Diane, To a certain extent, it comes from trial and error. Some people become pretty good at judging melon ripeness and it seems like others never do. The signs can vary by melon type. My old rancher/farmer friend Fred says he used to cut a plug from a watermelon, check it for ripeness without picking the melon, and then replace the plug and let the melon keep growing if it wasn't ripe yet. He insisted the ants and other critters did not get into the plugged area, which seems odd to me. Nowadays, he just waits for the coyotes to harvest them for him because somehow the coyotes always know when they're ripe and the beat the farmer or gardener to them. First of all, watch the size of the melons. If you're growing a watermelon variety that usually reaches 25-30 lbs., it likely will not be ripe when it is 12-15 lbs. With watermelons, you can usually go by the tendril nearest the melon...it will turn dry and brown. Some people have luck 'knocking' on the melon and not picking until they hear a dull, hollow sound instead of a sharper, higher-pitched pinging or ringing sound. I don't always have a lot of luck with that one myself. You also can keep an eye on the underside portion of the melon that rests on the ground. As the melon ripens, it will turn a dull, creamy off white to yellow color and often the texture of that ground spot will get a little rough. Usually, you use these clues in order: size, browning tendril, yellowish-white ground spot and THEN do the thumping test. If the thumping test is the only clue, your ears are like mine and you're hearing the wrong sound. Wait until all 4 clues are 'right' and you should be harvesting a ripe watermelon. With cantaloupes and muskmelons, there are lots of clues. First of all, the netted melons we commonly call cantaloupes are not actually cantaloupes as the rest of the world knows them. So, for muskmelons, here are the signs of ripeness to watch for: 1) Days To Maturity---even if you've forgotten the variety, most of these types of melons mature in 75-90 days. In our very hot summers, you may find melons ripening more quickly than their DTM indicates, but not weeks and weeks early....just days early. 2) Most muskmelons slip from the vine by themselves when fully ripe. They form an abscission layer where the melon stem attaches to the vine. If you check that area daily, at some point you'll notice a slight crack. As the days go on, the crack on the stem grows larger and completely encircles the stem when the melon is at the peak of perfection. When you tug gently at the melon, it will detach easily at that abscission layer when the muskmelon is fully ripe. Once that melon is fully ripe (known as 'full slip')it only takes a very slight tug for the melon to separate. If you are tugging hard and the melon doesn't separate, it isn't ready yet. 3) Most muskmelons go from a greenish undertint to their rind to an orangey/salmon one, except for the melons that have white or green-flesh. With most muskmelons, the color of the rind becomes almost a golden-salmon color under the netting. This color can be surprising to see because most grocery-store muskmelons are picked before they reach that color so we aren't used to seeing it. 4) Most muskmelons develop a delicious aroma when near ripeness that smell so good, you're looking around for a split-open melon because it is hard to imagine you're getting that luscious smell from an intact melon. 5) On muskmelons, the netting develops more and becomes more prominent as the melon ripens. A melon that has partial netting, or skimpy undeveloped netting is not fully ripe. Muskmelons don't continue to ripen after being picked, so take care to avoid picking too early. They will develop softer texture, but their flavor won't get any better than it was the day you picked it. With true cantaloupes and many other melon types, it is a lot harder to tell because they have a thicker dense rind more like a watermelon, so you don't have netting to help you figure out the ripening, and some of them (like the canary and casaba types) don't form an abscission layer either. The ones from the inodorus group don't emit a 'ripe' aroma either, making it even harder to tell. Some of them, like Collective Farm Woman, have their rind completely change colors as they ripen, which you may not realize if it is your first time to grow that type. For example, with Collective Farm Woman, you'll see it ripen from dark green to mottled green gold to mostly gold. I harvested my first Collective Farm Woman cantaloupe green years ago because I didn't know to wait for it to turn gold. Other melons have their rind change from green to either gray, yellow or brown. Marcy, Crenshaws, like the variety Crane or Sweet Freckles, for example, are in the Cucumis melo var. inodorus group, which I think is the group that gives the fewest clues to ripeness. They don't soften, they don't give off a ripe aroma and they don't form an abscission layer. I just wait for them to get to the right color and degree of freckles that I'd expect from that variety, if they have speckles/freckles. The Crenshaw types are late to ripen, and I usually use DTMs to help me know when they're ready. If in doubt, I leave them on the vine a bit longer because I tend to want to pick them too early. Do you know which Crenshaw variety you planted? If you do, I might have grown it before and might know what its rind looks like when it is fully ripe. Diane, I almost forgot to add that with many melons, you can judge ripeness by pressing gently at the melon's blossom end. When you press on that area, an immature melon will be hard and will not 'give' when you press and a mature one will. The melon is at full ripeness when the skin is fairly easy to depress, and the melon is overripe when there is very little elasticity under finger pressure or if your pressure pushes your fingers right through the rind of the melon. Unfortunately, this pressure test doesn't work with winter melons like Crenshaws or with watermelons. AFTER you pick a melon and cut it open, look at its flesh and learn to recognize how a ripe one looks. The melon flesh should be 'just right' as in not too hard or not too soft (mushy). Ripe melons will have conspicuous but tender fibers in their flesh. If you pick melons too early and they aren't ripe and they aren't very tasty, you can puree them, add the sweetner of your choice and make them into a sorbet, or you can make them into melon soup so the other ingredients make up for the lack of sweet flavor. Dawn

I agree that this particular lamp looks somewhat different from Rohde's more familiar deco styled designs, but I can also see some striking similarities. When I first saw this particular lamp, its (for lack of a better term) "stacked finials" at the base of the lamp, rise over 21" off the ground. I've never seen anything quite like it before. It's very unusual! I also think the saturn like design element near the top of the lamp is very deco/industrial age looking. The only other similarly designed lamp that I've ever seen like this one, is the one that I posted at the bottom. It's a M.S.L.C. lamp designed by Gilbert Rohde. I have also learned from a source that in the 30's, Gilbert Rohde designed over 35 different lamps for Mutual Sunset Lamp Co., but many were undocumented. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is one of them. I have seen other M.S.L.C. lamps but they are very "traditional" looking. Unlike this one. Maybe this is going to be one for the history detectives! ;)

Glad to hear things are going so well and that you have made so many decisions. If you really want soapstone check with Dorado Soapstone and M. Teixeira on shipping soapstone. Google "DIY Soapstone" for other options. When I was looking into soapstone, I found that most suppliers will ship it anywhere and that a carpenter with good woodworking tools can cut and install pretty easily. They apparently do this all the time so don't give up.

Just had to check the label on mine :) and it says Samsonite with a bed bath & beyond sticker on it. It looks like Annie's, but I think mine might have a higher handle on it. I like the high handle to lean against or hold onto while atop the high step. Is this the same as Annie's? Looks the same, but look for a high handle. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Step-Folding-Step-Stool/161655837033?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D35375%26meid%3Da1a570706d2242f48d33588a5537a293%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D161655837033