Back on topic - Lithuanian Crested Pink (LCP) My seed for this came from a trade with Steve "forgot his name but it's written on the packet" at least 7 years ago. I've been saving the seed from the largest, meatiest tomatoes with the smallest and fewest seed locules. Most of the time this is a wonderfully productive plant. Even cursed by the early blight this year, I had some productive, but not exemplary plants. ( I sprayed with copper sulphate at the first sign.) LCP is mild, sweet, fruity and my family loves it so it goes in every year, make as good addition to canned tomatoes because it has so few seeds. Wonderful salad: LCP sliced lengthwise, dress with 1:1 mayo: sour cream, thin with lemon juice, dill snippets, thin sliced red onion. My daughter and husband prefer Rose overall. I've mentioned this previously. Johnny's seeds of Maine advertised that Rose was better than Brandywine. I grew and ate both side by side - Rose won and goes in every year. It Also produced this year in spite of blight. The flavor is very fruity and you can tell when this is included in a sauce. I've saved seed for more than 10 years and have some fruits that have so few seed locules, they *almost* look seedless :-) New love this year: Coustralee - a keeper, big, flavorful, only drawback is the large, plentiful locules. I squish the seeds out before canning. Polish Pastel - like this one, productive, though it's a bit bland. Nice for canning since it is firm and keeps some shape. I think this may be unstable though, as one year the seed I planted had little resemblence to the yellow bell with pink highlights. John from Australia has not answered my email lately :-( Bless him for sharing this one with me. Tomatoes should not be political fodder - if you love one that does not mean the others are no good. It seems the different varieties are suited for different localities and weather conditions, different palates, personalities and uses. Peace through tomatoes. Back to lurk-land Maryanne in WMass

There are two separate issues here. There is the issue of food safety and wholesomeness. And there is the issue of fish stock protection and preservation. Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission is the second one and they use the first as one of the arguments to support their case. I'm interested in both issues and sympathetic to both. But, here of the food forum, I think safety and wholesomeness of what we eat is the main concern. I think it has been established that salmon raised in pens flushed by the tides with unlimited quantities of sea water and fed a carefully formulated diet are high quality fish. Wild salmon, like any other wild fish is also fine with me, but it is a notch below the farmed salmon in quality I believe. By feeding off natural organisms there is some chance of being contaminated by parasites or bacteria. Not enough to worry me much, but enough for me to prefer farmed salmon for lox and sushi. The freshness of farmed salmon is another point in its favor. There is no delay between harvesting and processing. Wild fish spend some time, maybe a little, maybe a lot, in the hold of a boat prior to being landed. Again, I am not against eating wild caught fish, but farm raised salmon can't be bear in that resepect. I do avoid pond raised catfish, tilapia and shrimp. I suspect those shallow, warm water ponds must be overcrowded and unsanitary. It's not at all like salmon pens in the North Atlantic or the North Pacific. Yet, from the point of view of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, pond raised seafood should be highly preferred. Jim

BGlad, here is a plan I found online which might be close to your house. You might have it reversed, which many builders and plan books could do. About your woodwork, I don't think it's been refinished...mine looks very similar, and I know it is untouched. And, it was never painted--even kit houses specified either natural finish or paint as options, with stain being the preferred choice whether the wood was douglas fir, southern yellow pine or oak. If anything has been done to your trim, I think at most it was another coat of shellac to even out the 'bumpy' spots which can occur after nearly a century. I'm torn about re-shellacking mine because I love the patina, but it would be nice if it was smooth again. I think that the ceiling molding in your foyer is probably later, done when the tiles were put up. Can't tell from the pics, but is the opening to your dining room just a wide opening, or is there a door of some sort? Here is a link that might be useful: Harris House Plan

Katie, your house is waaay cool. I live in a house about 10 years older than yours, and I'd like to share what I've learned: The dark wood molding, with its many imperfections, has grown on me in the year we've been here. The dings that drove me nuts a year ago are now character and patina, and I NEVER thought I'd see it that way. I have had great luck with Farrow and Ball colors. Dorset cream in living room, mouse's back (unbelievable color, you really have to see it with the old wood to appreciate it) in the family room, and light stone in the dining room. I also have farrow's cream in the hall and stairway, but i think it was a mistake; dark wood can take much darker colors than you think, and they all look several shades lighter up on the walls. There seem to be a lot of strong opinions about custodianship, which may or may not be off-putting to you (disclaimer: I've got a foot in the custodian camp too). But look at it this way: from a resale standpoint, as the years go by, a well-maintained older home with original details will pull ever and ever higher premiums from buyers, so you will reap the rewards of your "custodianship" in very tangible terms when the time comes. So, to me, self-interest and good custodianship actually align. Also, you will sometimes save money while you're living there if you have chosen period appropriate finishes, materials, colors, and decor: because they are timeless. I was over on the kitchens forum, and people were moaning about their "so-80's kitchen" and how to make it less dated. If you do things to the original decade of your house, they will never look dated: only timeless. You will never need to redecorate when styles change unless YOU want too. Now that's freedom! Finally, I found, and you may find too, that the styles appropriate to your house grow on you. When we bought our house, the first thing we did was remove the bronze statue from our newel post so we wouldn't clock ourselves when we moved in. We NEVER intended to put it back up, and almost gave it away to a neighbor. Well, it has grown on me, and I look forward to the day that I put the other "lady of the house" back on the newel post. (Dh would probably tell you are days that he wants to screw my b... on there--naw we usually get along lol!) So, enjoy!!!!