Bronzino Thank you.....I knew the father the best. Since he was the Principal for 5 years at our school I spoke with him a lot. I did some cleaning to help with tuition and when I worked on Saturdays he would come in with two of his kids and the kids would watch me run the floor scrubbing machine. Then when I remarried and became the parent of my SD she ended up in the same class as his daughter. I kind of take on the burdens of those that are suffering at times like this. I cry for them a lot. I know that a lot of people feel the same way. My heart breaks for them. I am not so sentimental about things but I am about memories. These people shared their lives with us. During some Chapels at school the Principal would bring his little son up on stage with him and the boy would crawl around while his daddy spoke to the school. Every one knew them. It makes you see how fleeting this life is and how short our time is with our kids. I have a DD20 that is talking about moving out and although we have had our issues she wouldn't be leaving under bad circumstances, if she goes now. We could use the extra room but gosh I wish she was 5 years old again for a day here and there. There are days when I wish they would all leave and times when I cry for days that are long gone. Having this funeral in a few days is making me very emotional....how does a parent part with a child like that. lamom....should you read this.....my heart aches for you. You and your dear son are in my prayers. I must blow my nose now....sigh.

Oh, my. I live in a house that still has a dirt-floored room. It is on the first floor, off the kitchen and serves as the wood-storage room (house still heated only with wood, and until 1990 wood was only cooking fuel) and as the cold room to store some kinds of food (aging hams, for instance were/are hung from the rafters). I have made a "floor" in it by laying down vapor retarder, woven polypropylene weed barrier, two layers of shipping pallets, topped with exterior plywood, which I have painted in a cheerful checkerboard faux marble pattern. I mostly did this because the level of the floor (once I hauled out the almost two feet deep and 150 years of compost-ing wood and bark debris and assorted skeletons of long-deceased beasties) was about 18" below the level of the kitchen floor. It was a pain to step up every time I hauled wood into the house. I think my temporary floor is a great improvement. Eventually we may get around to doing something more formal. Or not. Hey, it meets the old-house standard of being a fully reversible change! L.

I used it to get a general idea of how my space would work and as a starting point for consulting with a KD. Many tweaks later I had a final layout but, it was a similar to what I had worked up on the planner. We took down a wall (header went in yesterday!) and the planner gave a visual of how it would look, if it would be disruptive, and was it a feasible option. I also used it when I did my upstairs bathroom reno. We added a bathroom with a 5' knee wall and I was able to see the fit and placement of the fixtures. The planner had a slant wall option that really helped visualize the space.

Romantic, I'm going to make this easier so you have some time left in your day Get yourself a wringer washer, some phosphates, some old vinrage Lux Flakes, and a big ole soup pot. Put the soup pot on to boil..bring it to a rolling boil, fill the wringer with HOT water than dump in your soup pot of boiling water, make sure that water is blistering HOT, than dump in, oh, about 1/2 cup of phosphates, and let it agitate 2 minutes, its very important that the phosphates be introduced to the water first to have time to bind up the hard water minerals when using soap, than add a healthy amount of Lux soap flakes and let agitate again, start adding your linen, you want to see a nice thick layer of creamy froth, so keep adding the soap until that's achived. Once you have a good 2 or 3 inches of froth allow the linen to agitate 30 or 40 minutes. Now you can stop agitation and start running the linen thru the wringers..empty machine and fill with HOT water again for rinsing, continue to empty and re rinse 3 or 4 times, hey soap scum is hard to remove...now you can hang everything on your fences or line. I can promiseyou spotless laundry that is fresh smelling and unbelieveably soft. Or you can throw it in your TL'er add some store bought detergent, some HOT water and just a smigeon of Downy to the rinse and guess what beautifully clean and soft clothes. Joking aside we need to know what your issues are in order to help you.