Is the lace made from cotton thread? My suggestion would be to go to a shop that specializes in Counted Cross stitch OR (Michael's and JoAnns and Hobby Lobby would also carry this product) and look at the flosses they have. I think, if it's really Battenburg lace you could do repair with DMC Pearl Cotton ( It's NOT a pearl finish!) it comes in different thicknesses (8, 10, 12) the higher the number, the thinner the thread. Good Luck! Sue

nomorebluekitchen - For oven bacon, I use a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper (easier cleanup) and lay the bacon strips out side by side . I cook at 350 or lower to cut down on shrinkage. This is how we always did it in every restaurant I worked in. Although usually in the restaurants we would partially cook it this way and then finish on the griddle. I cook it this way at home because it generally creates less mess and you don't have to turn it and look after it the same way. caryscott - I'll have to try the Piller's taste Better than Bacon, thanks for the tip.

Absolutely can I relate to this topic. I live in a 70's split-foyer, split-entry, bi-level, whatever you want to call it. In looking for information on how to update or decorate these houses, etc, I have found entire threads devoted only to people's intense dislike of these homes. The thing is, by buying this house, I got in a celebrated school district (I have no kids but I enjoy living in an area where if the kids graffiti your garage, the graffiti is spelled correctly), with an acre of land, with a creek in the backyard. It is about 2000sf, and into that amount was squished 5 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a family room, and a laundry room. The bedrooms are TINY. Which I know people hate nowadays. What we've done, is, instead of adding on, we have tried to reconfigure. We turned one of the bedrooms into a dressing room, and turned our master closet, the windowless half bath and the windowless full bath (these were miniscule, as anyone familair with these houses knows) into one big walkthrough bathroom. Our master bedroom is still small, but we don't need dressers since we have a nice big dressing room adjoined now. We replaced the nasty hollowcore doors with frosted glass doors, which helps add light, and makes rooms feel a bit more spacious. We are updating the kitchen and adding more windows, plus putting in a banquette for dining. We added more closet space to the bedrooms on the garden level (sounds much nicer to say that than basement level). We are switching the huge laundry room and teeny full bath so that the bathroom is the big room and the laundry is smaller. Which also enabled us to seperate our family room into an area where we could view the fireplace, and another where we could watch TV by the walkout doors. These are all changes for our enjoyment. I have no idea if we will recoup any money when we sell, especially since we took out a bedroom and lost a half bath. Nothing can really be done about the outside. I mean, it's a split entry...Me and DH call these "house volcanoes, like the earth is trying to push a house out and hasn't quite made it yet. LOL I am loving our house now, because it's where I live with my darling genius of a husband and I have a huge yard to garden in and to let my three precious dogs run around. I know many people think my home style is ugly, that it's generally despised and realtors hate selling them because nobody wants to look at them...but I live in a wonderful area surrounded by homes that are worth much more than mine. I get to enjoy the very same benefits they do, but I pay A LOT less for the privelege of this excellent area, all I have to do is live in a house voclano:-) Joanna

Interesting, Netla, that you mention authors of a certain class. This was very true and not only of book writers. My grandparents were put off going to a Noel Coward musical show in the 1930s because they heard there were French words used which they wouldn't have understood. I read the script when I was studying drama in the 1950s and found there was only a small amount of French in the text but the rumour would have put off a lot of theatre goers. Such a pity! They were keen theatre patrons and would have enjoyed it.