That reminds me of a joke about some newlyweds having the family over for dinner. Ham was on the menu. The bride cut one end off the ham and put it in a roasting pan. The groom asked why she cut the end off. She said Mama always did that. During dinner the groom asked his MIL why. She said, "Mama always did. He looked at his GMIL and asked why she cut the end off. She said, "I didn't have a pan long enough".

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, not having any idea there is actually a book that addresses it. We sold our home at the top of the market in late '05 after having updated it to reflect some of the HGTV trends of the day. We purchased a home built in 1977 with outdated bathrooms and gold and blue shag wall-to-wall in the upstairs bedrooms. Obviously that wall-to-wall needed to be replaced since it was 30 years old, but what I've realized is how silly it is to turn my home into a showplace based on how it might benefit potential resale value one day. I've read many times on this and other forums (but this one is particularly bad for it) some condescending and even downright snotty advice from people who perhaps unwittingly give off the impression that not only would butter not melt in their mouths, but that they would sooner run naked over hot coals than cook an omelet on anything less than a Wolf or Viking range. Don't get me wrong--I do enjoy living in a nice home, and my home is indeed a nice one. It's just not one that is currently or will anytime in the near future be tricked out with granite, stainless, 'hardwoods' (because 'hardwood' is no longer in fashion; it's 'hardwoods' in the plural or we all might just as well go with the horror commonly known as laminate), or a marble counter in the bathroom topping a trendy but completely impractical vanity. I still enjoy home improvement projects--at least, I enjoy the result--but these days I seem to be looking at the most cost-effective way to update rather than the one they would do on any number of HGTV shows. I think it might actually be a bit more fun than throwing money at the biggest, shiniest/most matte model of modern design I might come across. Granite, soapstone, marble, inexplicably vast expanses of reflective stainless? They are great. I enjoy coming across them here and there. However, one place I am unlikely to come across them is here in my very nice, certainly above average, structure that has truly become home to my family. I will continue to enjoy tweaking things and decorating my 31-year-old home, and I will enjoy the process as well as the result.

hey Yoyo... Found her biog and thought you might find it helpful... Apparently the island is make-believe, but since she was in Trinidad for a while, perhaps there is some of that...? Here is a link that might be useful: Shani Mootoo bio

Inspired by this conversation I have downloaded an ebook of Miss Buncle's Book from our local public library, though I have not yet read it. I also dowloaded and read Eva Ibbotson's The Secret Countess. I found it pleasant and readable, but for me it is probably not a read-again book. Long ago I read DE Stevenson's The Young Clementina, and I liked it enough to read it again a decade later. However I've tried a couple of her other books and couldn't get into them.