Florence Thank you for the sequel to your story. I am like my little girl--always wanting to hear more. The photos of your father are a treasure as was he. What an amazing man! I sense his indomitable spirit in you. If your posts are any indication (and I know they are), you are a wonderful writer! I encourage you to preserve his story in paper and ink. I'm with Jeri. I worry about loss of connection to family and home. I worry about the pervasive rootlessness that has become so common. So many young people I work with feel like refugees. If stars could grant my desires, I'd wish us all healthy families (however we choose to create our families) and homes to come home to on land that has savored the work of kindred hands. I am so glad you are blessed with photos of your grandparents' home. Your paintings capture the spirit of the place. I wish my great grandparents' home was still in our family, but at least we, too, have some photos. My great grandparents on that side of the family (Dad's mom) were Missouri farmers, and my grandmother told me many stories about her childhood. I have a few items from the farmhouse--old books, a lamp made out of the barn's lightening rod ball, an old carved picture frame, my great grandfather's flow blue cereal bowl, and some photographs. Dad's dad came from a branch of the Lee family, and I have a photo of Great Grandmother Sarah and a couple of pieces of her Civil War era furniture. A chunk of my mother's side of the family came from closer to your neck of the woods--the Dana family from Massachusetts and New York. I have an ancestor that seems like he must have had some of your father's strength of character. He was visually impaired for a time, spent two years on a sailing ship and wrote about his experiences in the forecastle, and then returned to the east coast to practice law. He helped found the anti-slavery Free Soil Party. Wish I could travel back in time to meet him. Thank you for the second installment of your gallery show. Your work is such a joy! My grandmother (the one who grew up in the Missouri farmhouse) dabbled in oils and pastels but said she never stuck with watercolors because the medium is so technically difficult. I applaud your hard-earned skill with the brush! In return for your gifts to me, I'm going to attempt to attach images of two of my grandmother's magnolia paintings. Wish me luck! With great appreciation and gratitude, Carol This post was edited by PortlandMysteryRose on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 3:42

Oh, Jason. How sad. I live right here in Jacksonville and am familiar with both San Marco and Riverside. Either side of the river, this is a real, real shame. But folks just do not know any better. And even worse, on some gardening forums (the Florida Gardening Forum), people still defend the practice. I am so sorry. What a sad event that cannot be undone. Carol

Boy, do I know what you're going thru. I have two children to a previous marriage, my first husband was killed. I remarried a few years later to a wonderful man that loves my two kids, and three years ago, we had a child of our own. Our daughter was born with Down Syndrome. She is beautiful and healthy. My husbands parents didn't react so well when they found our she was downs. They treated her like a sick child, they told people she had "a touch of Down Syndrome". Well, to make a long story short, we told them that we didn't want her treated differently than the other gkids. She is healthy and wonderful, and she need to be treated that way. They were angry and didn't speak to us for 8 mos. That was almost two years ago, and still to this day Alison isn't attached to her grandparents. We visit pretty often, but it is almost like they missed the bonding time when she was a baby and Alison knows it. I really hope that your mother realizes that building loving relationships with her family is too important to throw away on a stupid power struggle. If not, she will miss out on so much that can never be returned to her. I understand your frustration, but you can't make her resolve these differences. She made this decision to be angry, and she has to make the decision to get glad! You need to not be so hard on yourself. She's a grown woman with a mind of her own. Maybe you both just need a little distance right now.

My vote is for the entryway. While symmetry is often most pleasing on the eye, it is not always possible (and if overdone can be downright boring). You can make up for a lack of symmetry with a sense of balance. The most important thing is that it flow in the room and is anchored by other elements in the room. Perhaps you can center it relative to the wall closet opposite? Which gives it is sense of purpose so that these two areas become your organization/storage for indoor/outdoor items, mail, etc. One of the side shelves could even be a purse/briefcase (or later diaperbag) repository. I recommend the mirror and lamps similar to mine. The mirror serves not only as decor, but function so you can make a last minute check on appearance before heading out the door. Didn't you have a mantle clock? If so, that'd work well in the center, probably better than my pitcher given the proposed location. If you put decor on the top you will be less inclined to clutter it up--esp. if you designate one of the drawers for "clutter". It works with the spindle table in the room, but in this case I would not put a mirror above the spindle table, instead some artwork would look nice there, or perhaps a chair where someone could sit and put on their shoes. Perhaps even revist the idea of angling the spindle table so that everything is not linear. My take is a bit different than teacats in that I prefer not only woods to match or be very similar within a room, but the style as well. Your style seems similar to mine in that you have a mix of transitional and antique going on. Do you have a family room also? If not, then it would be a good thing to have a few bare spots in the LR to keep the future baby's playthings. I can see it working well as a salon piece also, but would be concerned the finish would get damaged by all the hair care products, scissors, etc. unless you were to get a glass top made for it.