Butterfly4u! I is always great to see you. I hope you have been fine. Thank you for the nice comments. You know it was not for a the few here I ahve gotten to know and learn from including YOU, I don't think I could of done it. You ahve taught me so much since I first joined and I just applied your info. Thank you for that.:-) I wish you would visit the citrus forums once in awhile since that is where I spend most of my time. I also svaed a Ponderosa Lemon tree and I would love for you to see. I would love for you to take this journey with us! I owe you much credit for my success. Mehitabel: Thanks for the encouragement. I will do my best from what I know and keep you all updated. Thank you again everyone. You too. Check this link out. You might like it.:-) Mike;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Ponderosa journey with me:-)

I think you sometimes have to go in circles and test other ideas to come back to what you love. I know I love a lot more things than my house will hold, and sometimes whimsy will have me leaning a new direction that I love but just doesn't fit and I realize that when I go back and look twice. But sometimes that new direction takes. My dining room chandelier is one of those. I went out looking for a simple, traditional fixture, liked the idea of glass arms that would sparkle, and wound up with antiqued metal arms and lots of dangling crystal. And I love it and the way it looks in the room. I still got traditional but different -- but in a different direction than I started. Sometimes what you think you wanted doesn't work, so you have to look, and if you come back to something you've always liked, then it ought to fit the other things you love. Even if you have to make some adjustments to the transitions. The iron fixtures -- well, I've always liked those too. ;) I'm sure I saw and liked the one you picked in my searches but I ruled out bare bulbs out of concern for being too harsh when looking between the family room and kitchen with the breakfast fixture in the middle. I do think you can make that fixture work and there are lots of ways to pull some black touches in. Part of it for me is seeing your fan as a fan that happens to have an unobtrusive light on it. In the lighter finish, it goes with your appliances where a darker fan would be harsh, even with touches of black. Think of it as a keep-you-cool appliance in your work area and the iron fixture as lighting helping to define a different mood and setting in your eating area, then work on the transitions and little elements that bring the two together. I'm not sure where you are planning on using the fabric you have pictured or if you already have it. A black background floral with plenty of white in it too for chair set cushions and/or window treatments (also wood Roman shades with a bit of black in the mix) could be a possibility that doesn't mean painting the table and chairs. You can put some black accents, pencil liner or border on a subway splash. I really like that paper towel holder, and you will have no problem finding a counter top version if you want to go that route. In the spring, you might even tuck some of the light blue and green flowers like you have pictured to adorn the fixture or try some mini-shades in the soft colors. You have a ton of options. Take your time finding the right ones. I saw your bathroom post -- your home has a lot of charm. I think you are headed in a good direction. Sometimes the things that make a house a home are not the obvious choices. Keep in mind you are talking to someone with three kitchen cabinet finishes, 2 counters, 2 different hardware finishes and 2 different faucet finishes -- and a lot more crystal than she ever imagined liking on one fixture. LOL

They pulled him in the top of the fifth. He was having a hard time finding the strike zone all of a sudden. He threw 6 straight balls. It was tied 1 to 1 when he came out. Rigt now it's the top of the 6th and DARN! we WERE ahead by one, but now it's tied again! sheesh! We NEED to win this game! It's my birthday ! lol it's 2 to 2 right now.. top of the 6th, Our offense has kind of disappeared! It needs to show up again! lol He did okay.. kept them at 2 hits and only one run. It was a home run, but oh well! lol keep crossing those fingers! crud! they just hit a homer off of the guy that came in for Ry! they are ahead 4 to 2 boooooooo

msmarion...glad to hear things look good for you getting out from under. Just do what I did in the end...toss everything into rubbermaid containers and save the rest of the thinning for after you get to your new place. I found it amazing that things that seemed to be "keepers" in the old house, just didn't mean that much after they were moved. We just got back from the house, all that's left now is a couple of containers of books. I got so upset at Tom's insistence that I just trash them all...I left them there. I'll go get them on Monday :)