If it were me--I'd put Catkim's idea into place--as soon as DH was away on business. (The man travels frequently.) He used to say he was always nervous as he walked into the house on return--he was never certain what I'd changed THIS time. But then--DH and I have an agreement--I decorate--he lives with it. He chooses vehicles--I live with it. My changes usually involve paint--so mine are less exensive. WARNING! THINKING WAAAAAY OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: It's difficult to tell--but if that shed isn't attached to the slab--I wonder how difficult it would be to jack it up and rotate it? Lift it up--slip some poles or something underneath--rotate 180 degrees. That puts your door facing the other direction--and you can plant Right upto the shed. Then you can make you shed look like a little garden house--or somesuch. OTOH--might make it more difficult to get the bikes out of the shed...you'don't want that. Jo's (Saypoint's) suggestion could be implemented by careful shrub choice--I'm pretty certain she's left a gap between the bushes and the shed...where the path is currently. Have fun! melanie

Sherwhy, I have sisal rugs in my dining room, my living room and as of last week my foyer. I just got the shipping notice for a seagrass remnant which will go into my main hallway. That should be here within the next few days. So far so good. The DR rug has been down almost 2 years now, and it looks perfectly fine. My daughter vacuums it weekly and we've had spills that wiped right up. No stains, no trouble. We have 2 indoor cats who like to use the rugs as scratching pads--again, so far no damage. Fur vacuums right up as well. I really have been VERY pleasantly surprised at how well the natural rugs have turned out in my home. I was a bit dubious given some of the stories I've heard here and other places, so all of my rugs were definitely bargain purchases just in case. But I've ended up with a style I love and a reasonably durable floor covering to boot! What's not to love? :) Here's a picture of the DR: Ann

I found an indoor/outdoor rug that is polypropelene, but looks very close to a sisal/jute at Crate and Barrel. I brought a sample square home but haven't ordered one yet (still deciding on size I need), so I can't tell you if it curls or otherwise has any problems that would not be apparent until you get it down in the house. It's not as scratchy as sisal or jute and should be a lot easier to clean (since it's poly). I've seen it in person in the store hanging (5x8 size). It's the Savannah rug, comes in a natural color and a dark greyish blackish color. Here is a link that might be useful: crate and barrel rug

snookums - I usually split my ghee order between regular and cultured. Cultured ghee has a mild (tangy) fermented flavor, but not a whole lot of difference between it and regular. You would want to use cultured ghee (or cultured butter for that matter, if you make or purchase it) as a spread, not in baked goods, since heat destroys the "good" bacteria from being cultured. That's why I never heat-process homemade sauerkraut. I'll freeze it, but won't home-can it, to preserve the good bacteria. And you're right about the high price of Kerrygold butter. We just use less....to compensate for the higher price, but believe the health benefits are worth it (even on my $125/month food budget for 2 adults). TIP: If you are buttering pancakes/waffles, toast, etc., if you melt a small amount of butter first, apply it with a pastry brush, you'll use MUCH less than if you spread it with a knife. I buy less-expensive butter at Aldi for baking and often use a blend of coconut oil and butter in baked goods. Coconut oil is expensive, too, when you compare it to butter prices (although butter prices just went up a couple months ago). The nice thing about coconut oil is that you can use up to 25% less in many recipes, than the amount of fat it's being substituted for, and get the same results. I also blend natural peanut butter (purchased or homemade) 50/50 with softened coconut oil; keep it in a canning jar at room temperature and use it as a spread. Sometimes I'll add a little sweetener to the mix (coconut palm nectar, molasses, honey, golden syrup, maple syrup, sorghum syrup, all will work). If you get a sugar craving, slowly eat up to 1-T. of this mixture (or even plain coconut oil). I start with a teaspoonful and the craving will usually go away.