Luvs, thank you. I actually had the kids take pics of my tables when I did them 2 years ago since they had dig cameras and I didn't. I never dreamt back then that I would find the terrific people on this forum to share them with. Jane, thanks! I am happy you feel my tables have "progressed". dd50, I appreciate your comments. Must have been a fluke that my pics turned out well back then as I knew even less than I do now about photography! Lynn, thank you. That candle lamp is another one of my Partylite treasures. I'm not sure it is available anymore. I got it for free because I hosted a party and had a lot in sales otherwise I would NEVER have paid the $90, they wanted for it!!! I know what you mean about seeing similar ones but they aren't quite as elegant. Gail, thanks! I agree that snowflakes and Valentines go together but I never really thought about the "laciness" of the snowflakes being the reason - is true though. I also link the two because we are certainly in winter-mode here in February! DD

Thanks for the reply. My FL that died was a Frigidaire Gallery, the 3.1 cu ft Electrolux made model that has had a lot of problems with bearings and aluminum spider arms corroding. Other FL's don't fit in my narrow laundry room between my garage and house, unless we chose the very small and expensive European models, and getting their quality vs just buying a quality top loader didn't add up.

We just chose the SQ FL washer and electric dryer with 4 cycles (has a decreased temp tumble for clothes.) I was concerned about the moisture sensor, too. I called customer service at SQ - they verified they do not make a product with a moisture sensor, as this would necessitate computer workings of some type and they felt this is exactly what many customers (including myself) wanted to stay away from due to concerns about reliability. His explanation was surely much better than mine, but here goes: they use a temperature sensor that is based on the guideline of knowing that, for example, cotton fabric is dry when it reaches a temp of 140 degrees. He said that many people complain of the moisture sensor dryers leaving some clothes incompletely dried as they are reading the moisture level of the particular item that touches the sensor as it tumbles in the dryer. If that item was a lighter weight cotton shirt vs. a heavier weight cotton towel, it would read as dry and turn off, leaving the other items damp. To me, one could make an arguement that the lighter weight shirt would now be overly dried, and I am not sure to do about that one. As I said, his explanation made sense to me and to my husband, who was not convinced that the SQ dryer would be our best option until he spoke to customer service himself. Our decision to go with the SQ's is based on the fact that we have 3 active kids, lots of animals, and are in need of a washer dryer that can handle casual clothes. Our better items are dry cleaned and I couldn't see that changing even if we had a machine capable of extremely gentle cleaning and lots of cleaning options. We live on top of a mountain and experience more than our fair share of lightning strikes and power outages. I didn't relish the thought of computer boards being fried (it has happened twice with the security system - not inexpensive, but we did not have a choice with that one.) As a woman of, ahem, a certain age, I am now more in love with the idea of simple products that just flat out work vs. a pretty product that throws lots of high tech codes and leaves my trying to figure out what that mysterious code means while I try to do the homework/supper/mom thing. I want my washer to wash well and my dryer to dry well and my Charlies soap to clean well, and well, you get my drift. If SQ had a dryer with a moisture sensor I would likely have chosen it, as I do believe that it does offer more advantages over the thermal sensor. Our other dryer did have a moisture sensor, it did work well on some loads and not so well on others, it was trouble prone, and it is now dead. I hope that our decision to go "back" to a lower level of technology will be a good one. Will let you know as soon as machines are installed - it is supposed to be sometime this week! If anyone is looking at the SQ in the Tennessee/Georgia area of the country, I have a dealer who seems to be very good - he was quite willing to bargain while another dealer was not. I definitly considered a dryer that did not match, but DH is the one who loves symmetry and wanted a matching pair, LOL! Good luck!

Baking soda is alkaline and vinegar is acid. The soda will neutralize the vinegar, negating any effect the vinegar might have. Hot water and ten cents worth of chlorine bleach. Done. If you're really paranoid, get a quaternary disinfectant and run a hot water cycle without clothes, stopping the washer for about 20 minutes to give the quat time to work. But I just don't have a mold/ mildew problem in my TL that is in the basement in Central Wisconsin (where fighting mold, mildew, moss, algae & rust everywhere is running battle.) I routinely wash in hot water, seldom use chlorine bleach, use mostly powdered detergents and never use liquid fabric softener and, once or twice a year, run a hot water cycle (no clothing) with a glug of bleach just for good measure. (During the summer, we run a dehumidifier in the basement because the air conditioning is seldom turned on.) Oh, and depending on how old your Whirlpool is and where you live (Southern California vs Duluth), you may discover that 'warm' washes are best described as 'cool'...because of energy regulations. Washers now mix more cold water w/ hot than they used to. The work around is to start the fill with hot water and switch to warm.