Of course, *I* got the *$500* version--and my hubby was VERY PATIENT!! I was SO proud of him. I thanked him over and over for this opportunity and he just kept saying, "I just really loved seeing you so happy and enjoying yourself so much!!!" Is he a 'keeper' or what!!! Now you know how we've made it 41 yrs. and 'yes' it goes both ways! :o) Cynthia--with the *$500* tour, 'Colby' is included as co-host!!! Ken is pretty adamant about the 'etiquette' on his tours--be informed!! hehehe I think 'Colby' may be far more lenient about them, though! Actually--ken was a VERY tolerant host and hosta-tour-guide! He had to answer so many of my questions, and never really gave much of a hint of the weariness he MUST HAVE felt!! :o) Okay, ken--that's all of you--I know you want the *hosta* to be the focus, but these scenes, caught from Steve's vantage point, just begged to be shared and 'tagged'! :o)

I'm in Queens, and I just had my backsplash done by a great tile guy, but I don't know if all the reconstruction you're looking at is his area of expertise. You could certainly talk to him about it, though. Drop me an email through my page if you want his number! I got his name from someone on the forum - he did a great job on her backsplash as well!

Rosefolly and Colleen, we grow black, red and white currants in our veggie garden and certainly the birds will eat them given half a chance. If we have enough we turn the reds into jelly, traditionally served with roast lamb/mutton or jugged-hare. We generally freeze them 'whole' and add them to apple sauce (from our own cooking apples) which is reheated and added to cereal at breakfast. A few berries eaten raw as part of a fruit salad are fine, but they need cooking as the taste can be too strong. Our area used to be a prime location for blackcurrant growing, part of a Govt scheme to provided vitamin C for children from the late 1930's run by the company Ribena. As children we used to love this stuff. It came in a bottle of concentrated fruit juice which had to be 'watered down'. Good taken in hot water for winter colds etc. Now is tastes nothing like the original and is more like 'pop' with a horrible metallic, chemically enriched flavour. The company, along with many others producing 'soft drinks' has been forced to lower the sugar levels following Govt 'advice' about obesity Ribena Info . .. pretty pics but may contain adverts!

I doubt the stone actually supports weight of structure above. There should be a steel pipe/tube in center with stone being strictly cosmetic. There's no way to permanently repair those cracks and any attempts will only make it look worse. You should be asking your architect, builder or stone mason instead of keyboard jockeys on the world wide web if you want facts rather than wags.