Wow! I had no idea it could do Zone 4 either! I agree with Jeri, there is no such thing as an "overgrown" yellow lady banks rose. It is naturally a climber - but in zone 4 I would imagine it would die back in the winter? How big, exactly, is yours? Can you post a picture? Not sure what you mean by "blooms seem weak". This rose blooms in large clusters of teenie, tiny flowers, and usually it is either blooming, or it is not. Anyway, here in zone 9 I have one that grew to the roof of our 3 story house, and about 20 feet wide. We did have to cut it back drastically when the house got painted last Summer - we cut it down to about 8 feet high. It loved that - it immediately sprouted a lot of new growth from the base, and is flourishing, and is already about half as big as it was. They are supposedly not cold hardy, so I am assuming that yours is growing somewhere where it is fairly sheltered, and gets a lot of sun? Would love to hear details, as this is the coldest zone I have ever heard of one of them growing in - even in England Graham Thomas said it was a rose he could only grow "under glass". Please send more details! Jackie

This is one of those subjects that is all about choices. For all my cooking and baking from scratch, I live quite nicely without the aid of a stand mixer taking up space, but wouldn't be without my Zojirushi Bread Machine. I'm on my second one - I wore the first one out and there are just two of us at home. I had a Sunbeam Stand Mixer I purchased for the prime reason of breadmaking because of my arthritic hands (I was in my late 20's at the time - 56 now), and it failed miserably at the task, and I rarely ever used it for mixing anything else. I hated lugging out the heavy glass bowls and the heavy machine. I don't leave any appliances setting out - I don't like clutter on my counters. All my "kitchen toys" (and I have more than most people) are stored in a tall utility cabinet designed for them. My sister gave me her Deluxe Oster Kitchen Center complete with a pasta maker and ice cream freezer and several other totally useless attachments, 10 years ago, because she never used it, and she got a Professional 600 Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, which she still never uses, but she wanted the red mixer to match her new kitchen. It's a status symbol. I used the Oster a few times and gave it back to her. The Oster also failed at breadmaking. My sister uses her Zojirushi Bread Machine for making dough, not the KA. I have an ergonomic (easy to hold and use) Black & Decker Hand-Held Mixer that works for anything I would need mixed with an electric mixer, which is mainly creaming fat and sugar together. After that, I use a (hand-held) Danish Dough Whisk for mixing cakes and quick breads. People tend to over-mix these if mixing them in stand mixers or using a hand-held mixer, and over-develop gluten. When I judge foods at County Fairs, I can tell you who uses an electric mixer on a quick bread or a cake because they are nearly always over-mixed, tough, with tunnels going through them. When it comes to making bread dough, I use what the King Arthur Test Kitchen uses for making their dough - a Zojirushi Bread Machine. It does the best job at making dough, not a stand mixer, which tends to aerate dough, and not by hand, according to their tests. I make all our breads using freshly-milled flour I mill at home from a wide variety of grains/seeds/beans; and primarily use the bread machine for all yeast/sourdough/Artisan/flatbread dough making. I bake bread every 7-10 days. The nice plus about a bread machine is that you can also bake it it, although I never bake in the bread machine. I prefer baking in the oven in the loaf amounts or shapes appropriate for our use. I've converted our favorite non-bread machine recipes to using a bread machine. I generally make a 2# size recipe (or larger, using my own recipes) and then use that amount for a 1# loaf of bread (which we use one loaf per week) and the other half of the recipe I can make into any number of things - an 8-inch square pan of dinner rolls, 6-sticky pecan rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns, or another loaf of bread for the freezer...all from the same recipe. Years ago, King Arthur had a picture in their "Baker's Catalogue" of 2 loaves of whole wheat bread in a side-by-side test. One loaf made using a stand mixer and the other loaf (using the same recipe, dough only, and baked in a loaf pan in the oven) made in the Zojirushi Bread Machine. The loaf mixed in the bread machine was at least 1-inch higher than the loaf made in a stand mixer. So there is a little more information on the subject you probably didn't have. -Grainlady

I borrowed that pink chair from where I'd posted it in the Cottage thread in the Gallery. I've been having fun over there. I thought you'd get a kick out of it! It's cute as can be and twice as gutsy. Your room is shaping up just great. I love the cozy feel. Formal is lovely but can look un-touchable sometimes, you know? Everyone loves a good kick-back casual room, especially if it's pretty. Reno ~~ I really do like the shape of these chairs better than the other chair you asked about. These are more graceful. If they're comfy, I say go for it. You could re-cover them a kazillion ways so they should always find a place in some room or another. They will probably work just fine in there as they are. Just toss a red pillow on them and drape a throw over one. You can always re-do them later if you want. Go for it! Rhonda ~~ I love your chair! I've spent a lot of time all over your blog and you are SOOO talented. Your home is just gorgeous. It's the perfect combination of elegant and casual. It's a real art to put that together the way you have. You're an inspiration and I wish you'd post a lot more of your pictures here. I hope you didn't mind that I took the liberty of posting your Laundry Room pictures in the thread about that in the Gallery. I was hoping you would do it but you weren't around.

Chijim: that's beautiful! I don't think my house can ever look like that :-( my3dogs: Thank You!! That's such a nice offer - I love how you combine different fabric. In fact, the hardest thing for me is to combine different prints to make a room looking rich & layered. It's so much easier to have a plain sofa because anything look good w/ it -- really a no brainer. I'm just really glad that you all don't think that I'm having a senile moment :-) I must admit I wasn't sure a/b it myself since every magazine has shown beige beige & more beige sofas! I always love paisley (& Indian print & British Colonial style). Dark wood & white linen & paisley chairs -- that's hot. DH is stuck on the California MCM style --- not so much that it's what he loves as it is what he's exposed to everyday. I'm sure he can be convinced otw. And if some velvet & leather pillows can change his mind, maybe its time to bring out the velvet bustier and the leather whip LOL :-> cooperbailey: can't get rid of him yet since I still need him to carry the sofa in for me. I got a pix of the room where it's supposed to go into. Originally it was supposed to be reuphosltered in velvet & go to our family room but if it stays paisley, it would have to go to our LR where I read & keep my books. The leather sofa would go to the family room instead. Our LR is very bare at the moment -- I haven't gotten that far yet. It needs darker wall but I can't muster the confidence to scale that 20' wall! :-> Here's a shot of the sofa in exile :-D Do you still think it would work as is? Amy: I have an upholsterer who would do it for 350. So it isn't expensive to redo it -- the fabric may cost a lot all depending on what I choose. sheesharee: I love you paisley -- what kind of throw pillows do you put w/ it? kitchendetective: banish DH to the garage -- that is his dream :-D In fact, he's been trying to kick me & my stuff out of his garage. Btw, this is not new. I bought it for 250 (too much?) -- It's done by Henredon for RL so at least the frame is well built. The seat cushion is all down wrapped & in perfect condition (not even out of shape). I'll be back w/ pics of the sofa in its place. :->