I love the praying Santa! I have one that I bought from an estate several years ago, and it has a music box feature. Only problem is, I don't know what it plays 'cause it doesn't work! LOL My tree is filled with memory ornaments..the turkey bead candy cane made by my youngest son in 1st grade... the counted crossstitch pinecone by my oldest son (yes, boys can cross stitch!) 20 years ago, when he was 11...the salt dough "grumpy santa" I made for DH in the 70's when we were too broke to buy ornaments...& every year he asks where grumpy santa is, and every year we are amazed that he's still in one piece! Salt dough doesn't last very well, but this santa is 30 years old! The list goes on, which I guess is why I have 12 boxes of Christmas to store each year! We have the 12 days of Christmas, why not the 12 boxes?!!?? I didn't use even 1/2 of my stuff this year, as we have a 13 month old GD who's just starting to walk, and I didn't want to spend all of Christmas saying "ALI..NO!!!". So, we got a short tree, put it up on a sturdy short table, and now we can just enjoy her pulling up on the table, pointing that pudgy lil' finger and saying "Dat?"...so cute, and when she sees something she really likes she says " DddAAAAaaaTTttt??!!???"...music to these silly 1st time grandparents ears! Rambled on long enough...it's Saturday!!! and only 3 days to bake and wrap and finish DIL stocking and probably a million other things, but if a few go undone I'm the only one who will know...so I will take the time to savor the memories in the making, and smile at my customers, and tell my family I love them all and watch the Christmas full moon over the lake and try to remember the true reason for the season...God Bless Us, Everyone!!! Merry Christmas!

If they are smooth after priming, the next thing you have to consider are your choice of paint and choice of brush( assuming you will be brushing and not spraying) It used to be you could choose between oil and latex paint. Now there is a new product in the mix- oil modified,which are products that clean up with soap and water yet level out like oil....or sort of. They are not going to level out as well as an oil based enamel, but for people that don't want to deal with the smell and clean up oil paint involves, they are a nice option. I like Ben Moore's Advance Paint, in satin finish for millwork and cabinets. There are others but that's one I've used and like. One thing- even though the advance paint dries to the touch fairly quickly, you should wait a day in between coats. This makes a huge difference to get the best laying finish. You should also invest in a high quality brush like a Purdy Brand. For latex paints and the oil modified paints, you use a synthetic bristle brush. For oil paint you use a china bristle brush. Make sure you clean the brush well with soap and water. You can roll the large areas of the panels if you choose, but I personally don't like to do that and prefer to just brush carefully. If you roll, I like short nap mohair rollers (sherwin williams has ones I like). I don't like foam rollers, which leave small bubbles. Remember that you should start with a smooth, clean surface...if you have brush strokes from your primer you will still have them under your top coats. Sometimes I like the paint cabinets in chunks...like I'll do the surrounds or the recessed parts with a small brush and come back another time with a larger brush to handle the larger centers. My kitchen cabinets were classic raised panel style and thats how I handled them. I good luck!

sueb20, yes, I subscribe to BHG (also for some good recipes). While I adore Arch. Digest, I don't subscribe anymore. It was just eye-candy, gasp-y stuff, nothing remotely akin to anything in my life. I also Sunset. It's really a West Coast mag, out of the South Bay. Stuff looks like where I live. My only complaint is there's definitely a MCM trend which just isn't my thing.

Hey njitgrad... first - yes there is a way to 'counteract' the effects of too much nitrogen in the soil, but I don't think that's the right question for what you need. The rain has leached nitrogen from your soil. That means it has left your soil. You don't have too much, but rather, you need nitrogen. If you did ever need to remove nitrogen from a soil, and I don't think you do right now, as long as you have good drainage, excess watering will help wash it out. It sounds like you didn't add any fertilizer, compost, nor other amendments aside from the Vigoro soil. Since you bought the 'organic' variety, I'm guessing that is important to you? If it is, then you may want to think about top dressing with a composted manure, or any regular compost. If you have homemade compost ready for use... all the better! Add it as an inch or 2 layer of mulch - I'd go for an inch, then if you need it, you can add more later. If organic isn't important, well... first, mulch rarely hurts, and compost is a slower release form of nutrients and adds beneficial microbes, but you could use any general fertilizer. But here's where my advice, if it hasn't already, might differ from others... I don't like to add high nitrogen fertilizers to fruiting plants this far into the season. Nitrogen tends to promote green leafy growth. Most of your plants (save the basil) are fruiting varieties. Too much added nitrogen could have a negative affect. The benefit of the compost, and most organics, is the slow release quality. If you use a general synthetic fertilizer, I would make sure to get one with a lower first number (N) in the NPK percentages than the other P or the K. A common one might be 6-12-12, but top-dress with it very sparingly. To save on expenses, you could just do something crazy like dilute urine to 30:1 maybe even 50:1 and add that in small doses until you are happier with the green up. At 50:1 you could then top-dress with the compost and everything should be fine. But keep in mind that even though you may be low in some nutrients, the season is half over, and over-all, your garden is producing and looks quite healthy. Don't make any drastic changes now. Instead, make adjustments along the suggested lines if you wish, and look into amending the soil with slow release nutrient sources for next year. If you do a fall crop, then you will definitely need to amend. Oh btw... one of my favorite botanical gardens is up there... Skylands. It's probably a little west, but a very cool place.