Sue B.- Thanks for all the photos!!! ...and especially taking the time to post-'em all for us to enjoy! Very sweet of you. Sounds like you'd like to do some re-decorating down there?! Lovely, lovely shots. Keep-'em coming! YOUR family look like the movie stars!! Now that you're such a 4S Veteran, we'll be askin' you lots of questions! So....when are you off to Maui?!?!? The only thing I have to "counter" with is a previously "unpublished" (by ME anyway...) pic of the Maui FS. It's an early morning pic, taken from the Lobby-Lounge area looking towards Ferraro's restaurant. The main pool fountain wasn't on yet. We were up to go snorkeling at the Molokini crater. Faron

We are in Drenthe now for 4 days. This is a very forested area and then open veld lands. There are boards placed in different areas showing the flora and fauna that lives there. I took pics of two small lakes..one has a beach and lots of people go there to swim, the other was just a beautiful natural lake. Drenthe is known for the hundebed here. These are boulders that were pushed here by the Ice Age upheaval. The people of that time were able to stack them and make burial grounds with these huge boulders. I don't have a good pick of any as there were too many people around this AM...sigh...kids climbing on them which I personally do not like...also adults. I remember when we saw them 25 yrs ago it was frowned upon to climb on them as it was disrespectful...times change I guess. They are scattered everywhere in this country and others of Europe. Our B and B is a 100 yr old thatch roofed farmhouse in an apple orchard. It is amazing. The redo inside is incredible but we are in our own little apt. so I have no pics of her home. She has an Ikea kitchen too ! Every single home we have been to has had one. They love Ikea here. All bed linens and towels even the napkins come from there. Here are some pics of the B and B and from our bike ride this AM. We went 35 km to Borger and back here to Anderen. Oh also in one small village there was a man having part of his roof re-thatched. What a lost art and amazing work. I took some photos. The part you see that is done toward the right of the picture took 2 days...he said it would be a week to get the whole rear done. You see more thatched roofs here in Drenthe than you do anywhere else in Holland. It is VERY expensive to have it done . You can see in the next pics what new thatch and old look like. It fairly glows in the sun. I just love it. our garden seating area...we have several ! breakfast and dinner are here under the walnut tree another lovely breakfast..love the egg cozy! garden horse farm next door gardens views one of the many apple trees..they don't pick or use them anymore...both folks have had this B and B for 25 yrs and quite elderly now. there house...note the low huge windows..they are near the ground but are perfect for looking out from inside...a way of keeping the style of the house intact and yet making soaring ceilings inside..wish I could show you pics..I will perhaps ask if I can take some . another garden " room" ...all the Dutch garden in small rooms..I love love love it..so intimate small beachy lake wild natural one..you can guess which I like best ! nature board at the largest hundebed in the Netherlands thatching process bunches first up on the roof where he uses wire to tie it all together note the ladders used to ascend the roof a new one nearby see how light and an old one unusual detail I spotted on the way out of town... more on other days...thanks for looking and hope you enjoy.

Well it's good to know I'm not alone, I guess! Thanks for the replies. I think that motor oil or other toxins from vehicles is the most likely culprit in my case, as with yours, barrett001. I'm guessing used oil from farm equipment in my instance. I tend to discount the compacted soil theory because my blighted area is on a fairly steep uphill slope, so not optimal for parking, but it is possible. Interestingly, when I did a search for trees that are tolerant of toxic (petroleum in particular) soils, many varieties of crabapple were on the list, so I guess that explains my sole surviving tree. It is remarkable how the area has such distinct boundaries. It extends a short distance into the neighboring "re-foresting" area, and two of the spruce seedlings I planted there suffered. One died early on, while the other is a stunted specimen today. Just on the other side of the invisible line, their spruce companions are all thriving and about ten times taller than the stunted tree. If I had less land, a small yard for instance, then I would be digging out the old soil and replacing it, or building a raised bed filled with untainted soil, but as it is I have no interest in soil testing or attempting to repair my blighted area. It's more of a curiosity for me.

Lynn, it is so nice of you to start this thread. BL, I missed that, so sorry to hear about the fire. I hope you find some enjoyment in the rebuild process! Once I stopped stressing and instead embraced certain things (like whether to replace all the oak floors, which I ended up high-glossing and complementing with gold hardware) the process became a lot more fun. My favorite things about my kitchen are all things I learned here on GW: All drawer base cabinets, under the sink trash pullout with automatic open and close, custom drawer inserts from woodhollow on Ebay. Microwave, toaster, mixmaster tucked away in the pantry. My biggest thanks goes to all the quartzite experts who encouraged me to do the scratch/etch/stain test at the stone yards. I still love my quartzite with its rivers of crystals, and am so grateful to GWers and especially karin_mt for sharing her considerable knowledge. One thing I didn't realize is how often I would have to polish the Polished Nickel. It's so pretty and warm, which bridges the gold/silver gap. But those Corbett pendants and the faucets require some upkeep. I've not been in this kitchen for many months due to covid, and am planning a redo of my Florida kitchen, so I'm taking notes here too! Wishing you happy designing! ETA: Ditto on the Blanco sink. Mine is metallic gray. When you clean it with magic eraser (GWers again) it glistens. I would never go back to stainless or porcelain.