cal_quail, I do hope you and yours feel better soon. It's so miserable to be sick and end up having to take care of someone else! I wanted to ask about something you've not mentioned. Permits. If they were not drawn, how are you going to handle that? All this work is rendered illegal in my state. If you ever sell, unpermitted work can nix a sale. When we had a house fire, the first thing they wanted to see were permits for everything. Given we'd just purchased 2 years before, and the house was built in 1976, all I could produce were the mouse-eaten, original blue prints. There was much back and forth about how much they'd cover until they determined the cause of the fire (which turned out to be crazy wrong, anyway). What do you think they'll do about that!? Edited to add: Winterizing. Well, I missed the opportunity to unhook all my hoses and timers. They froze and I think it blew a seal. Too cold to tell, and too cold to turn the water off in the garage. Gotta wait for this weekend when it warms to assess the damage. Still trying to start the generator. I jumped it, but it just won't turn over. Gotta get a friend to at least listen for me. As of this minute, my computer is making a horrendous noise. I'm thinking it's the fan, since the pressure of my wrists causes it to dull. This Dell Inspiron (my 3rd) 1555 has been a SERIOUS lemon. 3rd hard drive, 2nd battery, 4th memory module, and now this. AND, I'm sick to the teeth of Internet explorer. I dislike slapping tons of software on my computer that all do the same thing. I've lost yet another browser session, where I was actually working. Downloading Firefox, although I've never liked it very much. I'm having a not-so-great morning here. Grrrrrr. This post was edited by CEFreeman on Fri, Nov 21, 14 at 9:55

Enjoying the pictures so far today! Vicki_lv_nv, I like that picture too. I like rustic things. Moni, the year we went to Glacier N.P. we were there in early June and Logans Pass was still closed due to snow. It opened up the week after we left. :( This was taken near Sedona AZ last month.

Patti, the tweaks were really good. My original Taco Salad that I have been making for about 30 years, calls for 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained, 1 can chili beans and a tsp. of chili powder for the meat mixture. Instead, I browned the meat, sprinkled it with about 2 T. flour and cooked it a little bit than I added a homemade taco seasoning mixture and about 2/3 C. water. Cooking until mixture thickened and water reduced to nothing. I set up a salad bar with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, sliced olives, diced avocado and shredded cheese. I had made refried beans (they're delicious even DH who doesn't like them loved them) an Catalina dressing. My original recipe called for Italian dressing but almost all taco salad recipes call for Catalina dressing. I don't like the bottled stuff so I made my own this afternoon. Frankly I don't care to use any dressing. I layered the lettuce and veggies, than added the hot meat, topped with hot refried beans and than the shredded cheese. I made DH fix his own so I could see how it would work. I serve it with crushed taco chips on top. For tonight, I did not make the shells but will when my Wine and Dine Group comes. I host the group next month. Generally we go to the hostess house for appetizers and cocktails and then to a local restaurant. Occasionally we stay home, hostess supplies the cocktail hour and everyone shares in the cost of the meal. We haven't stayed in since January and I thought we were due. You get to visit more at home. So I'm all set. Have figured out the appetizers and dessert and now have the main course. A simple meal but fun.

Kate - The petals on the white seedling always show ruffling, but even the sepals were ruffling a little today. In cooler temps, the gold on the edge is minimal. Sherry - High Water Mark is a midseason bloomer, so I'll probably never see it blooming this late int the future. Heather, Kate, Kay and Sherry - Thanks for not being tired of the white seedling. It was my favorite bloom today. Debra