kqcrna/Karen, I'm growing those same beautiful poppies (Danish Flag) you have there. This year they re-seeded true to parent extremely well for me and grew so very tall and strong and bloomed their fool heads off all season long....couldn't believe it! I have a ton of seed if anyone is interested. That and a ton of dark pink peony types and mix of Shirley's. Anyway to the original question. I have been considering getting rid of: 1. Catmint (Nepeta mussinii) since it seems I can never stay up on the seedsand I'm a manic dead-header yet it never fails to always be a step ahead of me....and boy does every one seed sprout. Every spring I must be at least hoeing/picking a good 200 or so itty bitty seedlings! 2. Aster laevis (Smooth Blue Aster) Same deal plus they fall out all over....too floppy. 3. Maltese Cross...love the foliage early on and love the bright red bloom, but the foliage come mid summer is just horrid. 4. Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-Pye Weed). Horrid foliage...dry/crispy ugly leaves from ground to more than half up the stems mid summer no matter how much I mulch or water it. 5. I've already started yanking out Yarrow and will keep on until it is completely annihilated!! I started with just 4 winterown seedlings a few years ago that has now grown to about 30+ plants not to mention that each one spreads very quickly via rhizomes/stolons. It's really sad though...I truly loved having the white to break up the color and I loved the look of it at night in the moonlight, but there are much better behaved white flowers like my Evening blooming Nicotiana which re-seeds but not excessively and of course the Sweet Alyssum. I introduced white Lavatera last spring and next year I plan to plant the entire border in my east to west strip that goes the entire length of the back yard :) 6. STILL after several years I'm still yanking out Sedum album....OMG what a nightmare!! 7. My sour Cherry Tree has got to go. It was already here when I moved in and already much too tall for harvesting from. I can only get to the bottom branches and the robins get the rest and seeds are sown all over.....the tree from hell! Now I do still have quite a few plants that are really good reseeders that I would like to pull, but our town just started their first flea market and plants and seedlings are welcomed. Sooooo guess I might as well make a little money each spring/summer at $10 a table per weekend. I plan on potting up the several Lavender, Golden Margarete, Thyme (creeping and upright), Salvia officinalis, Chamomile, Alyssum, Agastache, Snapdragon, Cynoglossum, several types of sedums and other annuals/perennials and herbs that I can count on year after year! Vera

I remember thinking Idaho's nativity set was attractive but cannot remember exactly what it looked like. I bought this one at Costco last year and saw that they brought it back again this year. Not sure if this is your taste. Here is a link that might be useful: nativity scene

If you're willing to glue it up, there's lumber out there--just not in Home Depot, usually, or your average "lumberyard"--those are usually selling to the building industry, and they don't want/need thick hardwoods. OK, I'm presuming you don't want to glue 2x4's together for this project...Frankly, the easiest thing to do is order a piece from one of the sites people've already given you. You don't have woodworking tools, right? To get a nice flat top, you're talking more than just sanding, you need to get 'em to be flat on the edges so's there's no gaps between the boards. Not that easy with just a sander, though you're not talking about that long a piece. Try looking for places that sell hardwood in your area--that'd be a better google term than lumberyard. Rocker sells some wood, but $$ (on the other hand, maybe you can get there by car?). I tend to buy nice wood at West Penn Hardwoods--have always liked what they send me. Anyhow, Home Depot etc tend to only have 1" (aka 3/4" in real life) thick hardwoods, when they have those. Suppose you could buy, say, 2" x 1" maple strips and glue together on end, but I wouldn't, that's just too much gluing! The Amazon piece--you do know maple's not the greatest for staining, right?

Diane - thanks again for the Ragu recommendation. DH sent his 25 year old Coach briefcase to them and they responded within 24 hours. Since Coach no longer makes that style briefcase and replacement handles are unavailable they offered to make a new one. DH had them recondition the case too and they completed the repair and it was back within 2 weeks. He wasn't interested in having it look brand new - those scratches and dings represent many years of daily use - but it does look great. The new handle is the exact shade of his briefcase - which after 25 years is no longer the original mahogany, but significantly darker. DD took a 2 year old Coach handbag back to the store because the zipper material was fading. She had the original receipt and the bag showed no signs of wear. The SA told her that 'sometimes that happens' and only offered Coach repair services for a fee. Coach used to have a great product guarantee - but now they officially only offer a one year warranty that covers 'manufacturing defects'. From their website this morning: Coach products are handcrafted from the finest materials to ensure satisfaction and service. We offer a one year warranty on our handbags, briefcases and small leather goods. For any manufacturing defects within this warranty time frame, repairs are on us. Beyond the warranty period, we offer repair services at set fees.