Thanks so much, Terrene. You've saved me money as well as time & energy. I'm sticking with the old fashion purple coneflowers & not buying any modern hybrids no matter how pretty & how colorful they are. Here's hoping that you got rid of all the obnoxious neighbors & that yours bloom true. I've been googling & found a post saying just what you have said. Strong eagle wrote on 12/13/09: "Echinacea ... various colors cross readily ... several years ago, my purple crossed with the white ... and I now have light pink flowers on several large plants." idiginmygarden.com Gardenweed, doesn't it often depend how close the plants are as to whether or not they crosspollinate? Your pics show a big yard. Could you put a good bit of space between different kinds of echies? I am very grateful, thanks! Congrats to you, aklinda & kvenkat!! How about a cat off the internet to dance with you? Credit for dancing cat

Oh I can't wait to see your cabinets! Progress on the outside of our place was good last week but not so great for the inside. There is still MUCH to do. The electrician and plumber were both suppose to show up Saturday and get the electrical done and get the house hooked up to the well. Neither one of them showed up. Was perfect weather this weekend and now it is raining out. I am a tad bit ticked off by neither one of them showing up. The builder stated two weeks ago we would be in by my birthday. I can't wait to call him tomorrow and tell him it is my birthday. LOL! So to answer your question on the move in date. I have no idea! LOL! I have not set up the closing date, I was suppose to set it up for Friday but something told me to wait so I am glad I did. We did took three boxes of toys out of storage for DD and she played for hours on her bedroom floor. I was sealing her grout in her bathroom and I kept hearing her say "OOHHHHH! I forgot I even had this!" It made me smile. Soon, very soon! BUT not soon enough *wink* I start my new job on Tuesday so all my free time is quickly slipping. We hoped to be moving today but no such luck. Maybe a couple more weeks. Good luck with the cabinets! What kind did you go with? Can't wait to see them! Kel

Hi Su VA, Well, you know how it goes ... the older you get ... the more the memories of the ``good old days`` come back! I`ve been here about ten years, maybe some more ... started during the Spike regime, and got sent to `Disney` a few times ... at first, wondered what the heck was going on, as we didn`t get any ``gentle reminders`` then! Was here during the ``pay-days`` (not the store kind), and reimbursing someone because I didn`t have PayPal was expensive, for a Canadian Dollar was only ``worth`` (whatever that means) about 80 cents in ``real`` money ... not about a dollar, give or take a few cents, as recently. (How often does one get to speak one`s mind ... for free ... with seldom any repercussions)! Plus ... what does one call someone who `bugs`` one (sorry - question mark doesn`t work). ole joyful

I have given my nieces their initial every year for a dozen years and can't always find vintage. etsy. You will always be able to find vintage initials on etsy. I agree with Chispa. It depends on the item and if I really want it (perfect for my space, could use in more than one place in the home, functional as well as pretty). Ok, I have to take back the functional part since I tend to mostly buy vintage/antique accessories just because. The things I have probably over paid for, but was happy to overpay, were things I had seen (online or in magazines), searched for (online and locally), and finally found (locally, traveling or online) - at a price I felt comfortable paying.. and didn't think was over the top. They had to be in good shape (not falling apart or damaged). A case of RH vs Antique. They have os de mouton wing chairs, on sale for $1185-1580. (regular $1395-1860). I had been searching for a pair of antique os de mounton arm chairs. Decent shape. Didn't care if they needed recovering since I would rather. I finally found a set of four, and luckily the shop owner was willing to divide. I purchased a pair, found the perfect fabric at bargain price (reg $27 a yard, and I got 4 yards for $27) yet it cost me $700 to recover both (included removing the back which was red leather, so they had to redo the webbing). Total for the pair, I spent about the same as one RH chair regular price. I'd much rather have an antique or vintage piece. I can justify the recovering expense since I will never recover them again. Getting the fabric at a bargain helped offset the cost of the chairs and recovering (at least in my mind). The chairs turned out great, they bring me joy every time I see them and they are comfortable to sit in. Even the cats enjoy them. I don't live in a "no touch" zone. So while I may not want to pay $900 for stone finials (value thing, like Chispa), I don't mind paying $900 for something else. Here is a link that might be useful: my os de mouton chair saga