Hi lawjedi, wow ... that is early for a bearing failure. Mine is just going now (10 year old Frigidaire) so I too am in the market for new machines. Although, after 10 years I don't feel they owe me much. Did you use proper HE detergent and all the "proper" FL maintenance (leave door open after use etc ...)? Is this your machine on attached link? If so, it's 4.0 cu. ft. Here's what I believe ... there is a 5% (they say) failure rate for any brand. I've just gone through this process so I'd say write down the features you really want to have and narrow it down from there. Decide if there are any brands you won't consider (I assume Whirlpool) and rule them out. I have looked at EVERYTHING there is over the last few months. I have brought it down to Miele or LG. I just helped my Mom buy new entry level LGs (her budget was smaller) and I have to say ... I really like them. I think they feel much nicer than Whirlpool and Bosch. They seem to have tons of good reviews on line and Consumer Reports rates them highly and they are the least repair prone (according to CR). There are a few LGs larger than 4.0. The WM3885 is Ultra Large 4.8 cu.ft. capacity and has two settings a Mom (like us) would appreciate - Sanitary (158 F) and Allergiene (which eliminates common allergens using steam). This is their largest unit right now. http://www.lg.com/us/appliances/washers/LG-steam-washer-WM3885HWCA.jsp Slightly smaller and more affordable would be the WM3360 at 4.5 cu.ft. capacity. It also has the above two settings. http://www.lg.com/us/appliances/washers/LG-steam-washer-WM3360HWCA.jsp Even slightly smaller (but larger than your Duet) is the WM2501 at 4.2 cu. ft. capacity. I'm considering this one with matching gas dryer. Also has above mentioned settings. http://www.lg.com/us/appliances/washers/LG-steam-washer-WM2501HWA.jsp I would love the 4.5 cu. ft. but it doesn't have a gas dryer so 4.2 it is (if I go with LG). Good luck - let us know what you end up deciding. Here is a link that might be useful: Whirlpool 4.0 cu. ft. white front-load Duet washer

moccasin - those are some nice lights! i can see why you like them. I bet they're more than 20-30 $s each tho... I loved that the globes come in colors... I'd stay away from the red tho. OTOH that could be good for an emergency signal to a neighbor. I'm too poor to pay much for the lights - even if I find a SWern one i like it's sure to be more than 30.00 and I think I should limit it to that. I need 3 - plus a few (plus) inside need replaced based on they are UGLY. I found these 2 at lowe's. both plain but would do the job - cheaply. it'll probably be the first one unless I find something better for the price in the store. around 25.00 with clean lines. I'd have to see how my chubby little fingers fit for changing the bulb. it's better I don't have to mess with those little screws and chance dropping the globe since things seems to jump out of my hands. I remember changing bulbs in the screw on globe type yrs ago. max wattage is 100w this one is about 21.00. I like it, again clean, simple lines - this one has a frosted globe. has the little screws tho and max wattage is 60w.

You can balance the visual weight of the pieces with one large and two smaller ones but they need matching frames and maybe color schemes to work well together. When we hang an annual art show the civic arts center requires all plain black frames. That ties together art in a variety of styles. Matching pieces will make a bolder decorative statement but get things you love and express you.

Bart, I have a suspicion that you're not considering other phlomis because of their yellow flowers: am I right? Phlomis are wonderful shrubs for gardeners who have poor heavy soil, periods of drought, and loads of sun. They have handsome foliage, silvery and dark green, are large enough to make a statement and suppress weeds and grass, and they need little maintenance, perhaps an annual pruning. They never look bad any time of year. However, they may not suit your gardening style. I love rosemary, which can get very large and lush, but it needs adequate drainage and can be messily floppy; it's best planted on top of a low terrace that ensures drainage and down which it can tumble. Salvia greggii is handsome and gets big; it has more delicate foliage than phlomis, and it can be damaged by frost, but it's an extremely tough plant for Mediterranean conditions. Another favorite of mine is shrub (or tree) germander, Teucrium fruticans. This is another drought tolerant subshrub that gets large: it has the most silvery foliage of any plant I know, and likes the same conditions as these other plants, tolerating heavy soil as phlomis does. I never get around to pruning mine like I ought to. Mine has never seeded. My apologies if you already know all this. I'm listing the ground covers that have worked for me and that are low maintenance. I wish I could see your garden and get an idea of your vision for it. "Companion planting" can be all sorts of things, but if choking out weeds is a high priority for you, then Mediterranean subshrubs are a good way to go. I can't think of many, if any, other smallish plants with year-round foliage or woody structure that can take full sun and compete with weeds. There are shade lovers, but they're a different kettle of fish. Have you, by the way, let areas of the beds go and allowed native spring annuals to frolic about? If you combine these with bulbs and herbaceous perennials--peonies come to mind--you might get some pleasant, if informal, plantings. These kinds of plantings can be gently nudged along, and take a few years to develop. Also, I've never found a way to have all the garden look good all the time. Right now I'm dealing with the annual grass, now mature and flopped over after two days of light but steady rain. It's a mess. But the grass is still better than no grass. Oh...there are also the named varieties of caryopteris (I don't recommend the species, which gets untidy and isn't pretty enough to compensate its shortcomings). There are also herbaceous perennials, which might be useful, but I think I've written enough. I have a suspicion I've said much of this before....well, patience....there it is. BirdsLoveRoses, the Small Orto is an area we have close to the house given over to propagating beds and surrounded by ornamental plantings, the whole forming a sub-garden within the garden. This is our name for this garden. Italian has two words for "garden": there's "giardino", meaning an ornamental garden; and "orto", derived from Latin "hortus", meaning a vegetable patch, with an implication of simple geometrical order and tidy rows of vegetables and herbs, with possibly some flowers for cutting. The Small Orto started life as an attempt at a vegetable garden, at which it failed spectacularly, but I converted it into beds for propagating plants, digging out the bedrock (it was a parking area under the previous owners) with a pick, bringing in compost and sand, and, later, laying out beds outlined in heavy pavers. It has maintained this structure since. We plants tomatoes and, usually, parsley there every year, and otherwise grow plants on there. Ornamental plants keep coming in and not leaving again, though, which is a problem, though one of the better kind.