yeah, goofy me just doesn't like that unfinished look, although I have lived with it a long time, at least i didn't destroy it as the cookbook pages would easily come off with some water..no worries. I knew it was older than 1900 but not sure how much older. I like it a lot, begged it off my mom as she has a lot of antiques that i love. No one else in the family really cares other than the value. I love them as I have always had my house done in either antiques or reproductions.

So sorry about your knee, Teresa. Mine are in a state of rebellion, too. Just sore from garden work, though. Hope yours gets all better soon. Had burgers on the grill w/ King Arthur home-made buns, stir-fried green beans and strawberry Jello w/ bananas on Sunday. Yesterday, marinated grilled chicken, chili bean salad, garlic smashed potatoes & Home-made dinner rolls. I tried a new marinade recipe (mustard & balsamic vinegar) that turned out really good & the rolls were made from a recipe I got here on the Cooking Forum. I think it is Lindac's recipe. Anyway, they were delicious. DSII ate one chicken leg and 4 dinner rolls plus more during the night...there's only one roll left this morning (plus a pan of eight that I put in the freezer.) And, yes, it was too darned hot to be baking bread but had to fire up the oven for the smashed potatoes and had some sweet potatoes that needed to be baked. Good luck with your surgery, Annie. Linkee to recipe for anyone interested. Here is a link that might be useful: Marinated Chicken recipe

Mari - I'm surprised lumberyard doesn't have exterior beadboard - thought a lot of people would use it for porch ceilings? Where do you live? I could come help stain if your DH would help me with my projects later LOL! Would predrilling be easier than setting nails? Or you'd have to set anyway? marybeth and remodelfla - nice mosaics! danielle - your DH is SuperDaddy! I can't let me kids see pics or they'll want one (and I'd have to build it since my DH is a software guy, I'm the hardware person!). Happy Birthday to the boys! Well, doesn't count since it's the end of the week, but it was raining today so carpenter cousin got off early from landscaping job (he's looking for different part-time job so he can do more carpentry, or a FT carpentry job again since he got laid off in Jan). I had taped off the counters to caulk, started marking studs to get shoe mold up when he called so I finished marking studs, taped off the lower island countertop edges too, then had to pick up our kids at school. He came over and was caulking and putting up shoe when we got home, then put up trim on sides of island (even though I wasn't happy with my finish job and would have liked to have done a final sanding)while the kids played, and cut the 12ft length of crown sitting in my DR to length. Brought me the mitred returns for cabinets on each side of corner and the center bay stool(sill) cut to proper depth but not notched. I've got lots of sanding and staining to do! Actually, putting crown on the kitchen cabinets was a winter make-work job for him that he didn't get to in March, so I told him my next priority is finishing that bay window stool and all the FR/kitchen door and window casings, and getting the baseboard (finished) nailed up. Hopefully I'll get the fiberglas pulled out from around the windows and slider, and low-expanding foam put in, then the next rainy day (or next w/e?) he'll come over and join up some casings with biscuit joiner, and maybe fit the new stool (3 pieces) so I can stain and finish that. I'd love to get the FR windows and slider trim finished and up by 4th of July, and if I can get tile issues resolved I can get kitchen door casings and then the last bit of baseboard in FR (runs into kitchen) and the small pieces of kitchen baseboard in (they're all finished) by Labor Day. It would be nice to have all the trim in the house finished 2 years after moving in, but I don't know if we can do the foyer, LR, half bath, and mudroom by then as well, since I haven't stained any of it yet and I have to do doors and window sashes this summer while I can set up sawhorses in the garage - short pieces of baseboard can wait til fall/winter, I finish them in the Master Bath (which will be finished in oh, 5 years). But maybe I can stain/finish and he can put up the crown by Thanksgiving so I can get it off my DR floor?

How sweet. On the painting, I want to again, but mosaic is a carnivorous hobby. You were the one who said there's a carnival going on in my mind. I'll give you an example of that. In an add last night on t.v., a girl was peeling an orange. I saw the light through a piece of orange, and thought "how would I paint that - oh, I know, I'd add a touch of red." Nuts, huh? I remember one day trying to get the transulucency of a lemon slice and how long it took me. Yeah, that's how my mind works all the time. Wish I had five of me w/the energy of my youth.