I eventuallly planted my Sombreuil (grafted from Beales', still listed as an 1880 tea btw...) in late winter 2014 and just got my first blooms the other day! Huge beer mat sized absolutely gorgeous. I'm just commenting here to report that despite my fears this rose is not a mildew magnet for me. It is planted in the worst possible conditions in my garden and if it were very PM prone it would have shown it by now. No PM to speak about while at this same time many of my roses are inflicted by it. Planted against a wall, on inclined ground, in partial shade, close to an olive tree and shaded by a structure, receiving only a few hours of morning sun. I think of getting a second one and plant it in a more favorable spot where I can admire it without specifically seeking it. Where it is now, only I know that it exists. Huge mistake but I was worried it would prove mildewy for me. New Dawn, planted at the same time, not far away in similar conditions has become double the size btw. Still waiting for it to bloom. To my untrained eyes these 2 roses do not look very similar in traits.

The oval tile is on both the Ann Sacks site and the Heath Ceramics site. On the Ann Sacks site, it's listed under "Heath". so I guess Ann Sacks sells it for them, as they do other designers. With that being said, maybe it would be "slightly cheaper" to go to the source itself, although that's not going to make much of a difference as these are much more $$ than I ever expected to spend. If it winds up being THE tile, it might be worth it. basianov - the pantry cabs are actually a light grey and that tile on the right does pick up some of that color. I'm just not sure I want to do marble. I did also see the other day a 1/2"X2" calcutta marble mosaic that was stunning, so that's an option as well, but I just wonder if marble will take the kitchen in a different direction than I was planning. Here is a link that might be useful: Ann Sacks

Hello :D I am Marie and live in Wyoming (the only WY person on these forms I think LOL) I have 2 children: Son is 25 and is blessing me with my first Grandbaby in April :) and my daughter just turned 16. Besides quilting and other crafts, I am an avid FOOTBALL fan (my friends & family say it is more of an obsession) and love to fish. I attempted sewing on my Grandmothers antique trendle machine, yes the ones before electricity with a leather belt. It was great fun but didn't really accomplish anything per say, I still have it but it is just for looks now. I really didn't get interested in sewing until I was pregnate with my son. I made my first one out of 2 - 2yd pieces of blue/white plaid cotton and dark blue flannel for the back. I bought satin binding, hand sewed every thing on and hand tied it with plain white yarn, then made one similar for my son but with little boy print for the front. I still have them and use the blue one for watching movies with my daughter. My Mom's, mom gave me all of her counted cross stitch books and I did that for the most part with a little crocheting/knitting until 3 or 4 years ago. I decided to try making a quilt with blocks after checking out this site and have been hooked ever since. I enjoy being in the Quilt RR and BB Block exchange - learning something new all the time. I love to be outside and grow just about everything: veggies and all types of flowers in the summer (LOVE Daylilys & Iris) and have lots of house plants and will try any type of seed. I have 6 Avacodo's growing now - not sure what I am going to do with them all when they get to be TREE's but they are fun. Oh, a new one sprouted last week and has 3 sprouts from one seed! very cool IMO I really enjoy seeing what others are doing - gives me great idea's for new projects. I have 5 to 10 going at an given time to keep from getting bored. I decided to go back to school for Archaeology this fall, I'm enjoying myself but it sure does cut into my crafting/quilting time... So my goal for this weekend it to finish up the September BB's and also my RR row and center. Have a great weekend all! I am off to my daughters school - she is head cheerleader and homecoming is tonight. GO CYCLONES!!! Marie

Hi. Joining this long thread a little late. My name is Lisa. I'm 35 and currently a SAHM to two boys, ages 6 1/2 and 4. I finished a post-doc in Clinical Psychology 2 1/2 years ago, before moving from Chicago to the Philly area. I plan to go back to work part-time some day but haven't taken steps in that direction yet. I've been married for 10 years to my dh Scott who is a Neurologist specializing in Epilepsy. This is our 2nd house. We've lived here for 2 1/2 years. It's a new construction house, though we didn't design it (when we purchased it, it was 95% finished). It's (to our mind) not particularly attractive on the outside, but it is very spacious inside and didn't need renovation. That was key for us, as we moved here with very small kids and had just worked hard renovating parts our old house in the suburbs of Chicago. New construction is an anomoly in our neighborhood. The builder had torn down one house, split the lot, and built two houses on it, facing the other direction. So what we have is a big house on a small lot and a funny shaped (long and narrow) back yard. No one has big yards in our neighborhood, and the neighborhood has an "urban light" feel to it, with side walks and homes built close together. We actually like this--we like knowing our neighbors and being able to walk, ride bikes, etc. on the sidewalks. We walk our oldest to 1st grade, which is wonderful as well. I like decorating but feel I am a complete novice at it. I am one of those people who know what I like when I see it but can't always imagine it in my head. Strange for me, since I consider myself a fairly creative person. I guess this is a art unto itself. We have a lot of white walls that need painting rooms that need tweaking. I just keep telling myself that it's a process and there's no hurry. Here are my boys celebrating Hanukkah this year: Here's a family pic. Had to go back to last April to find one of the 4 of us! Here, you can see some of the front of our house (stucco in front, siding and stucco on sides and back):