Hello Everyone Yall's homes and furbabies are soo wonderful it is soo nice to meet you all. My name is RaNae I'll be 42 this year and live with my wonderful DH Doug we have been together since 1983- cosmically we were spose to be together- both born in same small town hospital 3 years apart- same ob, same lady signed our birth certificates- he grew up there we moved away by about 40 minutes when I was 3 months old....Jump to August 1, 1983 we both started working at Aeolian American (the last handmade piano factory in the US that closed in 85) in the small town where I grew up- He was in structural maitenance of the factory and machines I worked on the pianos- one day while I was working I saw him greasing a drill near my station and I thought to myself- gosh he's kinda cute- he has amazing eyes- shoot what a smile- I can see myself going out with him- heck I can see myself married to him... that was in OCT we met Christmas Eve Day that year 1983 I was 18 he had just turned 22 We started dating the folowing March of 84 and have been together ever since- LOVE at First sight does happen- he is sooo wonderful and honorable and committed- he helped care for my dying Father in our home for over a year when we were just 25 and 28 I have helped him through a Total Hip Replacement due to a childhood virus and manage our home and keep him on schedule. We have 2 wonderful furbabies- always have furbabies in the house lol. A year ago today we closed on our new house in Texas- because of my dh's transfer luckily our old house sold in 3 days(in a slowww OK market)and we were in our new home 31 days later- we had been on scouting trips previously thank God and our home although it is new construction- met our criterias of location, building practices- i.e. windows flashed- huricane straps- floor plan and smaller size and smaller lot and $$. Idealy we'd like to be in a condo in down town Fort Worth- Great City or in a true Cottage down there but this is great too. My hobbies include- crochet (made my first afghan at 5yo what a sight it was lol), cross stitch, just getting into needlepoint, painting, trash to treasure, I like mosaic although I have only done 1 so far, drawing, my sewing is improving- self taught by eye don't know how to work a pattern but my friend Jay Bird is gonna teach me that, and I enjoy making lamp shades and changing lamp shades and enhancing lamp shades lol. I'd die if I couldn't express myself creatively. I am a novice cottage gardner also. I have a cosmetology license and have worked retail and in different capacities in the dog world- i.e. kennels and groom shops. I love and collect sheep btw and hope to have a hobby flock in retirement. We have also been to Hawaii 3 times and love the Water- we used to live in Lower Alabama Daphne/Mobile area and would move back there or to Hawaii in a heart beat if my DH could work there. We also love back home the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Upstate NY. Shoot I"ve had too much coffee and am rambling- imagine if we were in person you would'nt get a word in edge wise LOL RaNae

Ok, I will stick me in here. I am 66, married for 48 years to my hero. We have a daughter 47, and lost a daughter suddenly 15 months ago. Slowly, we are coming out of the fog that put us in and I can see the light at the end of this tunnel. Remembering the happy times we had with her are slowly taking over the deep sadness. Over the years, I have worked at an answering service, a custom decorator at Sears and as a wig, bra and breast prosthesis fitter in a boutique for the hard to fit woman. What a fun and rewarding job. Women in crisis are a strong and inspiring group. We retired back home to Pennsylvania 9 years ago after 32 years in Ohio and Michigan. Settled about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh to be near family. Daughter is 7 miles away. My life revolves around her and the grand dog, Dh and my home. I love gardening and spend most daylight hours in my yard tending my flowers and shrubs when the weather is fit. In winter, I sew, work on jigsaw puzzles, and dust my hundreds of animal and bird figurines! I am very fond of all living creatures to say the least. I am somewhat handicapped, having been diagnosed with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy at age 17. I am extremely fortunate that I can still walk a little after all these years. I use a cane for very short distances and a walker or a scooter when out of the house. I have been enjoying the KT since shortly after it started. I don't post a great deal, but come here to keep up with all the goings on several times a day. I laugh and cry with you all and am so greatful for the support that has been given me when I needed it. This is a wonderful place to bring your sorrows or ask for advice...and to share your joys.

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!

When you retell the story of how they came to be yours, it seems that you had more of an option to reject them than you originally related. I suggest that you exercise that option. I had one such sofa for many years that was bequeathed to me via my parents who got it from some antique dealer. It was a real old one with horsehair in the cushions. I even paid to have it reupholstered. I always hated it and finally got rid of it. I tell my kids to just tell me when they don't want something. Actually, I am extremely mindful of passing anything down to them. They have their own stuff. If they want it, they can have it when I am gone. I'll bet that even Queen Ann, herself, would not like these overly ornate and supremely uncomfortable seats. I'll bet that even she would get rid of it and have what she wanted. LOL!! Have the inlaws gone on to a more modern style while leaving their old one for you? That might make some sense if you are just starting off in life, but you seem to indicate that you are not still standing on the starting line. You are not going to get where you want to go via their aesthetics. And, as others have advised, don't build it in.