Yes -- another vote for staining within the structure! GREAT design! -- and for fun -- you (and the family and friends) could paint some basic painters' drop cloths with great splashes of bright colors for creating even more "forts" throughout the structure. Jan at Rosemary Cottage Here is a link that might be useful: cabot stain -- just for checking colors

Hi Julie from Denver, I just went running on the trail here as the health club is shut down because of the Corona Virus. So I go out there and this old man told me I had better stop the jogging and this women put her hand on her hip and told me I am just showing off. Thank you for your kind post. It's overwhelming to pay all this money for a house and realize early on I have to move, sell the house, pay the big realtor fees, pay movers. But, I made a mistake and no one knows these things until they live in these places. Yes, Devorah could not attack me fast enough. She can't do the math of how old my parents would be and goes on to say my mother must have been raped at 13 and then says I am an ageist, right after I said she would blame me for what she is doing. This is the thing too, like if they hit your car, you are the bad guy somehow. If you jog, you are the bad guy. If they attack you for no reason, no matter how vile and you can see they are lying, they blame you. I think these older people in the sheltered communities where everyone is old and everyone is white, they have no ability to take responsibility for their actions. I think it is because they have been here for 20 years, they know everyone so they can simply gossip about the newcomer and control the situation. The HOA becomes a weapon people can use to mess with you. I bet I will be hearing from the HOA that it is not okay to run on the "walking" trails soon enough. Yes, I am glad I figured this out early on and I am happy to be leaving. I'm moving to an apartment in Midtown Sacramento May 5th. I'm happy to get out of here but obviously not happy to have to put the home on the market and deal with realtors and movers and all. Are you moving out of the senior community you are living in?

I've had an increasing pile of sheets, shirts, underwear (summer and winter), and some pants waiting for mild weather to be washed. I was beginning to think that I might need to buy some more underwear ... and how much of that does one need, as one crowds age 80? It was mild two or three times but rain promised at about the same time: not so great, as washes take longer to dry in winter. We had a mild day the other day and I did two loads, even hung them without feeling the need even once to bury my hands in the unhung stuff (fairly "warm", though it had been rinsed in cold water) in the basket to thaw the fingers out. Took them down just before dark, which is a faster, but colder, job and accomplished the task all in one go. Spread most of the stuff out in the living and computer rooms and bedroom, to add some humidity to this house, for the air in houses in northern climes in winter gets as dry as the desert air. Doing too much of that might cause danger of moulding, but I don't have any such worries. No kids in (cloth) diapers, the kind that everyone used, a generation and a half ago and, though I'm nearing second childhood, haven't started using them again ... so far, at least. As that was about last Friday, I guess that it's time now on Monday that I do some folding and storing. Have a great winter, everyone. ole joyful

Grandma Jan we do have building codes that I met or surpased. The wood burning stove is double walled itself but I still put it just over 3 foot from the wall plus and now I have used brick (from an old wood mill) going up the wall behind it even though no heat seems to radiate to the wall. It was by accident that I realized what a great drying area that was - because like you - I would have never put cloth anything BEHIND the wood stove. I had our butler and secretary make one of the first trips with me in the very early spring, after I had got word that the lease was finally mine. While I was busy scrubbing walls down and ceilings - John was chopping wood and getting snowed on. When he came in - he hung his wraps on old wooden pegs that were behind the stove. His wraps dried overnight without feeling hot or giving off a wet smell while drying. Marian started hanging the rags and dish towels out to dry there also as we scrubbed and cleaned. I came to the conclusion that it was safe and very useful. Anjabee - I love the idea of the old utensils and will be eyeballing such items for the use. Chucker 30 I would LOVE to find some unusal or fancy turned pegs and will think about how to make some. China cat - a forked branch would be perfect and SO available. I might be able to find some REALLY interesting forked branches. All your ideas are great: shaker style pegs, forged iron hooks and the rest. supply house. I will go look. I have been thinking about the rust/stain you mentioned Red Confetti and would paint the item to LOOK aged/rusted or aged so that it would actually be very clean. Thank you everyone! You have all given me lots of ideas to check out. I will attach a picture when I finally solve my challenge.