What a giggle this thread is turning out to be . . . Turning a glove inside out and wearing on the other hand - I like that idea! Classic New England frugality. My husband buys cheap cloth gloves by the dozen, and then often cuts off the tips of the first finger and thumb of the right hand so he can pick up little things, leaving only whole left gloves. When I can't find my gloves, I can use two of his left hand gloves! To be honest, I mostly don't wear gloves when I garden, which my fingernails and cuticles bear witness to all spring, summer and fall. It's not so much a deliberate decision, but I take them off to do some detail work or when I go inside for something, and I forget to put them back on until I'm so grubby that it's pointless. Or I go out just to dump the compost, but then see a weed or two in the veggie garden or some tomatoes that need reguiding into their support, and two hours later I'm up to my elbows in dirt. My gloves are goatskin, a lightweight, washable leather that is tough enough to withstand all but the toughest thorns. When they get too grubby, I just toss them in the washing machine and they are then good to go, or I can just put them on my hands and then wash my hands with them on (usually both inside and right side out.) The only drawback is that they blend in too well with the mulch, so when I take them off, sometimes it's difficult to find them again. I haven't yet worn a pair out - they get permanently misplaced first - but they wear like iron! I wear a pair of medical gloves when I'm using Roundup to spot-remove poison ivy or in my never-ending battle against the invasive buckthorn, which I pull when possible but use Roundup on (along with cutting) when it's gotten too big to pull. My final pair of 'garden' gloves is actually a pair of fingertipless bicycling gloves with gel palms that I wear when I'm using power equipment since they damp down the vibrations and reduce wear & tear on my tendons. I own one of those pairs of rubber-coated knit gloves,bought at the Portland flower show several years ago, but I must confess I use them to hang laundry on the line in cold weather, not gardening. ;>)

This'll shock you as well... They picked MY design for the "jewels" on the front! (kind of a branching-rose pattern...) DW had cut out a sample front-panel for us to arrange on... I've got a fave needle-nose plier to pick up and place the jewels. We took a few digital pix, so we could hopefully transpose "easily" to the actual dress! Is there an idea for temporarily "marking" each spot, that can be glued on top of? Would a little chalk mark help?! Faron

Thanks for all your advice. I'm so glad that I didn't just rush in and start this. From the sounds of it, I WOULD HAVE ruined them . . . :^0 . . . OMGosh! I need to run all this by DH. He's been encouraging me to call up and order a set I like that I saw in Phoenix Home & Garden magazine spread. I can't imagine ordering anything that big and expensive sight unseen, though. Hmmmmmm, there may be a weekend trip to Scottsdale in the offing ;^) In the mean time, I need to decide whether I want to paint the set a brown first and them give the Gel Stain a go or just leave it as is until I get a new set. BTW, I haven't looked into having it professionally stripped and redone. I probably should. I can't imagine a red or blue table in our dining room, though. I'll have to think about that one.

I use the acrylic (?) cutting board daily as well as the narrow tray for storing sponges and what not. I have saved the walnut board as a nice piece for serving cheese and crackers. The reality is it is so pretty I don't want to see it get abused as a cutting board. It is also very heavy and not that practical for keeping over the sink where it would have to be moved for washing dishes! Like the other stages owners who have posted up to the board, I also do not use the ceramic mise en place bowls. though they are nice for serving snacks! they are too heavy and large to use in food preparation. I also had my contractor hack off the rack hooks on the bottom of sink so that my silverware drawer could go under the right side of the sink. i have no regrets getting the sink though - it is a fantastic size and I love having the slanted platform for preparing fish and meat