Dorothy, I never thought of it that way. Although, I have to admit that I enjoy watching DS deal with a two-year-old and it does seem like 'payback' (hee hee) for all the grief he gave us when he was little. So, I guess I'll get to enjoy watching him be on the adult side of the adult-teenager conflict one of these years. Paula, I remember that age well....."dumber than a box of rocks" pretty much sums up what most teenagers think about their parents when those kids reach that age. LOL Aren't you glad they outgrow it? You're raising some little gardeners too, and it reminds me of the old saying "If I'd known grandkids would be so much fun, I would have had them first." Isn't it just the most fun to share those home-grown pumpkins with the kids? I always get the greatest sense of pride from eating/using anything and everything we raised ourselves. And, you should be proud because your grandkids are learning early on just where their food comes from AND how they can be a part of the whole process. Mandy, If your mom says that your daughter's behavior is a little more "intense" than yours was, well, you know what that means.....it means it is your DH's fault because she got the entra fiesty genes from him! LOL I vote for having chickens. We have had them ever since we moved here and there's nothing better than farm fresh eggs. However, you absolutely must have a 100% predator-proof chicken coop and securely fenced chicken run or your kids' hearts will be broken when predators get your birds and your eggs. Every child that comes to our place is simply 100% fascinated with the chickens and their eggs. I know of at least one young boy who wouldn't eat eggs at all until he got to start gathering eggs at our house and taking them home with him. When I hear the name 'Felicity', two images come to mind. One is the TV show, 'Felicity', which was on in the late 1990s-early 2000s and starred Keri Russell in the title role. The other is the American Girls doll, Felicity. So, when I saw your daughter's name, those two pleasant images came to mind and now that you've described her, I can picture her in my mind and I see a darling and spirited young girl who loves to garden and who will, later on in her teens, give you every gray hair you have. I love traditional names too. Dorothy, Love the iron hand in the velvet glove reference. I think it is true, too. As long as those kids know there is an iron hand inside that velvet glove, the iron hand doesn't have to put in an appearance very often because just knowing it is there is quite a deterrence. You know, everyone, raising kids is a lot like raising a garden.....and don't we all know it! Dawn P.S. Mandy, I linked the American Girls website to show you their Felicity. One of our nieces had the 'Molly' doll when she was younger because Molly looked just like her and that was her favorite toy for years. Here is a link that might be useful: The Felicity Doll

Well, I guess I'm extinct...I love tablecloths, esp. old vintage colorful ones, love chairs that move, and have rockers, gliders, ones on castors, etc., have an antique leather loveseat that can convert to a less-than full-sized bed, have a china cabinet that I'll never part with, a vast collection of mainly classic DVD movies, not ready to give up my landline for the emergency reasons stated, sleep in a full-size bed as I don't need bigger, and the bedroom feels larger with a smaller bed...love my vintage card table-another dinosaur? Although my adult daughter and I don't care for the overstuffed recliner look, we are both contemplating my mother's recliner that is 45 years old and very petite. If either of us take it, we would recover it in leather with nailhead trim....I don't have a coffee table only due to the small size of my living room, however, I got rid of regular nightstands years ago in favor of larger pieces of furniture - one a desk - that flank my bed, which I find much more functional. Extinct - maybe beaded screens (remember those!!? I had one separating two rooms... Someday extinct bookshelves? Although I'll never part with mine! I love my window cranes, too, but seldom see them anymore. I also love my cotton lace curtains, and wonder if they are considered on par with doilies! Penny

That was fun....I also watched a few others....to bad we don't have more of those shows on TV. Thanks for the nice show!

In my new home, I have a housekeeper come every other week. I like clean homes. I do NOT like the actual job of cleaning them. I'd rather work in the garden, or do some cooking, or deal with the chickens, or keep up with physical maintenance and house painting/staining, or do graphic arts or anything else. I'm fine with doing laundry, too. I clean up after myself in the kitchen, but the housekeeper does floors, bathrooms and general dusting/windows and such. And I now have a robot vacuum who is pretty decent at what he does. He even has a name: Sharkey. I'm not crazy about cleaning his filter, but it comes with the territory and lasts five minutes... I didn't have a housekeeper back at my old CT home. One reason my getting out of there and getting the place on the market is taking so long... especially since I then had a full time job that lasted well over the standard 40 hour work week. THIS one will be clean! But it doesn't need to be anally-House Beautiful clean. Simply lived in and tidy. My reasons for not wanting a fully white kitchen or other rooms are not about appearing clean, but about my just only wanting white as an accent. Aesthetically. That's what works for my sense of eye appeal.