greenthumbnick I'm also growing Purple Hulls, and though I don't see any aphids, every time I go out to havest them I find big black ants perched right where the pod detaches from the stem. I just shoo them away since they don't bite. The plants must exude something very attractive to some insects.

Oh my. You've really set off an avalanche of memories with that post, Sharon. Much of it is about my late brother who was far, far more advanced than I with electronics and had a degree in photography as well. He was several years younger, so it was I who initially sparked his interest with my modest sound system and radio projects. He then went on to surpass my electronics knowledge by a huge amount and convinced me to get my ham license. My brother and I started listening to short wave broadcasts on my Grandmothers floor model Zenith whenever we visited. I still have that radio. My brother, who was a private pilot, liked listening to aircraft and also various utility bands such as the shipping ones you mentioned and ones used by railroads. Too bad so much is encoded these days. That takes a lot of the fun out of it. You must have heard those mysterious "number stations" where someone reads lists of numbers in groups of, I think, five numbers. I never found out what was going on with those. Do you know? Some people speculated they were for transmitting information to spies. Whose spies that would be, I have no idea. BTW, as a Canadian you may be interested that I, my brother and one or two of my sisters were dedicated listeners to the CBC. Their programming was far richer and more varied than any U.S. radio at that time. We were always comparing notes on what had been broadcast on various programs. I was very up-to-date on Canadian politics back then. You met your husband via ham radio, eh? That's quite a story. Yes, CQ is still published. I picked up a copy recently to catch up on what has developed during my hiatus from ham radio. I'm glad we met up on this thread. It may be the spark I needed to practice my code and pick up where I left off. I have a nice HF rig which ought to be put back in use and I have a Heathkit HW-9 (hot water 9) for QRP which I acquired with the day in mind I could operate CW. I always thought it would be fun to operate from a beach with a portable mast and solar power on QRP. Yeah, present day transceivers have new, advanced features but I think I can be very happy with what I have. Jim P.S. So as not to be so rude to non-hams, here is a glossary of a few terms: CW - Morse code DX - Distance DXCC - DX Century Club (for those who have made and confirmed contacts with 100 countries) QSL - a contact QSL card - a post card with information confirming a contact (or just reception in the case of SW broadcasts) QRP - low power (5 watts or less) CQ - calling anyone who is listening (also a ham magazine by that name) HF - high frequency SWL - short wave listening YL - young lady (a female of any age) OM - old man (a male of any age) SSB - single side band (one of the modes of transmission, along with FM, AM, RTTY, etc.)

Calypsochick, I've been lurking on these forums for a while, but just tonight I opened up the forums, and your post was the one I clicked on. IMAGINE my surprise when I saw your beautiful kitchen ... with the cabinets and hardware my husband and I have chosen for our kitchen. :-) The cabinets and most of the hardware were installed today! I love love love the simplicity of your kitchen.

Is there a way you can mock up a wall (with cardboard, a scrap of plywood, etc.) next to your current sink to replicate what it would feel like to you to have the fridge right next to the sink. It looks like an elbow banger to me, and would make me feel claustrophobic to have to work so close to the fridge, but it's your kitchen, so you need to know whether or not you'd be fine with it. I also would rather not work over the DW, since they can give off a fair amt. of steam and heat, but in a small kitchen, hey, you do what you can. Your tiny Great Wall of Storage looks well thought out. : ) Have you measured your glasses and mugs to see if that's enough room for them or not? You could also run open shelves on the side of the upper cabinet that is holding the micro and other goodies for more storage if you need it. If I did that, I think I'd drywall the wall that the peninsula attaches to all the way to the front of the lowers and then straight up to the ceiling from there. This way the open shelves would look like they were attached to a wall instead of attached to a cabinet side.