshops! Yipee!). It's just so far, there hasn't been anything. So instead, I keep watching the Marion and Sumter County Extension Offices and hoping to see something there that I would be willing to drive over to attend. I would be tempted to drive up to Duval for that Spring Garden class, but last time I drove to Jacksonville (two weeks ago, 6 hr round trip) I paid for it with two days of back pain.

Yes, that's the one. I liked the non-textured ones as much as the textured, though. And I was wondering if there's not some other way to get that look without globbing up a mallet. I hate to get my hot glue gun out! I've always wanted to make a cigar-box purse and I think the copper would look great on one of those. In fact, I've been thinking of changing the back-splash in my kitchen and using copper or tin somehow... BTW, looking at the website for that project... they mention Memories permanent ink. Is that the kind Walmart sells?

This has been a fun process for me because I've decided to downsize considerably in order to justify having a few nicer things in the small space. I'll be going from an 1,800 sq ft home with separate garage/workshop to a 530 sq ft apartment above a 500 sq ft garage/workshop. This is an experiment for me both in simple living as well as in designing a living space that will cost as little as possible to heat or maintain. I'm also a bachelor, so it's a bit easier making a tiny space work. This structure is also being built on the edge of an heirloom fruit orchard of mine (16 acres), and much of my time is spent outdoors. The apartment is a comprised of a main living space divided into three areas: a well-equipped little kitchen, a dining area, and a home office. There's also a separate bedroom with a large closet as well as a full bath. The workshop/garage is large enough to hold a pick-up truck, tractor, a laundry area, a workbench, and three large chest freezers for storage. My challenge has been to take a serious look at what I truly need and I'm willing to give up in order to make this space work. I've learned a lot about myself in the process. In particular, a piano is more important to me than a sofa! When guests come to visit, our time indoors will have to be spent around the dining table. This is a concession I decided to make in order to have space for an upright piano. I also had to give up having a big, comfortable leather club chair and ottoman for reading and relaxing. Instead, I opted to have an over-sized bed (California King), really comfortable dining room chairs and an ergonomic chair for my desk (Aeron). Having sized down so drastically though, I will own my home outright (and all of its contents.) It's also been designed to be so well-insulated and airtight that I'll have a monthly utility bill of around $195/mo that will cover all space heating, air conditioning, hot water, electricity and propane, including a gas range and a top of the line steam shower. My Scrimps have turned out to be what I've simply given up: *No formal living room *No sofa *No space for a comfortable leather chair *No guest room My Splurges are: *Kohler Unwind Luxury Steam Shower (with six shower heads) *Sun Valley Bronze architectural hardware *Custom made Cedar garage and entry doors *Custom made Cherry kitchen cabinetry *Custom made Cherry rolltop office desk *Custom made Cherry Shaker Panel bed and nightstands with storage drawers beneath *6 Cherry dining chairs & table by Gary Weeks & Co. *BlueStar LP gas range *Yamaha Avant Grand N2 piano *Lie-Nielsen Roubo workbench (in garage) *BR-111 Tiete Rosewood floors and staircase *Sorpetaler Triple-Glazed European windows (from Germany) *Farrow & Ball paint *Caesarstone countertops *Rohl faucets and apron kitchen sink *Fisher & Paykel refrigerator/freezer *Bosch dishwasher *Motawi tile for bathroom and kitchen backsplash *Jaga...