Hey there, it's me again. I came home from work this morning, which gives me a few unexpected hours to myself. And that's a good thing. Sooo, let me tell you all what Jen sent me in the way of seeds... large yellow columbine allium "aflutanese" iberis "tahoe" bombast poppy yarrow "saucy seduction" columbine "clemantine rose" jacob's ladder flower-of-an-hour (never heard of this one, did I get that right?) Jen, those columbines will look great in the garden! I had a large dark purple volunteer columbine in it this year, and I'm hoping it reseeded itself. I haven't had any for a couple of years, and really do like how they look! You sent the perfect yarrow. I'm getting rid of the yellow yarrow in my yard and have been wanting some of the purple/rose colored yarrow, cool! As for the others, I'm looking forward to being surprised by them next year. Thank You Very Much! Oh, almost forgot! To beat the heat, Jen likes ice slushies and fruit smoothies! Have a good weekend everyone! Dan

Joann, bulls can be very unpredictable, I know. I've had some who were so even tempered they became pets, and the one I borrowed from a neighbor last year was named Ethan and developed a distinct taste for powdered sugar donuts. When it was time to take him home, we just bought a box of donuts and walked him into the stock trailer, LOL. HOWEVER, and it's a darned big however, an animal that weighs over 2,000 pounds and can lift three times it's own weight with its neck muscles must be treated with respect and never taken for granted. You won't get a chance to be careless twice, that much is for certain. And that's why I was in the pasture with donuts but the kids were always required to stay on the other side of the fence. Always. Carol, my mother jumped a fence once and it was a bossy old dairy cow that chased her over. Wasn't so funny then as it is now, somehow, but Mother was not happy until that cow became burger so I guess she got her revenge. Annie

If it's your favorite part of a turkey dinner, I'd roast it just like you fix your Thanksgiving bird. I do that every once in a while too, and I also include turkey legs. I cut off excess fat & skin, rub with oil, & then season with herbs & spices. Sometimes I use the traditional poultry seasonings and other times I'll use barbecue or even Cajun seasonings. I line a pan with Reynold's Release foil,and then place the turkey parts on a rack in the pan. Depending on how much time I have before dinner, I may roast it at 325 degrees or 350 degrees. I'd allow at least two hours, but start checking after 90 minutes. I just stick a skewer in to see if the meat is finally tender. The skin is usually wonderfully crispy, but I suppose you could brush a glaze of some kind on it too and then broil it a few minutes to get it crunchier. I never worry about gravy, but you could certainly use the drippings & chicken broth to make a sauce. It's such an easy yet tasty meal. And when we're all gnawing away, holding our turkey legs in our hands, we feel transported back to the court of Henry VIII! I'm sure others will chime in with real recipes & techniques. I just wanted to encourage you. You made a good purchase!

Hi bdilly- Your basic furniture is nice, you don't need to change it. Please paint your walls all one color. The creamy white that you have in their would be just fine. Next, breeze through the bedding sections of store catalogs and hotel brochures, and see which ones make you think, "Oh, I would just love to be on vacation in that room!" Well, that is the feeling you want to recreate in your bedroom! If the rooms you seem to love have all white bedding with thick fluffy comforters and lots of thick white pillows and white curtains, then that's what you get. In the meanwhile, please get rid of the wreath over your bed and the dried flowers on your nightstand. Though when the holidays come, a real pine wreath that smells wonderful would be great. Dried flowers are from the days when fresh flowers were exorbitantly expensive and even a flowering plant was too. These days you can buy a smallish orchid plant that will last for months and then when it dies, you can just buy another. Or buy a few stems of lucky bamboo and put them in a plain glass cylinder. No fake or dried anything, please! You have a large corner on the left side of the window that is perfect for a large live green floor plant such as a kentia palm or an areca palm. For your dresser, if the plant on it is not live, remove it. Do you ever light the candles on the dresser? If not, remove them. If you think you might like to light candles, think about getting some nice slim candlesticks (in a silver tone if you will go with a silver or grey accent color), with tapers. You can remove the plaques with sayings on them, too. You probably can't see them from the bed anyway, and sayings on plaques aren't a "fresh" way to decorate. You can get a vase and cut some branches of something from your garden and put that on your dresser, even if there are no flowers growing yet. If you have the funds, you may want to think about finding a more attractive fan. Don't forego the fan if you need one, but there are many that look attractive. Think about adding some color to the room, and use it in artwork that you hang on the wall, a throw on the bed, possible a rug on the floor, possibly a subtle pattern in a curtain. It can be real color, or some very subtle color such as silver or gray, or two colors together such as silver and light blue, silver and royal blue, grey and royal blue, you get the idea. I saw that you used royal blue pillows in the living room, and curtains which had a grey geometric trellis pattern, that's why I thought of these colors. Here's an example- Your bedroom is actually rather large. You could get a marvelous tufted bench to put at the foot of your bed in any color you like, for example, royal blue velvet. If you want, the tufted bench can open up for storage. Then get a throw for your bed in a in a nubby chenille knit of shades of blue, and then you can get your bedding all in white and a big fluffy comforter. Get three big Euro pillows with white shams, and lots of pillows with white pillowcases. Get white lined blackout curtains. They can be plain white, or white on white pattern or embroidered. Replace your bedside lamps with ones that have more of a curve in their base. Or if royal blue is too bold for you, you could do silver and white together, or gray and white, that is very calm and soothing. Then you can get a throw for the bed that is gray and white, get curtains that are white with a subtle pattern of gray or silver, get lamps with a silvery base, and get a tufted bench of gray velvet. Look at these curtains, aren't these dreamy? https://www.amazon.com/Lambrequin-Casablanca-Metallic-Trellis-Pattern/dp/B00G6PH150 Look at this throw, I don't know what kind of synthetic "mink plush" is, but it sounds like it feels marvelous, and that color is royal for sure! Here's the bench with storage Once you figure out what colors you like, you can get some artwork for the room. Get some large things that really make a statement. For over the bed you want something that is 3/4 the width of the bed, and something to take the place of the roundish three-dimensional thing (although if you felt up to it, you could paint the round thing whatever color you wanted, for example silver, or bluish and keep it). Your art pieces (either 2-dimensional or three-dimensional) can have the color you like and can also incorporate the green of your live plants if you like, because everything goes with green. I love these colors, and one of the picture in your ideabooks showed a painting with blues and greens, so maybe you can look for artwork in this family if it is not too bold for you. If it is in your budget, you can replace the mirror over your dresser with a round mirror in a frame or a starburst mirror. There are many types, pick one that will go with the decor you choose for your room. Here are a few types -