I remember having one and the grass shield was also the muffler. I believe it was a Homelite

Thanks, everyone, and yes, apparently gardens can change/turn around quickly here, so there's always reason for hope. Ken, I've been getting a lot of my roses from Rose Petals Nursery in Gainesville off I-75. That's where CS came from. They're very nice ladies who sell excellent plants and have a large selection for our climate. Re companion plants that aren't Bird of Paradise: I have just been seed shopping online for October planting and getting my lights & bench ready for the seed flats. Things like pansies*, petunias*, Foxy foxglove*, Rocket snapdragon*, larkspur*, old fashioned mustard*, sweet william*, viola*, purple coneflower, gaura*, coreopsis, Summer Carnival hollyhocks. There's a good book called "A Cutting Garden for Florida" by Mackey & Brandies that gives good suggestions for plants that work here (they gardened in the Tampa area) and ones that don't work. The key is planting them in the fall so they have time to grow and bloom before it gets hot. The last four of the above list grow well in the summer in my garden. Hope this is helpful. Sherry * - my first try with these Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Petals Nursery

My mother would buy the square Tea Cake from Amy's Bakery in Montebello, CA since I can remember. They still sell them. You can see the image of it on their website. Take the 60 fwy, exit Wilcox or Garfield Ave. Go south to Beverly Blvd. and Amy's Bakery is on the NW corner of Wilcox & Beverly. Make sure to grab a number as soon as you enter. Once when I worked in Lancaster, CA a rep came in and dropped off a pink box of little pink & yellow tea cakes in our lounge. I knew exactly what they were but no one else did but the box did not have a bakery name on it. They went for the other box of pastries and needless to say by the time the day was over I had eaten the entire box! (good for me) :) Last time I bought a tea cake from Amy's (in the 80's) I ate the whole cake before we got it home. (with my bare hands) No, I don't do that kind of stuff! It surprised me too! Yes, these cakes are that good. The cake from Amy's Bakery is like a 9x9 and has the light brown colored glaze/frosting on it. In my opinion, it's the best.

You also might consider something like a china cabinet (a Haywood-Wakefield -style china cabinet would be very hot!) as a furniture-style solution. It can hold more than china -- vintage staples canisters, cookbooks, linens on the bottoms etc. That way you can just move it around the house as needed. Some people find things stay cleaner. (I have open shelves and don't have a problem.) You can definitely replace the laminate counter (they pull the whole counter out, not just peel off the skin) and put in a new laminate counter, or put in another kind of counter. Sometimes a "period feel" can be done with just what you have and some accessories. You don't need to add a thing that would turn anyone off. I also wanted to raise the issue that some people, contractors, designers etc, may come in and advise you to rip everything out. They may do this for a silly reason -- it's just easier for them, or a real reason -- a slow drip has been rotting the sink cabinet for 15 years, and it actually does have to be replaced. It's easy for things to get the "while we're at its" as someone here called it, and before you know it, your very modest kitchen plan calls for bumping out 3 stories and adding an indoor pool. I just want you to remember that, no matter what you decide, YOU are the one in control of this project. It's YOUR house. You can really say "No, we're happy with X as it is. We'd just like a quote on the Y right now, thanks." If you needed to get a couple of cabinets built because one is very rotted and unsalvageable, it might be done by a local carpenter for a reasonable amount of money, less than getting a whole new set of cabinets. But if what you really want is a whole new kitchen in 5 years, then -- get the leak FIXED, come back and let us know.