Or maybe the cats are just chasing the chickens and it really was a coyote that got the one. If the cats had killed the hen, there would have been spare parts left that they didn't eat. There weren't any. Only two small piles of feathers. Which takes me back to the probability of it being a coyote or the neighbors dog who has a history of doing this. At any rate, The Girls have to stay in the pen now. :( And Binx is back to chasing Leopard frogs and butterflies. So far no gifts of snakes and field rats like previously loving cats have brought in the house to me. Miss Pink was my Lioness. From the time she was just 8 weeks old, she began hunting. She dragged in rats and snakes bigger than her, her prey between her front legs as she dragged them along. She struggled but never gave up getting them up and through the kitty window and into the house, to my horror. She brought in voles and kangaroo rats. She brought in a tree snakes (Green snakes) and all manner of non-poisonous snakes...and kits (baby rabbits) - all alive. I was the one who had to capture her caches and release them outside somewhere. Imagine watching TV when all of a sudden a Shrew or a Mole is dropped at your feet. One time she brought me something so large she liked tonot got it into the house. When she came to me with it, I could see it was large but could not tell what the heck it was. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a large snake coiled up into quite literally a ball! When I stretched it out it measured 3 feet. It was gently released over the fence in the front yard. The vole was never caught but I finally got rid of it using moth balls. She left on her own accord. I do miss my sweet Pinkums. Life on the Funny Farm! You never know what the cat(s) will drag in next! ~Annie

Hey Tech, Got a bee in your bonnet? Sorry if we offend you... Out in the country, we've always recycled. Didn't get into 'organized' recycling until I lived in a city. Call me ignorant, but for most of my life I have either been in school or in such a high stress job (meaning working 60 to 70 hours a week) that while I thought of our environment, I did so rather casually - that's all the time I had to spare for it. What does frustrate me is that super conglomerates dictate our lives by being convenient. Easier to go buy gas than to think of what car/truck manufacturers did 75 to 80 years ago to insure that we'd buy those babies...and the oil/gas companies around that shored them up. My father made his living growing an evil weed...tobacco... And it was the only thing he could grow that would bring enough money to keep his family clothed, housed, fed and educated. It breaks my heart to think of him, and my neighbors. They could be growing food...but, we expect grocery prices to be soooo cheap. No way to earn a living producing food. I would very much like some geniuses to devise equipment that could use corn or soybeans to fuel not only cars/trucks, but also to run heating systems and the like. It would help our enviroment in more than one way. Maybe talking about it here will encourage a few more people to think of it. And, as far as I'm concerned, a penny earned can be a penny saved, so to speak, with regard to our environment...and our pocketbooks...and with saving farmland. If you have particular problems with me, for any reason, please feel free to take it away from the forum...email me privately. I'm personally happy that there's a stained glass/mosaic forum. Please do not run the newbies away... I, and others too, appreciate the help and info from others, especially those who have more experience in whatever our 'projects' are. I've said before, and I'll say it again, now, I know I'm a newbie with much to learn. I don't feel welcome at GJ anymore...I'm not posting there anymore. Please, play nice. Kimmy

