I made a shadow box for my dh. It is our first best buddy's collar with the tags hanging down. In the center is a picture of dh with pup on a rock near a high sierra lake. We scattered his ashes at the same spot last year. Dh mentioned the other day that it was time to go visit him since the season is changing. I placed a rock with his name and dates on it, look forward to seeing it again and being where I think his spirit is in that peaceful, joyful place high in the mountains. Coming to terms with the passing of our pets is necessary and allows us to focus on remembering how special they are to us, whether physically here or not. It is not an easy process but does make looking forward easier.

I'm going to repeat my post from two years ago, because nothing has changed, and my solution is still working. If you find spots only on the front of your solid-color t-shirts after washing them, this will take care of them. It's a pain, but pre-treating them faithfully with Stain Stick--I now have to order it from Amazon, as WalMart and Kroger stores have quit carrying it--but it relieves the frustration of finding spots on freshly washed clothes. Spots only occur on the fronts of our t-shirts, never the backs or sides, so I think it has to do with getting grease on the front either from cooking or eating. Have you ever seen the spot a tiny crumb of potato or corn chip leaves on a brown paper sack overnight? My solution: pre-treat all visible spots with Stain Stick. Works most of the time, and seems to always work the second time around if there is a spot or two after the first wash. It's a pain, but compared to the trouble of making my own detergent, I'll continue doing it. I tried using spray pre-treatments, but once you spray you can't tell what spots are from the spray and which need to be treated. I have a top-loader and use Costco Free and Clear, but have tried Tide and other detergents, as well. Makes no difference. I use a dryer and fabric softener sheets. I tried no sheets and different brands--no difference. I typically pour the detergent down into the bottom of the tub so it goes into the area below the tub with the holes it, but don't wait to put clothes in until the bottom is covered with water, so it's possible some of the unmixed detergent is getting on the clothes. But as I started off with, if the spots were being caused by the detergent, they wouldn't be just on the fronts of the shirts.

update on the plan! Shannon- thanks- I love Candice too! If I weren't using a solid color sheer in the center of the door I would definetly consider doing a solid vertical stripe up edges. The fabric on these panels will never be closed completely. Tam184- The seamstress asked me to describe the pattern and I spoke with her about "matching the repeat" (all new terms for me!) so I am assuming she knows how to do this. She said she would come out to the house and measure the door herself because I was a novice with giving her concrete measurements for sewing. Ajsmama- This is a local women here in Florida that the fabric store recommended. They gave me 2 names and warned me that one was a little bit more expensive, but that both were very good. As I said before, I live in a pretty small town. I have a feeling prices vary depending on where you live. Have you checked locally? I bought the fabric yesterday. After all of this information ( thank you all a million times over) I have decided to have them sewn professionally. The fabric was pretty expensive for my budget, and I don't want to risk ruining it. It will mean waiting a bit longer, but I have been in the house for 6 years without curtains for the door, so what's another month or two! I would rather wait to save up to have it done properly. Thanks again, and will post pics as soon as they are done!

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.