Sambac, I couldn't take decent photos in the sunroom, so tried the bedroom, and then the bathroom (I'm not a very good photographer). Yes, they were hanging on a light fixture.:) They'e now happily back on the sunroom. I hope Motes still has those coeruleas... Carol

Beautiful picture. So glad you shared it. Shakespeare did. He said something similar in his play, Venus and Adonis. âÂÂLike a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.âÂÂ

This is in the local news down here quite a lot. Everyone is very sympathetic to the families along the 116-mile stretch of the river that is in question. Imagine how it must feel to have the government with its deep pockets (of taxpayer money) and endless resources coming after your land, especially when the land was deeded to your family decades ago and you have paid taxes on it all this time. As near as I can remember, this current battle has been going on for at least a couple of years now. I've followed it in the newspapers, on news media websites and in reporting done by publications like Texas Monthly magazine. They may be picking a fight with the wrong state. Speaking as a native Texan, I know from experience that Texans (proudly) can be ornery and cantankerous and don't like being pushed around. Many people in Texas distrust the feds strongly and will not let themselves be steamrolled. Texas was once an independent nation before it became a state and that independant spirit still runs through Texan's souls like a hidden birthright. The state of Texas likes to stand up to federal agency power plays and now that the state attorney general's office is officially involved in this, the families have the backing and support of the state, which I think is a good thing. No matter what happens in the next round of court hearings, I suspect this fight over the land will go on for many years, unless the BLM drops this ridiculous nonsense. We Okies need to keep an eye on this. If the BLM can come in and take land from Texans based on the premise that it once was Indian land that could not/should not have been deeded to the families that bought it, what does that mean for the many Oklahomas who live on land that was tribal land at one time? Will the BLM randomly come after land in Oklahoma, or Kansas, or New Mexico, or whatever, if they win in Texas? This sort of behavior by the BLM is nothing new. In a complicated legal matter that involved Indian land deeded over to OK counties for cemetaries, the payment of oil royalties from oil pumped out from under that land, the BLM and local county governments, the BLM sent lawyers down here decades ago to try to "clean up" the titles of land deeded to each Oklahoma county for burying grounds. No one in the BLM cared that the counties had title to that land until oil was discovered and royalties were being earned. Then the BLM came and tried to come back and finagle the titles to the land in a somewhat secretive or underhanded manner so the BLM could get the oil royalties. I'm proud to say that our then County Attorney, the Honarable Ken Bacon (later an Oklahoma judge) didn't fall for it, wouldn't sign the BLM documents and did not let the BLM steal our oil royalties. If local legend is correct, ours was the only county that didn't roll over and play dead and let the BLM hoodwink it out of land and money that rightfully belonged to the county, and that money from the oil royalties carried our county coffers through some otherwise very lean years. I'm hoping that the Texas landowners and the state of Texas have someone with Mr. Bacon's smarts and gutsiness to help them successfully stand up to this land grab and win this round with the BLM. Maybe we can find a fast-talking Texas shyster who can convince the BLM lawyers that they are at the wrong Red River and that they need to go to the Red River of the north, and not the Red River of the south.

Ummm...what 'defects in my floor' is he talking about? What are the problems that he sees? A wonky subfloor is pretty normal for things like carpet. So long as you pay for the subfloor preparation, you should be fine. A glue down vinyl does not 'fix' problems with subfloors. They only HIGHLIGHT the issues. Sure you don't get the bouncy-castle effect, but then again a PROPERLY (paid for) prepared subfloor will also stop that from happening. Tell us a bit more about your home (age, concrete slab or wooden subfloor) and what you have there now, etc. Photos are super helpful....and the other flooring you have in the home will also help. And remember: if you LIKE the man-made product, be aware that it will be available for about 2 years...and then the manufacturer will discontinue the product = never find it again. If you plan on extending the product throughout your home (many people like to do a 'trial run' like this) you will need to purchase EVERYTHING...all at once (to ensure the same batch/run/colour).