Same here hairmetal... Most of the area is secondary growth due to clear cuts. Not to mention that clear cutting gives the exact site requirements for many if not all invasive species (like aformentioned callary pear, siberian elm and bucthorns), it also eliminates any trees that are concidered long term overstory trees, like oak, maples, many nuts and others. You probably wouldnt even see half of them until it was too late. Many of the species we want are at the middle or end of succession. Cutting down the tall trees sets back succession, not much different from a moderate to severe fire. The same can be said for clearing the undergrowth. The best thing to do, and i will say its quite time intensive, is to go through the lot you end up with and inventory every tree and plant you possibly can. You will have no idea whether it is desierable to cut, plant or augment the existing forest if you dont know what you have. Then you can start to identify plants that you wish to give more light by cutting some branches and ground cover. IF there is an area where it has a good gap but nothing desierable, then is a good time to plant what you want. Also a good idea to keep an eye for dying trees so you can plant what you wish before it falls or you cut it. Clear cutting generally does way more harm then good. So is going in and ripping out invasive species. You just create the conditions for these types of plants to grow creating more work. Mind you there are lots of species which can use a perscribed burn to germinate or really start to grow. The least I can say is that it is anything as simple as cutting the large trees or undergrowth.

I've noticed a big decline in the kinds of things I am interested in on ebay over the past several years. I joined in 1998 or so and regularly bought and sold for years. I loved the whole "worldwide garage sale" concept - it was like heaven to me. I bought everything from furniture (my bed! a huge armoire!) to antiques to you-name-it. I also turned around and sold stuff that I bought at yard sales and flea markets that didn't work out like I had planned. I was also selling my kids outgrown clothing there for a while and making a ton of money off it. But ever since they bought paypal and jacked up the fees maybe 3 years ago, I stopped selling on ebay - it's simply not worth it to me -- the time it takes to photograph and list the items, the hassle of shipping, the risk of bad feedback, and the huge cut that ebay takes -- for an item that sells for just a couple dollars, it doesn't make sense. And I'm guessing that a lot of small sellers feel the same way, which is why there's been such a decline in the number of "flea-markety" unique vintage items. I rarely bother to even look there anymore, as if I do find something I like the price and/or shipping charge is going to be jacked up to cover the fees. It's such a shame, because ebay was such a guilty pleasure for me for so many years, and I do miss it a lot. Now that I've said that, I will admit that I've been on an ebay binge this week (after not buying anything there for probably a year!). My son wants a specific list of discontinued Thomas wooden trains for his 6th birthday next week and ebay is still my only resource to find stuff like that. So I guess it's still good for certain things. Also, I have accumulated a few things that I think I may want to sell on ebay -- I don't think CL will be the best market for them -- they're esoteric collectibles (again, Thomas train related) that will probably go for more money if I find the right buyer, and the odds of that buyer being located here and reading my Craigslist are probably pretty slim. So can someone explain to me how the changes made to the feedback can hurt sellers? Is it true that sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers anymore? How is that even possible? How do you keep people from scamming you????

Good morning, ladies! No need to be jealous auntjen, with that home of your and your recent CL finds. Allison, I'd be curious as to what you 'd have done with this lamp. I just LOVE to work with my hands and create stuff. You see it in my sewing, and my joy at finding things that need a bit of work. I prefer to buy stuff on eBay and CL that needs a little something, because it's what I do for fun. When other kids were playing with dolls, I was drawing (Jon Nagy Learn to Draw!) and painting on smooth stones that I found at a local beach. And once I learned to sew, I was off and running. Check out the faux lynx throw that I made from gorgeous fake fur from WalMart. I was surprised to see the quality, which was far nicer than anything Joann's had. I backed with with a solid fleece, and it's perfect to keep cozy and protect the couch from the dogs. Here Jenny is modeling it. Better pic of the true colors. The fur has graining in it like a real pelt would, and the spots are recessed a bit. I've never seen such real looking fake fur. The entire throw is 100% machine washable and dryable.

I am so envious of you folks with ReStores! Since this is a very low income area there are a lot of junk shops, I can pop a spare backplate and the small rosette (since it needs a matching key escutcheon that wasn't on that door) into the glove compartment. Unless I'm really stuck, I'd prefer to avoid the architectural salvage guy down where I used to live because he is viciously overpriced - like $100 for a single doorknob that was one of about 50 matching ones, not exactly rare and unusual - and very disorganized. I may take more photos and scan rubbings and send them to some other places that sell old pieces and offer hardware matching. Kim, right this minute we're in the "this sucks this sucks this sucks this sucks i hate this house will someone please shoot me NOW" mode because it's slurping down money like a kid with a frappe - milkshake, that is. Between last week's and this week's disasters we're expected to hit $10k, all "WTF??" expenses, not the expected ones. We were counting on having additional expenses, but we were expecting to have some proceeds from the other house to buffer them. Right now I have a plumber (overpriced franchise plumber, but my regular plumber doesn't have the right equipment) downstairs snaking tree roots out of the sewer line, since we had a huge backup last night. We're also extremely peeved with our home inspector for how many things he completely missed. flyleft, we've already been up in the attic and down cellar to find absolutely nuffin in the "If Walls Could Talk" genre. I found traces of a hideous "country blue" wallpaper in the master bedroom - PO painted right over the electrical outlet plates and stuff so if you take the plates off, around each receptacle is a little border of blue wallpaper. Around a defunct cable outlet (no cable attached to it anymore) I tried soaking and peeling some back. No, it's stuck right on there something fierce. So, when we get to that room we'll sand off all the paint boogers and drips, spackle and feather off the seams, and then either skimcoat and paint or put up wallpaper w/liner. *gasp* DH is much more amenable to wallpaper in this house, since it "fits the house", as long as I choose monochromatic or unfussy patterns like most of Bradbury's "Morris Alternative Fills" line. But that's a ways down the road: we need working sewer, properly working electric, fully working heat, etc. before we get too far into "pretties". (I admit I have spent a little bit on "pretties" though: we got wood blinds for the LR because keeping DH in clothes is extremely difficult ;-) , rods for my cheapie eBay curtains, slipcover for my wonderful new couch which people were fighting over last weekend, and a couple of cheap secondhand furniture pieces. I'm still looking for a mailbox and the mailman is getting a little irritated with us!) We do believe that the large brass chandelier in the dining room is either original or very close to it - it's heavy as all get-out, can tell ya that much. If we take it down it'll be hung up in the attic wrapped in sheets for safekeeping. I did pick up, at a yard sale, two antique pan chandeliers: one looks very much like Rejuvenation's Belmont. The other looks sorta like this. I paid $15 for the pair. KGW had a chandelier restored for a surprisingly low price, I think at JF PeGan; I'm thinking about sending them over and seeing how much a complete restoration would cost. The little two-light would go beautifully in the entry. I'm not sure I like the large one as well, maybe I'll have it restored and sell it (depending on how much the restoration goes of course).