Hi Paul That plant is from one I originally bought from an old chap who was selling out due to ill health. It wasn't showing any colour when I first saw it and I didn't know what it was, but he said it was nice when it coloured up and I took his word for it and bought it. Since then it just continued to multiply to the extent that I now have them all through my front garden which at the time of planting was suffering badly from visiting cats damaging anything I planted; not any more, they don't like the prickles! What I like about them is they can take all the sun they can get,(even the Jan 43 degree C. day) without any damage and when they colour up in a large group they are quite eye catching. If I can find a pic of the garden bed I will post it and you will see what I mean. All the best, Nev.

The handles are fantastic!! One suggestion, Because I am always scared when making a permanent decision, I would look at your handles with the scale of your cabinets in mind before drilling. In the end it's what you're happy with. However, your "natural" inclination of their placement in the photos, seems to be a little low to me. Somewhat off- balance in the overall picture. Just my opinion- I try to consider things like this in a similar manner to hanging art. Good luck on your kitchen's completion. Congrats on your good deal and beautiful knobs September

I'm one of the many gardenwebbers trying to decide if marble countertops are right for me and my family. Inspired by sfmomof2, I took a 10" round carrara marble cheese server (purchased years ago from RH) and spread lemon juice all over it. The shiny, highly polished finish, which had withstood years of wiping down with water and melting slices of brie and espoisses, almost instantly etched. The surprise: I loved the etchings! It gave the slab a beautiful, matte finish and old-worldy look. i.e. it looked even more like marble. (I'm starting to think that the "Meg Ryan" technique is the way to go.) Now I just have to decide that I'm OK with that look for an entire island top. (I'm seriously considering the marble-top "French kitchen island" at Crate and Barrel.) I'm curious if there are other etched marble lovers on the kitchen site.

I think I'm the other person. dchall, if you click on the last photo you will see the entire bottle. Notice at the top half inch or so of water you can almost see through it, and then it looks cloudier in the middle. That tells me that whatever particles are there are not very dense. I'd be surprised if you can see anything more than a thin layer of clay on top of the silt if given enough time to settle. I'd still say it is negligible clay, or let's say 5% to be generous.