I'm so glad some of you remember a lot of the things I do. Some of my most cherished memories are when my playmate two doors down (Ellen) and the girl our age (Mary) across the alley would play in a little lean-to playhouse built against the north side of Ellen's garage. They had a huge wooden sandbox. People don't like the tracking and what it takes to fill and maintain sandboxes, but I've got to tell you it was heaven on earth. The sandbox was under a slightly larger pergola. Over the pergola grew Concord grapes. How beautiful it was under the shade of the leaves and when the grapes hung down as we played in that sandbox. Sadly, Ellen whose parents had the sandbox died from cancer a few years back; we had been separated for years as she taught school and moved to Michigan. The other girl, we parted ways after kindergarten, and she went to the Catholic school. We made new friends and lost touch with one another. A few years ago I found her how? The internet but somebody must have given me some clue, didn't even know what her current married name was. I met her when I was 3. She lives in NC and is such a lovely person. I cannot remember the last time I saw her, before I was 10. We correspond regularly and share these precious memories. Right now I have heard that her husband is facing a terrible ordeal with cancer and his pacemaker; her health sounds good. Tears flowed from my eyes when I read that, and I need to answer soon. I didn't have a video camera, but one beautiful fall day, I walked the old neighborhood with my wide angle lens, walked up the middle of my street and back (there were low hills on both ends of that two-block long street), walked back down then around and up the alley we shared, then around and down her street, clicking all the way. I put the photos on a cd and sent them to her. She was so grateful for them. I'd never met her sister who was older and away by the time I met her, but she sent those photos to her sister, too. I'm so glad I did that. This is the same street from about the exact same spot and one of my photos from that day. The older one I took with my brownie Kodak when I was about 8. The second one was Oct 2005. My house was the one on the right that is yellow now (hard to tell the color) with a red roof and the white rails. Ellen's house was the first one on the right you can see, a grey house with red trim and grey roof. There was a small one in between that isn't visible. I presently live about 1/2 mile from there. The oddest thing is that apart from the cars, trees and a few cosmetic changes to the houses, it has changed very little. 55 years then and now.

What great ideas! I particularly love the 'handmade paper with water' idea. Talk about nothing to lose -- And we do have two good craft stores nearby, so I think I may just mosey on down there to see what they have in the way of handmade paper, ModPodg, etc. I'm leery of the spray-on stuff because I have such large expanses of glass that any unevenness at all would really show. That Tatouge system is neat too. Wish I'd known about that when I was doing nurseries! The undersea scene shown on the website would have been perfect for my younger son's room. Those Gallery Glass windows are gorgeous Oceana! Are they hard to do? I'm talking about three panes that are each 23" x 66", so that's a lot of space. And given the contents of these closets, I'd need to obscure the entire glass area. Valinsv - That's a great offer and I'd love to take you up on it - Thanks! But I'm unable to get your e-mail to work from your 'MyPage'. My email is linked here, and maybe that will work?

I didn't comment on the shower curtain, because I was a bit confused. By needing an extra long curtain, I didn't know if you meant height or width? I assumed you meant floor to ceiling, but if so, how would a standard liner work, but not a standard curtain? I assumed you were using an L bracket rod mounted at standard height (looks like a standard shower/tub enclosure)? But maybe not?! Are you planning to mount a ceiling rod? Sorry, I'm just not following ,,, Well regardless, here are a few comments: 1) My number one priority would be to properly manage moisture (keep as dry as possible). 2) If at possible, I would first look to using a standard (72x72) curtain (it will be cheaper, you will have more options, and you can more easily change up the look). 3) Start with a good liner mounted at the proper height (not too short and not too long) that doesn't fly around. 4) Whatever I hung in that area, I would want it to be moisture/mildew resistent, provide ventilation/wicking, have rust proof hardware, etc As such, I would first look to a quality shower curtain, which are available in taller lengths. If looking at drapes, I would probably start with indoor/outdoor drapes. Regarding your question on the door, I would probably paint it white/neutral (or faux pine) because I would not want the door to be a focal point, but rather have it blend in. As far as color scheme ,,, on my monitor the tile looks like it has blue undertones, so maybe blue rugs and towels (with a couple of red accent towels), a pattern shower curtain (e.g. a tartan plaid with blue, gray, red, and browns). A red waste basket. Art work that has red, blue, gray, brown, etc... You'll have lots of good options!! Here is a link that might be useful: Trax ceiling shower rods

In your second art work there is a girl with braids in the upper right corner, next to it on the left is a square with a lime green and then a yummy rust on top of it. That rust is the color I would choose for the drapes, it's gorgeous on your wall color and would look so warm and inviting and original. I think you're on the right track.