This is the bench in my front bed. I'm amazed at the difference in the front garden. I took this pic early spring '06 before I started planting that bed. Now it's filling up. Here is an old church pew that is on my kitchen porch. Note the cat beds underneath and the cat in the rocking chair to the left. That cat is a feral cat that has adopted my porch and brings his children with him! My husband makes fun of this bench, that it is so small. I explained that the porch is only 4ft deep so this is what works. Of course he sits out there on that bench so it can't be that bad. Annette

Westsider--Yes, I found a Pratt and Larson tile. I was supposed to get a couple of samples in the correct size and color last week, but they messed up my order again. I'll post pics when it gets here, unless they have another "miscommunication" at the showroom. The party was a success!! I'm not sure what happened with the people who made comments over the last months about arugula being a nasty weed and that capers were sickening, but everyone ate, and ate, and ate, and enjoyed the food! The woman who couldn't believe she ate capers stopped in her tracks when I told her that she also ate anchovies in that tapenade so loved so much. I received lots of praise during and after the party. Thank you all for your help. Most importantly, everyone, including me, had a great time. The group was smaller than expected as none of the husbands came, and a couple of families had the flu strike them at school that day. I think it all worked out for the best as we women just gathered in the kitchen to laugh, listen to Christmas music, talk, and eat apps while I finished plating and garnishing the main course. It was just how I hoped it would be. I ended up spending more time the night before on my son's project and having another commitment at my son's school that day, so I had to adjust the menu a bit to accommodate less cooking time. For apps I did a sour cream, herb, and cucumber dip with fresh veggies and blanched haricot verts and asparagus as suggested. I also did tapenade with crostini and Kathy Casey's sexy baked olives and feta. For the main course I did the cold beef fillet with sherry wine vinaigrette served on arugula with shaved red onions, haricot verts with walnuts and lemon vinaigrette, scalloped blue cheese potatoes, and the citrus salad with mint sugar. For dessert, I made the eggnog tiramisu trifle, cream cheese swirl brownies, and leftover lemon ginger cookies. We drank lots of prosecco, wine, and the hot buttered rum I made for the first time. The kids drank the spiced apple cider. I also had a beverage dispenser filled with water, lemons, and cucumber a friend termed "spa water." Sounds so snobby to me. ;) For compumom, here are the three recipes for which you asked. Eggnog Tiramisu Trifle http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tiramisu-Eggnog-Trifle-108981 Tapenade In a food processor, pulse 1 garlic clove and 1 t fresh thyme leaves until minced. Add 1 1/4 c pitted kalamatas, 4 drained anchovy fillets, 2 T capers, 2 t lemon juice, and about 4-5 T EVOO and process until coarsely pureed. It's best fresh, but can keep a couple of days in the fridge. Cold Fillet of Beef with Sherry Wine Vinaigrette

If you're going to do cabinet work, do yourself a favor and dump the direct drive saw. It really wasn't that great a saw when it was new. Now it's less so, and no fence. A good aftermarket fence is going to cost at least $150 bucks and could go to 250 -300 bucks. A decent 10" contractor's saw with belt drive can be picked up for for @ 500 bucks. Grizzly and Jet come to mind. If you check the classifieds you may pick up a Delta or Powermatic contractor's saw or a Jet for less. All will have a good fence and can handle almost all cabinet making chores with ease. I know Gramps' saw has memories and history and all that, but if you're serious about woodworking don't spend a dime on that rig.

Shared tools, especially in a school setting are often in horrible conditions, misaligned, parts not working, dull blades, worn bearings, and on and on. Your own saw, whether it is the used $75 Craftsman contractors saw or a Felder sliding table behemoth can be made to perform anywhere from pretty well to perfectly. If the table isn't close to flat or if there's horrible runout in the blade arbor, or if it's so flimsy it flexes when you push on it you probably really need a better saw. However a tune-up of making the fence parallel to the blade, the miter slots parallel to the blade. cleaning gunk out of the gears, and putting a good quality sharp blade onto the saw will fix a world of problems and make most saws useable. While I'm very tempted by the Festool track saw (I was playing with one at the Woodcraft store this weekend) I don't think that it would work so well for ripping a quarter inch off of a 1" wide board, the kind of thing I do all the time on my table saw. For cutting down sheet goods it looks like the best thing since sliced bread! The TS also enables many other operations from dados to cutting tenon cheeks that I don't think you can do with a track saw.