Happy Wednesday to one and all. Count me amongst those who has a true distain for dishwashers. I use the one that came with the house to store Pyrex and other breakable cookware. My mom uses hers to store potato chips and other snacks that can get squished. There's just something soothing about warm soapy water. Yes, I do use a dryer but only because I really don't like staticy clothes. V -- the dogs will understand if you show them pics of the kissee :-) But will DH???? LOL Anyway, have fun at the next round. Herchera addictions aren't since there's nothing bad about multitudes of easy to care for plants with amazing foliage all about gardens. Love the hat, 'bug. Reed looks a bit overwhelmed :-) Saucy: I almost cried when I saw the inside pics of your house, since the one I grew up in must've been an almost duplicate floorplan. What kids wouldn't love growing up in a house like that?? Kathy: Congrats, congrats, congrats!! Good heads up to the contractor -- the good ones will respect plants they know are there. Rich has been TRAINED to ask if there's anything he should be careful with before ripping in. If I'm remembering correctly, there is an arbor that your DH built for you and you had a duplicate built in the front?? Are you taking either with you?? Forgive me if my memory is lapsing. HOOOOOZAAAAAAH CHELONE!!! The loser electrician should've been outta there long ago. I needed to hire one this week (go figure :-) and I made him put in writing that he would complete the work in one day since it isn't Rich's usual guy. He was beyond awesome. There are good ones out there... Though I'm loving the idea of you using the salon for economic purposes, I thoroughly understand the hesitancy to do it Right Now. But, with V's wicker and some things I have floating around and Kathy moving to a new house, there's probably three jobs already lined up :-) Michelle: Wow!! I would've guessed that you were a gardener long before living on the farm. Thought of you while watching a History Channel production on technology in farming. How cool is some of this stuff!! The software I saw was for exactly applying fertilizer to reduce waste and runoff. No more mules and scrapers, huh? PM - I saw the same moon this morning and stopped in my tracks just to look. Thanks for making the vision permanent. Denise: Can folks who do what you do for a career write books? I'll bet you have some fabulous stories. A very good girlfriend (GardenXCat on forums) is an upper level legal assistant type and has gotten story telling without breaching confidentiality down to a science. A lot of garden forays have been moving laugh fests at what people come up with for excuses... How is DS doing in NY? Marian: I was trying to describe your red cliffs to someone because they just amaze me so. Would you mind reposting the pic of them? T: VaVaVaVoom!! You've got to feel 1,000,000 times better than you did a year ago. What do you do to get your little darlings to wake up laughing? Very cool. Given the "it's not a recession, yet" state of affairs (tell that to several top-shelf contractors who don't have work right now) we have a very strict garden budget this year. Please weigh in on this thought: For a few years we have been looking at a Newport-style arbor in white. It's something that Rich Could build, but works out to be only 50% actual $$ savings and would take up time when he could be earning money. So .... I'm thinking wrought iron or something similar. It definitely would be truer to the style of the house, would be far less bulky, but I don't know about upkeep. Thoughts? HI to everyone.. Martie

Thanks for that link njtea. It was very interesting; I can't wait to see the 2007 update. aman17; as much as I hate to drive, I just might consider that trip. It sounds thrilling! The adult actually did a flyover my house on Saturday, at 5pm! I heard some strange sounds and noticed 3 seagulls flying behind a large bird. I kept my eye on it, thinking to myself that it was just those darn red tailed hawks that occasionally kill birds in my back yard, but the seagulls surely wouldn't have been THAT close. Sure enough, once it got closer, I saw the white head and tailfeathers. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, but when it turned, I ran in the house to get DH; I needed a witness! Naturally, he was in the shed and I twisted my ankle running for him, but I'm sure I'll see it again. And I've got to remember to bring the camera outside with me, at all times!

I hate to admit to myself how long I looked for "MY" oven. It began over 4 price changes ago. And that's the part that hurts. But I'm SO glad I did or I would not have made the choice I made. All along I wanted the Millennium Dacor but I did not like the appearance of the Dacor Convection MicroWave (which is really a Sharp, in a Dacor kit). One of two dealers who suffered with me for a few years--introduced me to Miele's H4088BM Conv MW. OMG! It took me a few months to get over the cost. Then to find the best price to put in the dedicated 220. I couldn't be happier!! I've only had my 30" MieleH4882BP and the ConvMW since January 2011, but I couldn't be happier. And also with the service. One of the racks was faulty, and they quickly shipped me another. And they corrected a scratched oven glass. Oh my! Can't tell you hope much I use the MW!! Since I'm normally alone, I use it as my main oven. I love ALL the features and I do use the Master Chef when appropriate, like the pork loin. And we through in an apple dish. on and on, I could rave.

Here's the site for the Pittsburgh eagles....All 3 eggs have hatched and babies are doing very well....Right now, they are little fuzz balls but so amusing....Mom and Dad have been so attentive, almost brings tears to your eyes....As an example, a week or so ago, it had been raining most of the day and Mom was really getting drenched from sitting on the next most of the day...Dad flew into the nest, sat real close and spread his wing over Mom to keep her dry.....These 2 are unbelievable! www.pixcontroller.com/eagles/