We are enjoying some nice warm weather this week too. That may come to an end when the remenants of Hurricane Ida roll in on wednesday and thursday, but still lookign at 50s, 60s, and 70s overall. We did get some frost on saturday morning. Heres how all the plants took it... Elephant ears- damaged, but did not die back. Some of the flowers fell off, but the emerging ones had no damage. Cannas- most were damaged, but some weren't damaged at all. The ones that suffered the most were unfortunately right by my pindo palm (so that is probably the worst microclimate in my yard, not too happy about that) Orange tree- no damage whatsoever, and recieved no protection. Bananas- were covered and sill recieved frost damage. My pineapple and my orange birds of paradise were under that same cover and had no damage (the pineapple did lose 2 of its lower leaves though). Desert rose- It suffered enough from aphids and the frost made it worse (no protection). Good news is the roots still look somewhat alive so maybe theres still hope :) Spindle and magesty palm- no damage whatsoever. they recieved no protection either tropical hibsicus- both recieved no protection (one was in the middle of the deck) and they both still bloomed well that afternoon. They are stronger plants than I though and I was surprised to see them alive and well after the forst. Spanish moss- I put some on my tree just two days before, and it had no ill effects at all from the cold. sago palm- no damage at all (and no protection) but some yellow tips, probably from more of a nutrient problem than a cold problem). Hopefully I will get the chance to bring them in this weekend because this frost was very light, but next time I might not be as lucky!

I accidentally discovered how to strip a cast iron pan of all gunk, patina, or anything else when I showed my children how to make lye soap. Instructions said not to use an aluminum, glass, or porcelain coated vessel. What else did I have but a cast iron skillet? I made the soap with lye and grease. Sure was glad to be doing it outdoors. The fumes were fierce! It heats up all on its own. No stove needed. When the reaction stopped I had a glob of dark brown soap, and an absolutely bare pan where ever the lye had been able to react with the grease in the gunk and patina. Had to start from square one to re-season it! Could not use the soap. And then there is the time my then husband decided to be helpful and burn the gunk off with a welding torch. He actually melted a hole in the bottom of one of his grandmother's pans, then attempted to fill the hole with a brass patch. Not recommended!

I love old houses - the quality, the history (I was THRILLED when I saw the names of the owners of our then under 5 year old house on the 1930 census), and the style. If I don't win the lottery, I will never live in another "new" build (80's and up) because the vast majority of non custom built homes are just not up to my standards. Of the 4 new builds I lived in in my life, only two were decent. The last decent one had been built by a guy who had previously done commercial building. It was built to last and I have no doubt that one would still stand after a tornado. Because of the commercial background, the finish "prettyness" wasn't there, but those details were added later, by us. The last new build was a nightmare. The "quality" semi custom build was so lacking that I can't even imagine how much worse some of the mass produced really poor quality houses will last. Within the first 5 years the deck was partially rotting (no flashing between the house and it), the roof leaked at the chimney, many of the windows wouldn't work well and/or leaked at the top, lots of the trim wood was rotting out and the floors of both 1st and 2nd floor creaked in almost every spot as did the entire staircase. And then of course you had the "minor" issues like one couldn't use a hairdryer in the master bath before resetting the outlet in the upstairs bath if someone had used a hairdryer in it before the master bath. And the defective shingles requiring a complete reroof at 3 years is hard to forget. My brother has a friend who last year moved into a house in one of those new mass built neighbourhoods in South Carolina. Brand new. 6 months after moving in, a water pipe junction burst (iirc, they thought it hadn't been correctly connected or something) in the attic while they were on vacation and ruined most of the house and their items. The builder denied responsibility and the insurance company was blaming it on the builder since the house was still under "warranty" and it was turning into a huge mess, to say the least. New does not equal free of work and I'd rather strip wallpaper than deal with finding out what corners were cut.

>>things tend to go in a thirty year cycle. >> Oh boy, I only have 10 yrs to go and I won't have to remodel, LOL! But seriously....everything gets dated. Dark woods are now showing signs of visual fatigue; the more cutting edge kitchens are back to light woods and laminates again. For most of us, we are aiming for a better layout that works with our current lifestyle. This is different than, say, my 83-yr old MIL who only needs a mini-frig and a microwave to get through life. I could remodel, and when we go to sell this house eventually I might invest a few $$...or not. What I got out of the remodel in 1989 was a larger kitchen with a much better layout. I could replace the appliances and cabs, counters and sink, but I would never change the layout, because it works for me, then and now. I doubt it will work forever. Time and technology change things, it's inevitable. But the next owner will have the option to do whatever s/he wishes, which is exciting for them. Me, I'm just glad our remodeling days are over, and I can't believe I'm even discussing the possibility I might do it again someday!