Sorry you are laid up! is it your driving foot? that makes it even worse. TS's are great, when I broke my right wrist & right foot up by ankle I treated it myself- don't recommend that but I had no insurance & I knew they were going to take me into surgery for my wrist. I stablized it with ace bandage & 3 tongue depressers. After 3-4 days I wanted something a little more secure so hobbled into TS got a leather & steel wrist support & some heel cups (I had slipper on that foot) the heel cups are a thick lambs wool like stuff with a rough outside . I knew they would wear out fast & they only had 3 of them so I got out the grey duct tape, well that almost killed me as duct tape pretty well takes 2 hands to pull it out & you have to hold it & cut it. Anyway it took long time but I covered the bottom of the heel thing with duct tape, it cushions the poor sore foot & without it I would have been laid up a long time. I couldn't use crutches or a walker. I hopped about at end of 12 weeks went to chiropractor & asked him if he would x- ray that was bit of a shock! both bones had broke 1/2 way between wrist & elbow & were doing nicely went back where they should be, but both bones broke off at wrist 1 on inside of arm was healing well outside bone was a lump in my hand that dissolved eventually & I grew a covering for the missing bone so it quit feeling like my hand was missing after several months. Moral is don't treat yourself & more important don't look down when coming down a ladder beside a brick divider!! So Micki see if you can get ahold of some of those heel cups as it really makes it so much better while healing! Prayers for speedy recovery!! Jan

Here are some pictures of the gourds at the gourd festival and the class. I'll show you the ugly one first (mine).... The gourd I picked had an opening that was slanted. I wanted it to look like a cracked egg with little lizards crawling out (ok, I'm a little macabre!). The lizard pattern was from a Native American kit. I would like to paint the lizards a couple of shades of green and then stain the rest of the gourd so it looks natural. Here are some of the instructor's sample gourds: For this one, she used a doilie to create the pattern. It was my favorite. This is another simple but pretty one she did. Here is one with similar Native American designs to the one I did. Now here were some awesome sculpted gourds for sale at the festival. I was afraid to even look at the price!

Gracias, ajsmama :). Now it all makes sense. At least till I forget what I just learned; occupational middle-age hazard these days! Re. the ebay/thrift store relationship--do you think that the now ubiquitous online markets (EBay, Craigslist etc) have hurt, harmed or not affected bricks n mortar thrifting? Years ago (I was working PT, had more time to do fun stuff like this) my MIL and I enjoyed going to local bazaars,yard sales and church rummage sales. There were fairly often some nice things dumped in there. Now I suspect many more people are doing what flyleft encountered, shopping in order to then resell. I think there is a whole new 'entrepreneur' niche, at least I've read about people who make their living or at least some income from selling online. Dunno, just wondering what folks who are more in the know think about this? Ann

Buzzard, Buzzard, Buzzard...there is now a new KT Rule. LOL You cannot sell things like this at a garage sale without first sending me photos. I would have gladly paid the shipping, and $20, for your set. I did find a similar set to mine for sale through a dealer in England, that was $160. That made me feel better about my $20 purchase. Could you imagine the shipping costs from England to North Dakota? There's another set, without the tray, on English eBay for $22 right now. Of course the shipping is 36 Pounds Sterling...about $54. It is also listed with "surface blemishes and scratches;" the set I found is pristine. I do hope to find sugar tongs and a tea strainer by the same company. I did find a stainless and walnut cheese board, but again, I don't want ot pay to ship it from England. Road/boat/plane trip??? Here is a link that might be useful: An English eBay listing.