I (hope) suspect they had a pet sitter. We used to use one in our house when we went on vacation, but I can tell you, it's an imperfect system since my dogs would eliminate in the house (and the pet sitter wasn't nearly as eagle eyed as I am!) so we came home more than once to a stain on the rug. Luckily, heart pine seems to handle dog urine better than other types of floors. Have you tried a little wood bleach or oxalic acid (Bar Keepers Friend?) - try a bit in an inconspicuous spot and see if it helps. If yes, then go for it over the entire area. Or try Nature's Miracle first. Our dogs have been pretty awful about going out since we moved to this temporary apartment and I swear I've been through a gallon of the stuff on our living room rug. Some days I forget they're housetrained. Sigh.

I am convinced now that it's a mindset thing. If you are the type where crumbs on the counter, water rings on a table, etc will bug you to distraction, then you may be susceptible to a problem with marble. But your attitude can change. Admittedly I was more high strung as a parent of small children. I learned to let go a bit as a parent of older kids and teenagers. I realize that certain things are not "on my radar" and other things are what catches my attention--things just change. People come to this realization at different times in their life. I came upon it earlier after being diagnosed with cancer. Many things just don't bug me anymore. They just can't have high priority. Yet, I have a friend who everything bugs her--that's fine. She can't have anything out of place--just her style. She wouldn't have marble, but since I don't care if there is etching, I will. Kids can co-habitate with marble--thousands of Italian families can attest to this. Yet, there will be some who it just won't work for--totally OK :) Once upon a time, I couldn't have anyone throw a jacket on the floor...it would make me start screaming at one of my children. Now I just walk right by those same jackets crumpled into a ball in the entry....it mystifies even me. It's like I somehow got immunity to those things like a peanut-allergy patient who has been clinically de-sensitized to peanuts! Marble is a real choice in my future for the first time in 20 years!

Ok here goes ; ) Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold’ (I'm going to try to get all tree names right!)... bought as a teeny tiny bonsai starter back in 2010 I think- one of the only plants I brought with me to this house when we moved 4 years ago. Developed a leader shortly after the move, I kind of like it. Pinks in front. Acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon', in front of a Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Green Arrow’ that a buck rubbed autumn before last... someone here might remember helping me figure out why the middle portion was dead! As suggested I decided to keep it, after cutting off the 3/4 that was dead. I don't know what kind of tree it looks like now but it's still interesting to me, and I don't have enough other stuff out there yet to justify ripping it out anyway. Ah well. A bright yellow barberry gifted by my mom behind the maple. Still want to grab some big rocks for around some of these guys. Picea pungens, 'Globosa' from westernevergreen in my first online conifer order, in spring of 2015. So exciting to see them all getting a little bigger; seeing the new buds in spring are one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Right up there with watching the kids sleep and smelling the dog's paws, that level of good. Next are the other 2 from that order, Pinus parviflora 'Adcock's Dwarf' and Pinus parviflora 'Goldilocks'. These things are all obviously still very small but I've loved watching them, especially this spring. Then I have some decent growth on the Picea abies 'Pendula' that I also bought 2 years ago, from a nursery here. And this spring we splurged on a nice sized Picea pungens 'The Blues'... (I went a tad crazy this spring with big deal favorites). Then of course I have the curly thing that was the subject of this post-- I can't remember now exactly what variety it is, have to find the tag in the garage. Next I have my two most exciting plant purchases ever, the Tom Thumb and Kohout's Icebreaker I mentioned initially, which part of me thought I should wait until I had more space filled to buy, since they are so tiny and will remain that way for such a long time... but the other part of me thought I kind of have to get them early if I want to see any growth whatsoever! These two are my second online order, from coniferkingdom. At first I felt a little bit sick spending so much on such tiny little babies but then they gave me a free Picea omoriko 'Pendula Bruns' on top of it and while I have no idea where I'm ever going to put him, it made it all OK from there on out. And then when they arrived, I was so pleasantly surprised with the size of the Tom Thumb, though the trunk itself is pretty skinny. (Oh my gosh how cute is that tiny little thing? Can barely see it.) We've got a couple teeny tiny maples out there too, sprinkled in some. It's all still a little pitiful looking from the street but once things grow enough to sort of disguise gas/electric boxes and rainspouts and such, I think (hope) it's going to be really something. : ) thanks for asking Ron... feels good to be remembered!! -Nicole

I just used the Feast and Watson Liming stain and varnish on my cypress pine boards....an absolute disaster! Doing a bit of google research I find sooooo many people who've had the same experience. I spoke to a couple of professional guys who said 'don't do it' (I still did). Sometimes it works out ok....but often it doesn't. Followed the instructions to the letter and still it went badly blotchy. Whenever the roller touched previously painted, it just grabbed at it. I've just had to sand the whole floor back again :(