Disposing of the old personnal things is a hard thing to do. You just don't want to toss stuff like that in the garbage along with the kitchen scraps. Let me suggest that you think about what we did. We went through the papers,etc. to make sure that there wasn't anything there that might be important like stock certificates or hidden money, (and there was!) and then we built a small fire in the back yard and burnt everything like that. We also burnt worn out books and stacks of old religious tracts and Sunday School leasons. Snapshots of people that we did not know was another thing that went. My mother had even saved some of my old baby stuff. Well, if you want to get technical, she was one of those that save a lot of things that would never be needed. They were all burnt. One of our local churches provides furniture, dishes and other household things for people that have fallen on hard times. I called them and told them that they could have anything they wanted in the house....but they had to TAKE EVERYTHING and dispose of it somehow. That's what they did. When they finished, the house was stripped and all we had to do was clean and sell it. They got three bedrooms of furniture, refrigerator, washer, tables, lamps and even pictures from the walls. I could not have begun to handle it without them. That's one way of solving the problem. Maybe something like that would work for you.

Good to hear from you Maryliz....wow you have been busy...I took a fabric dying class and it was a lot of fun...not something I want to do much of in my house. I am going to visit a lady for a class on painting on fabric and then you put it in the sun to set the colors...maybe then I can decide what I want to invest my money in, paint or dyes. Wonderful you are moving your sewing out of the basement to your very own space....you will love it...don't forget to include good lighting in your new room...aren't hubbys wonderful when it comes to our hobby. This summer is pretty quiet for us...last year we painted the house, garage, fences...15 gal. of paint and my shoulder still complains. We also had quite a bit of company and I did get to the Moose Jaw Quilt Show in April...so I guess I will enjoy seeing pictures and writeups on trips others take this year. I have dragged out a quilt that I started quilting in 2003 by machine....gave up because it was too heavy....couldn't get the stitching out so now I am hand quilting what is left. This was a block exchange my guild did so I treasure it. Looking back I sure have learned a lot...my borders are terrible...I did diamonds on the sides and they didn't work out even...I am chuckling as it is almost ugly. Keep us posted on your projects and pics and have fun with that new sewing studo. Jean

I have honed calacatta marble and I love it. There are three issues with marble that people talk about--chipping, staining and etching. But only one of them is really an issue. Chipping--while it is an issue, other natural materials chip too, so I don't think it is fair to say that chipping is an issue unique to marble. It is softer than granite but I had granite before and I had plenty of chips around my sink. I This time around I am trying harder to be careful. I have trained my husband to lower pots into the sink carefully and I keep a cutting board strategically located right above the dishwasher pulled all the way forward. Over the dishwasher is a prime place for chips. Staining--this one is a really stupid issue because it does not have to be an issue at all. Marble does not stain if you get it sealed, assuming you clean your counters daily! My counters were sealed when they were installed almost 18 months ago and still nothing stains them. Not wine, not tomato sauce. Nothing. Last evening, I found coffee and strawberry juice from the morning that I must have missed when cleaning--I wiped it up hours later and no stains. Sometimes coffee gets under the Nespresso machine. I find it days and days later and clean it without a problem. Etching is the issue. There is nothing you can do to prevent it. We had a party last year and made margaritas--there are little rings all over the area where the blender and glasses were. We use a lot of lemons and limes and there are little spots on my counters where they squirt past the cutting board. I am very careful about citrus--that is about the only thing that etches every time--but careful doesn't equal perfect. If I am juicing a bunch of lemons, I do it over the sink. I have been able to wipe up citrus within a couple of seconds with no etching. Honing helps as etching shows more on a polished surface. Only you know whether the etching will bother you too much to live with it. Does it bother me? A little. Do I wish it wouldn't etch? Yes. Am I the counter police? A bit but I am easing up over time especially because I know that lemons and limes are the real culprits so I can mostly control that. The next margarita party might see a towel put down by the blender and some extra cutting boards. To me, nothing is as beautiful as marble and I would do it again in a heartbeat. But it is not for everyone.

My electrician (aka hubby) finally got my second pendant hung over the island today!! You may or may not remember when I posted this pic back in September or October Right after I built and installed my temp island. The area looked, quite frankly, somewhat ridiculous. An 8 ft long island with this one lone pendant hanging over one end of it. The reason it was there was because that was an existing box that used to have a fluorescent light box on it. I knew I wanted to put in another box ran off of the first one and install 2 pendants, well, today it finally got done!! Yay!! Not only is it aesthetically pleasing but there is soooo much more light over my island now! Can I just mention again how much I love the smoke colored glass in these pendants? Also, in keeping with our weekly thread "no accomplishment is too small", I tracked down some spare 2x6 and cut blocks to fit in the old window spot. I also got the piece of drywall cut to install. The only reason I haven't yet is because I am thinking of creating a "time capsule" to put in the wall before I close it off. Chances are that spot will be opened again at some point in the future, it is where the MIL quarters and main house meet. Even if I never open it back up, I thought it would be cool to leave a "treasure" there for someone to discover in the future. Tell me truthfully, does that sound really lame or kinda cool?