Glad you decided to stay and please keep posting photos. I also have a flamingo story. A couple of years ago I decided to raise money for a charity in Guatemala. I found an idea on the Internet and decided to buy more than 20 pink plastic flamingos and I would go to a house early in the morning and plant them in their front yard. I would leave a message saying "You have been flocked!" Then I would explain why I did it and I would ask for a donation for my charity. It was supposed to ask for ransom in order to take them off their garden but I didn't know if they would understand so I just asked for a donation, explaining I would be back at 5 in the afternoon to take them off. They could also give me a donation and I would put them in the house of their choice. I started with my sister. I went at 5 a.m. to put them there and went home to wait for their call. Well, I waited almost all day and nobody called to say anything. When we finally talked she said, "Oh, yeah, that was funny". She was supposed to pick the next house to be flocked but she didn't want to do it. She eventually helped me by putting them in other houses. I had put a sign explaining the charity so a woman called and asked me to put them at her daughter's home. She loved them and I got a donation. I did it in other houses during the summer but I finally decided to stop because some people got really mad when they found the flamingos. My brother in law said that was the most embarrasing thing that had ever happened to him. That coming from somebody that doesn't seem to be embarrased by anything. It was fun doing it and my husband and children loved it. It was a lot of work to get up early and then go back to pick them up. I still have them and we put them in the back lawn from time to time. My kids love them! Here are some picture:

Miss Barbara, My word Gurl, I needed a fresh page just for you . . . temptre . . . enabl . . . Dear Friend. ♥ All jokes aside, The orchids and I faired well over the winter, and I will let them know you are thinking of them. You already know that your influence is scattered throughout my collection, and here you go again enabling me more !!! However, I’m not sure if you remember, last year when you baited me with White Elephant. It was right before I left to visit Hallson’s. As a result of your post, I ended up picking out one right then and there !!! It was haggard looking last year, what with a move across 5 states and then too much rain and shade. Here he is, in 2013. And again this year, looking much better. Pic taken today. Ooooo all that white sends my heart a flutter. :P But about this Lionheart business, I will reserve my comments to the actual post, so check back later. :) And Bless your heart for sharing your wind chimes. I ended up spending a half hour perusing that website, listening to all the different models. Your Earth Song is gorgeous !!! But I had to laugh when my ear settled on the $ 660.00, 8ft tall, Himalayan Echo . . . figures, I couldn’t swoon for one of the smaller more reasonably priced models. I would die to have one that big, though. Hang it somewhere high in a tree in the back yard and just let it resonate. I’m sure you could almost feel the vibrations if the wind picked up enough and really got it going. But I won’t be hearing it’s song for a long time at that price . . . good to set long term goals for yourself, right ? I was inspired by your link and ended up finding out more information on the one I just bought. I updated the original post if you want to go back check it out. This is actually my second one. The first, was a gift from my Mother almost 6 years ago after I graduated college. I had it hanging on my porch when I lived in Indiana, PA, but never made it out of the box once I moved to Philly. That is all changing this year as I have plans (or rather a grown adult with a big drill) to attach a huge hook to the roof of the front porch overhang. It is a 42 inch Arias. It does not have a theme or name like my Windsinger and definitely sounds more like cathedral bells. But still just as pleasing. Plus, I think of Mumma Bear when I hear it. ♥ Here is a link to a vendor that sells them, but it also includes an audio clip if you want to hear what it sounds like, as well. Arias 42 Inch Wind Chime Thank you for thinking of me, and I hope to be able to post again soon with more updates. Give hugs to the husband, birds, and little furry ones for me. ♥ Yours, Ludi

I have two gardens, straddling the Ohio/PA border, about 13 miles apart. Due to persistent cold and wet cloudy weather tomatoes are ripening later this year than normal. I've had a few but not like in a normal year. Normally I shoot for at least 1 nice red by the 4th of July but this year didn't get him until the 13th. However, when I look at the fruit set on my plants, and the generally large size of all the greenies I am wondering what the devil I am going to do with all those tomatoes when they do come in! Here is the flip side: yesterday I picked hot peppers (and a few sweets) and prepped them for soaking and then canning today. I don't ever remember getting into canning hot peppers this early in the year. They were not very hot because of so much rain so I left some seeds in from the jalapeno peppers to heat the batch up. Fantastic garlic/winter onions and shallots this year by the way, and dill over 4 ft tall! Cukes and beans are slow also. Summer squash is piling up, onions are still growing and they are later than usual-giant in the PA garden but wimpy here in Ohio. Pretty much an unusual year so far and with many good yields through the various varieties.

