Calm down, Sue. I hope you don't feel I was flaming you because I sure didn't mean to. I was saying I hated last minute customers when I was in the restaurant business so I don't go late. Even though I agreed with you, I still had some sympathy for the employees. The bottom line is you are right, and no one can dispute that even if their answers weren't quite as matteroffact as the simplicity of the subject. The sign said 8:30, so the door should not be locked until 8:30. To each their own in the way they do things. I don't arrive so late and others don't either, but many people do. Really not that big a deal. But, please don't let it all rile you like this. Not everyone agrees is all.

Shee, Ha, I found out today, it will be at least another 6-8 weeks now before we get the sofa because it isn't expected to ship now till the mid part of August and then there's another couple of weeks for shipping & delivery time! I sure hope we have it before the holidays. LOL In regards to the chairs, I'm not willing to brush paint 4 chairs but we are seriously considering painting them with spray paint. (if DeeDee's idea doesn't work out) Deedee, You are brilliant! Thank you so much! I hadn't even thought of that but the owner of the store we got the cabinet from is a real character and he just loves to wheel and deal. He has a woman on staff who does all their painting and he once offered to refinish our dining room table for us. She uses a sprayer for all the base coats and seems to do a good job on other pieces I've seen. I don't see why he wouldn't be willing to work something out with me. Oh! Then they'd match the hutch! We're picking it up tomorrow morning, I'll ask him if he's in. Oh boy, I'm excited now, wouldn't that be great! Suero, That's a great price unfinished but buying them online means I'd have to paint them and I'm not really up for that. There were a couple of styles we were considering at our local naked furniture store. They had that same chair for something like 109.99 and they wanted 70 to stain it or 80.00 to paint it. Add tax and it was close to 200/chair, which was just more than our budget for the dining room would allow. Thank you for your help though, it was a good suggestion and I do appreciate it.

It's all been well said, Zuzu, but I would add that by the time someone decides to consult a professional for this sort of thing, they really, really want help, & they really, really WANT your feedback & insight & won't feel you're pushing anything on them. You are obviously a very sensitive, thoughtful person, & you don't need to fear coming across in an arrogant fashion, but also remember that generally people consulting you will feel quite eager to hear what you have to say & will find it interesting & useful. I've been able to offer helpful suggestions to people in my life regarding decor that were appreciated. However, when it comes to my own place, I'm mystified! I agonize over decisions I've made, money I've spent & wonder what is salvagable, what is not. Almost daily I ponder over the mess I feel I've made! My point is, if I was in your area & called you to come help me... listen, I'm so ready to hear what you have to say! Don't feel trepidation, just give me what you've got, girl! If something you suggest doesn't feel right, I'll tell ya! It's give & take, yes? There will be a sharing of ideas, yes? But in the end, I'll have a different perspective on things & you possibly will have solved a very vexing problem for me & maybe I can relax in my home instead of stressing over it. See what you could do for people? Get out there. ..you have so much to offer!

Hi Marlorena- I have doubts about whether Geschwind ever released a rose named Eugene E. Marlitt. The earliest reference to the rose I can find is in French (Nomenclature de tous les noms de roses connus... by Simon and Cochet-Cochet, 2nd ed. 1906), and references 'Eugénie John Marlitt' as a 1902 HT raised by Geschwind. In the 19th C. there was a German novelist who wote romances under the pen-name E. Marlitt; her real name was Eugenie John. I can find no other early 20th C. references until 1912 when the rose (now called 'Mme Eugene Marlitt') is hailed in an American catalog as one of the finest red HT's known. Sometime in the 1920's, she apparently switched genders, as rose names sometimes do (and a sex-change via typo sounds much less painful than surgery). It's easy to see how Eugenie can sound like Eugene E., but was the rose still going by Eugenie even in the 1920's? There are no early references that I can find (and I've looked, but probably my method was lacking) in German. Not in Rosen-zeitung or any other publication. It's true that I don't speak or read German, although I do know enough "rose German" to usually be able to translate rose descriptions I find when adding references to HMF. So I wonder what Geschwind called this rose, if it really was his rose. There doesn't seem to be anything at all that's straightforward about the Marlitt rose, and I'm surprised that anyone could find a specimen with a reliable provenance to test against "Maggie". As for whether "Maggie" would be a good rose for you, the question is moot if you can't find one, but it does seem to be fairly adaptable. And sometimes roses that are heat-loving also do well in cooler climes (Geschwind's 'Gruss an Teplitz' is apparently grown throughout much of SE Asia, but I seem to recall that you grow it too). So if you did happen across a "Maggie" one day, it might be fun to try it out. Virginia ETA: Since writing the above, I did locate a 1907 reference to Mme Eugene in a U.S. catalog.