Hi Jen, thanks for the warm welcome! :) I know what you mean about lighting and room. The only windows at my house at north and south facing, and two of the three north-facing rooms are other people's bedrooms so I can't take them over! And oh, the hoya flowers are heavenly. Mine have yet to bloom, but I ran across a site with a lot of photos. Just makes me green with envy! ;) Here is a link that might be useful: Hoya flower photos galore!

A baking center wasn't a "must have" for me, or even one of the priorities, but it made sense as our kitchen came together. In an attempt to maximize the use of wall space, we put a tall cabinet in a 2-ft wide space between a run of windows and our mudroom doorway. I really wanted canisters off the counter so we planned to put them on a pull out shelf, at counter height, in the tall cabinet. Then it made sense to put the mixer next to the flour. Then, since they needed to be stored somewhere anyway, it made sense to keep all of the other baking supplies and pans/dishes in the tall cabinet and the base cabinet under the mixer. Thus a baking center was created. I only really appreciated the baking area after we started using it. Our main work area is basically a "U" and the baking area is in a run of cabinets outside of the U. It's next to the small sink (usually called a "prep" sink but the big sink in the prep/cooking area is used more often for prep) and dw which makes clean up easy. My daughter is able to make dessert while I prepare a meal and we never need to cross paths. I have multiples of some items such as meas cups & spoons, rubber spatulas & scrapers, whisks, salt, cinnamon, so that I can have them in both the baking area and prep area. I have a cabinet at the elbow of our peninsula that can be reached from both areas and I keep some dishes that I use in both places there (ramekins, custard cups, liquid measuring cups, small prep dishes.) Stainless steel mixing bowls are in a cabinet that is easily accessible from both area. Kitchen storage was a matter of priorities and compromises for me. After 5 years, I'm still tweaking it. Some things had to be stored outside of the main cooking/prep area--and it made sense to keep all of the baking pans/supplies in one area. I tend to roll out crusts and fill muffin tins and cookie sheets on the wider peninsula in the cooking area but I don't mind walking around the peninsula to get the rolling pin and pie plates, cookie sheets, (for either baking cookies or roasting veggies), or other baking pans. Even though the cookie sheets are used a couple of times a week, they're not used everyday. The baking area is the approx 4 feet of counter to the right of the sink along with the base cabinet and tall cabinet to the right of the dw.

I guess in a way it does sound archaic but only since it's been around so long. Guess it's been around since firearms were invented. But things that used to be done even though archaic, aren't all bad. Scratch cooking, repairing things rather than run to the store, walk to the neighbor's place and more are all, technically archaic, but still good ideas. I think firing squads are a good idea too. And yes, there's some old ideas that are not good too! I've never heard of only using one live round in a firing squad! That's not going to work. The theory of the one blank is valid for some people to have the doubt. I haven't really found any credible source to say for sure whether it is true or not. While a blank will have less recoil, I'm skeptical that many people could really tell for sure in a firing squad situation. When you're used to a certain gun, caliber and the like you get used to the recoil. But a different caliber, different firearm and such will have different recoil. The use of non-use of a kickpad will make a difference too. It's not a situation where you're used to taking the old twice-barrel shootgun off the mantle and go hunt us up some squirrel for supper. I highly doubt you provide your own firearm so it'll be strange to the person. Even different powder loads in the same type of shell and bullet will give different recoil. Plus being at closer range it's highly likely the loads will be different than for hunting deer for instance. Interesting question though. I think I'll do some research and see what I can find. I think some of these slimeballs should be used for veterinary experiments. Let them serve a purpose. And of course Joe Arpaio is not in the Federal prison system, never suggested he was. He's Maricopa County's Sheriff. However he doesn't actually save the money represented by many. The cost of defending lawsuits alone outweighs the planned savings. I saw the figures on that that and it was staggering. I had friends in Phoenix filling me in on more of the details. However, the cost is still justified IMO to operate it as he does since it is an effective system. And contrary to what many think, there *are* a lot of repeat offenders in Maricopa Co. so they're not exactly scared straight all the time but again, I still believe it's a good system in many ways.

The potter was recieved into some hall of fame and honor of noteable potters after Alex and his crew brought it to their attention. Apparently there is a white clay that comes from that part of Canada and it is home to several artists. One thing that really strikes me is how this is testament to how this dysfunction can over take our lives as we get older. You can see it happen as they uncover the layers of things left uncared for. You see that actions were begun and never finished until it all just begins to pile up. It makes you realize how much care is needed to keep our full houses in functioning order and when we can no longer do that, it tumbles in on us. That is one reason that I seek to eliminate so many of those things that require a daily dose of ME to keep them clean and functional. There will likely come a time when I no longer have the steam to do all of this keeping. That is what seems to have happened to the people who lived in those houses. I told hubs that the books in that one house could have been his books but multiplied many times. I saw some titles that I know hubs had. He just cleared out a bunch in this last month. The potters house and the musicians house were the most interesting portrayals of people. The folks who collected things that were intended to resell were less interesting although it was entertaining seeing so many varied objects. I enjoy the stories of people. I like to hear about who they are, where they come from and their family histories. LIfe gets so much more complicated as you get older. I want to go lightly into old age and not live on the edge of a mountain of stuff that threatens to bury me if I dont pay homage to it and serve it everyday. You can see that is a cascading of small things left uncared for. as you become unable to care for them or care about them. How many things seemed to be so important when you are young and not so much as you get older. That is the value of paring down.