Dear Sheainli, I was actually hoping this thread, as well as the other recent one regarding my experience with M. Texiera, would have been exhausted and off the rotation by now. Then, lo and behold! I see you just joined the GW community today and, in your first act of sharing comments with this group, you have chosen to tell us on both of these threads about your wonderful experience with Texiera. What a coincidence! Forgive me if I sound a bit wary of the timing and circumstances of your introductory comments to this forum. OTOH, I do not wish to adopt the style of Roger Teixiera and unfairly accuse anyone of dirty motives in posting here. Therefore, in the event you are truly a new member to this community who has unwittingly jumped into the fray, and who intends to stay around and share your remodel experience with us all the way through, then please let me be among the first to welcome you here. Really. At the same time, Sheanli, I think your post does open the door for me to make some final, hopefully closing comments on this entire debacle. As I've tried to say, in numerous times and in numerous ways, I've never doubted the rave reviews of M. Texiera which have dominated these boards for years. Indeed, had it not been for so many satisfied M. Texiera customers who have posted about those experiences here, I might never have ever wound up at that company looking to buy soapstone in the first place. A business does not get a glowing reputation in a forum community such as this because it's a lousy place to do business! I get that and I don't begrudge anyone their wonderful experience with M. Texiera. I only wish that same story could have been mine. But, sadly, it's NOT my story! Instead, I entered the doors of M. Teixiera with a consumer anticipation and excitement that was beyond measure. And, I was greeted by Michelle, Leo and other employees with professionalism and warmth. However, after only after my asking some pretty basic questions on the specifics,Roger Texiera ordered the quote and contract to me to be dismissed. Further, he withdrew the contract offer on the basis of an untruth which, despite my refutations, he refused to discuss. From what I've seen of some of the comments to this thread, not everyone would have been upset by Roger Teixiera's behavior. However, my truth is, (which is the bottom point of this thread after all) by the time my last futile effort to do business with M. Teixiera was rejected, I felt erased. And, no, I don't like the feeling of erasure. Not one bit. For once and for all, let me also make it clear that I did not initiate this thread in order to "get" M. Texiera or to try to take down that business! Let's be real. I'm a single, older female consumer who had one bad experience with the company. How is it even conceivable that someone like me has the means to cause harm to a mega-business in the North American soapstone industry that more likely than not has a profit statement that runs in the millions? I don't. OTOH, and despite all the wonderful experiences so many have had with M. Teixiera, I just can't make the same claim. Thus, when members of the community have solicited member opinions of the company, I've tried to offer my minority viewpoint in a non-dramatic way. In fact, for a long time, I would just state simply online that my experience at the quote state was not good and, occasionally, I would offer alternative vendors as a suggestion. Even less frequently, I would share details of my negative experience with selected members in private, offline. Nevertheless, every single time I would attempt to exercise my right to say that my experience with the company had not been a good one, Roger Texiera would come onto these boards to attack my character and to suggest he was the world's greatest business person with the most wonderful of customer skills. After his last attempt at that (which appears in the thread you chose to resurrect with complimentary comments off the back pages of the Forum today) I had finally had it. For me it was high time to accede to Roger's demand that I publicly tell all the specifics of my issue with his company and to counter his accusations against me of a nefarious plot to do harm. I say all that to say that this thread is about my story! And I'd like to tell it without having my character assaulted and diminished as one who is "ignorant", "a PITA" or "not worth it." Frankly, I'd also prefer not to see this thread become a platform for all those who are anxious to say they had a good experience with Teixiera. That's the majority story after all and there have been plenty of threads in which to do that in the past; surely there will be more opportunities to crow about the company in the days ahead. Bottom line: if you're happy with the experience you've had with M. Texiera, good for you! The past few days of spilling the beans about my bad experience will not change that. AFAIK, Roger Teixiera is still the soapstone king. Finally, I did want to come back here just to thank those of you who really do "get" why I wrote this thread in the first place. To see and read all your comments of support has been truly uplifting. Yes, it's been cathartic to get this matter off my chest for once and for all. But, even better, it's been a blessing to finally be heard, respected and encouraged on this matter by a community I've grown to love dearly. A feeling of erasure has been replaced by a feeling of affirmation and support. And, in the process, I'm reminded that "I get by with a little help from my friends." :-) Thank you GW friends!