"But it's through Mary's kind of open, honest blundering that we all learn. She may have been a dumbass in this particular circumstance, but she was an honest dumbass, and there's not much more we can ask of one another." That is true when you look at it from the first post and I was going to let it go with my first post until she came back with an attitude, blaming someone else for her actions and changing her story to a native story to get herself off the hook. That is when her dumbass honesty went right out the door. Then the others pile on. Glad C3D ended it with the truth about euthanasia. I'm with you Z-Chick on the instant brain death method. She really would have faired better if all that 'support' didn't show up to aggrevate the situation. Who am I to judge her - nobody. I've cleanly killed plenty of animals and that IS hypocritical from a death standpoint. I am sorry but I could not let it pass because she was killing a hapless creature and looking for congratulations. She faired FAR BETTER than the frog and we all know she will do the same thing again - she said so directly. She will control her pond against nature. Wait until the first snake shows up, or raccoon, or heron...... If anything - other posters will learn not to be such dumbasses but I don't believe it will stop them from posting to learn. This person was not posting to learn. I am done with it (I hope) unless another dumbass pops up (and then this dumbass will jump right back into the thick of it). Not much more I can say to the original OP however - as I shredded her actions to the maximum already (good, bad or ugly as it may have been). The 'plant boy bring it' was hysterical BTW. Good thing you said that because that post hit about 3 major nerves for me and I did hold back. Anyway - who wants to lay down money that thread is not done:-)

Melinrk, there is a real difference between stating what you spent on your reno -- either from the whole thing or to each minute part of it -- and literally bragging about how much money you have to burn. Hardly anyone here engages in the latter but it has been known to happen every now and then. When it does, I find that kind of show of tell to be rather obnoxious. OTOH, unpretentious sharing of what you paid for your faucet, countertops, cabs, a GC, ID, etc. is very much part of the GW experience! Heck, that's totally valuable information which helps other members to figure out what they should be paying for the same or similar products and services. And, in fact, this is information that members consistently ask for. That is why I was disturbed when rmkitchen first posted to this thread with an unnecessary apology for having shared the cost of her reno. As I said earlier, I found her finished kitchen thread to be one of the best "give back" submissions on GW. FWIW I would put your thread into that same category. Thank you! BTW, I confess to being one of the guilty parties who failed to acknowledge your totally gorgeous kitchen when you posted and I now apologize for the public withhold of my admiration! You see, the longer I stay here (and it's been several years at this point), I find I no longer comment on every kitchen I see -- including many I consider to be fabulous! Sometimes it's just a matter of my schedule. I may have the time to look and appreciate the member's work but not enough to draft a meaningful statement of praise. (Often, I'll promise to come back and do so at a later point and somehow forget to do so. Or, when I finally get around to it, I've also arrived at the party so late that there really is nothing especially meaningful for me to to say -- no matter how hard I try.) Bottom line, if I don't comment on a particular kitchen it just shouldn't be assumed that the reason why is because I don't like the kitchen! Having seen this same subject discussed here many times, I know that goes not only for me, but also for many others of us. That said, let me be clear: I LOVE your kitchen AND your presentation of it, including your sharing of its associated costs. I'm sure that took a lot of your time as well as a desire to give back/pay forward to your fellow GW members. IMO, that was hardly bragging! :-) HTH

I was reading this like it was a new post...then realized a lot of those people don't post here anymore. Scrolled down quickly and thought, "so glad I didn't post on this thread". Then I scrolled up slower to see who had posted and I guess I did post. I referenced things in the post but when I scrolled up more, whatever I mentioned wasn't there anymore. Looks like I was hallucinating because those pics are gone now. lol

My goodness Lydia, where do you live? If your washing gets polluted by the poor air quality what are everyone's lungs like? And may I ask what is a 'gas dryer'? Do you mean gas in the US sense . . . what we call petrol . . . or oil . . . or? Why is it OK for the Amish to use 'gas' but not electricity? Kath, we still have the old-fashioned over-head, on a pulley clothes airer, in the kitchen. Very useful for overnight drying, but stuff has to come down while cooking is going on or everything picks up kitchen smells. We do have a tumble drier for the many wet days but they are very expensive to run. I think over here the green Christmas full churchyard expression refers to having a mild end of year, often followed by a very cold/freezing January, when many old people were more likely to die. I wonder what other 'signs of poverty' cause house-buyers to turn faint. Here it would be piles of old car-parts, packs of dogs, chip/piazza wrappings/broken bottles/feral kids etc but clean laundry is considered a plus. Cleanliness being next to Godliness and all that.