Nancy, I've thought long and hard about how we're becoming the oldsters. It is what it is, right? I try to tell myself that what this means is that we have experience, we no longer put up with crap, we have (hopefully) gained the wisdom that comes with living for many decades and we now choose to prioritize our activities and how we spend our time based on what matters to us....not on what society says should matter to us. We are the old wise ones, and I'm good with that. I try really hard to not drive the kids crazy by saying "back in our day, we walked to school barefoot in the winter in the snow 2 miles each way and it was uphill both coming and going". lol I'm afraid I still do too much of that at times, but try to do it in a fun, humorous way. When they start telling me old I'm just going to remind them that they just bought a house that is 27 years older than me, so old must be good, great or terrific! I hate when spendy months hit like that, and sometimes it is just unavoidable. I'm glad GDW's truck is all fixed and, you know, it could have been a lot worse than $700. I feel so behind and wish I was spending today out in the garden. Instead, we just delivered a tool to the kids at the house that the kids need for this weekend, so got to see all the progress they made this week since we last were there. They're really getting the painting done. I think they only have 3 rooms left to go and all three are partially painted, and then the trim in most rooms still needs to be painted. We dropped off the tool, grabbed lunch, brought in the tomato plants that had been outdoors for 4 hours (more on that in a minute), let the dogs and cats out to frolic in the wind and sun, and have to leave in about 45 minutes to go to the 9-year-old's 10th birthday party. By the time we get finished there, it will be too late to do any gardening. Maybe tomorrow.... Kim, Be kind to your body and let it heal. I know you're really stuck in a hard place right now---trying to work after the big promotion and having to deal with the residual pain. I hope things get better quickly. Jennifer, We had fun. Ate dinner out, came home, watched the movie Paddington 2, told silly jokes, loved on the dogs and cats (every night they act like they haven't seen Lillie in 100 years instead of just the typical school day hours), etc. She was worn out and went to bed after the movie ended, and was up, dressed and out of here around 7 a.m. to go work on painting her bathroom at the new house. Her best friend came over to help her, and they were having fun when we were there, and getting some painting done as well. I wish I were out buying plants today! I am so jealous! Or, as the 10 year-old would say, "I'm jelly...." I am going to find a way (somehow, somewhere, or else) to buy some plants this weekend. I need to feed my desire to plant shop. Amy, The thunder woke the dogs, the dogs woke us. The dogs decided they had to go out (it wasn't raining yet) and by the time they came in that little storm had run right past us, so they calmed down and went back to sleep quickly. Then, the weather radio went off a little later for a Severe Tstorm thing about the same time the storm arrived with huge crashing thunder and big lightning bolts. We put the young dogs in their safe place (a gigantic dog crate they love to share) and Jersey went into her safe place (our master bathroom), and we settled back down to sleep. The rain was brief. There was no more thunder. I still was awake, so I let the dogs out of their safe places and we all went back to sleep and slept maybe 3 or 4 more hours. Honestly, on nights like that I don't know why we even think we are going to be allowed to sleep, but we go to bed believing it is going to happen. I'm glad your Grandma Suzy's came up. This morning I ventured outdoors to check conditions for hardening off tomatoes so I can stay on schedule. The wind was raging out of the W/SW and the greenhouse doors and vents are on the W and E ends, and must be open to prevent heat build up, so the greenhouse would have been a wind tunnel today with our winds gusting as high as 44 mph. So, I moved the folding tables to the front porch, put the tomato plants there and left them out for 4 hours. It was not ideal. Between the porch roof and the trees, the plants probably got only 2.5 to 3 hours of sun at most before they found themselves shaded again, but the house blocked most of the wind, so they got a little wind movement, and probably more than I think and more than they needed. Still, it was nowhere near the wind movement they'd have been subjected to in the greenhouse or out in the yard. As Tim pointed out, full exposure to today's wind likely would have killed them so I had to choose the lesser of all the evils. Their color is really great---a much deeper, darker green. You really can tell they are getting a lot of sun. It is SPRING here. All the trees are bursting out into blooms and leafing out and everything else. I mean, all the plants are going nuts, like the severe cold was the only thing holding them back and now that it is gone, everything is full speed ahead. The stores have all the plants, but I haven't had time to look at them. I'm not saying we won't have more freezing nights, but rather that Mother Nature is moving on and doing her thing and will pay the consequences, if any. Bees and butterflies are out, moths and mosquitoes, blah, blah, blah. Gotta run to the birthday party because a swim party (indoors!) with a bunch of 9-11 year olds is the only acceptable substitute for a very windy day (wind vicious today!) spent in the garden. Dawn

Arapaho, that would be the idea. The wood top is quite light. Oly, very astute, You are so right. I thought making them the same wood as the tabletop would makes it more cohesive, but yes it does scream Magnolia Home a bit. Nini, It has always been one of my fave rooms. It is white shiplap on all the walls, ceiling and floor! When we first bought it the room reaked of cigarsmoke; the PO would banish her DH there. It took many months but we finally aired it out. Sueb, (feeling better I hope?) The medicine cabinet is from Etsy. Too funny, the pic on his site is mine. LOL. It will move to the 2nd fl hall bath. https://www.etsy.com/listing/178107923/vintage-luggage-medicine-cabinet?click_key=0d1634e0c67ab71b85fb5666a1df7a95848b2f90%3A178107923&click_sum=a597a2e5&rec_type=ss&ref=landingpage_similar_listing_top-2&frs=1 The lamps are from a french company I like. I've bought a lot of fixtures from them. They have to be shipped int'l and rewired when you get them (some you can spec for the US), but they are cheap to begin with and they have such unique stuff. https://www.decoetcompagnie.com/gb/ I have two of them. Here is one "staged" for renters. Jinx, That is not a cute little sink. That is a very bad sink with bad karma and will be happily banished. When we bought the 1904 house, it had a lot of vintage sinks. Circa 1968, alas. So I bought vintage sinks for the whole house, except for 2 double sinks for kids baths, which are new but look vintage. On this one, I got a bait and switch. It has a lot of rust around the drainholes, and is not the sink pictured when I bought it online. My plumber picked up all the sinks for me and installed them before I saw them. I did get a big discount when i griped, but still. Funfact: my double drainboard kitchen sink is from GW'er Arlosmom's DC-area kitchen, acquired on a fun road trip. Also stole from her the idea of externally mounted plumbing in our MBA shower here. Anyway, I am really excited that these beloved items will work so well here. We had to measure because there is very little wiggle room and it may be hard to get the table in the room. Now that I know it will work, I will have our carpentry guy put shelves on the bottom (it is open now) and fix the drawers so they open more easily. . The pantry annex will also feature a glass front fridge, since our cutesie retro one is too small when we entertain. We will also need to add lighting, probably pots but the new little ones. I am going to have them put a little grove on the shelving, so I can prop up plates and such. It is going to be uber fun to style, because so much of what i have is white ceramic, metal, glass or wood. Plus cookbooks! I have enough store space elsewhere for anything not terribly pretty, so this can be all for fun. Only bad part is that this project won't be done for a very long time, since the work table will stay in CT until we move, a year plus.