My two Summer Royals came from Ray Ethyll. He is in Oregon, but grows custom grafted certified grape plants, ships to California. Ray Ethyll also sold me my two Diamond Muscats, which are like Thompsons, only much better tasting, at least to me. You have to email him and ask him what varieties he has available. My two Jupiters came from Cloud Mountain Farm, as I mentioned above, and they had no problem shipping to CA. They also carry Reliance, and other Eastern type grape vines. Growing Certified grape plants that can be shipped to CA is a little of a nuisance. They have to be grown in containers not touching the ground, have to be inspected by someone who knows the difference between a healthy plant and a sick plant before they can be shipped to CA. Some nurseries have no problem with this, donÂt charge extra. However, one Florida nursery charges a $60 compliance fee as well as $55 for the inspection (Phytosanitary Certificate), and double charge shipping fees. IÂve bought two grape vines from EBay. One was shipped dead, never broke dormancy, and the grower refused to replace it, unlike other nurseries. The other vine is on its third year, has never bloomed or born fruit, may be a seedling that may or may not resemble the parent plant. I donÂt plan on ordering any more grape vines from EBay. Here is a link that might be useful: Custom Grafted Grape Vines

In re my points about no TV in the MBR 1. I've read that for maximum restfulness, the BR should be used only for sleeping and, not sleeping. I think that makes sense and try to adhere to it. 2. We have a no-TV-no-tech lakehouse and we found that when we stayed there we talked more, read more, and slept more. All things I value 3. Human nature is "path of least resistance". I try to configure my house to encourage behaviors I value most. 4. I personally have a very high sloth quotient. I could easily while away much of a sunny spring day watching really bad TV, like "The Learning Channel". When I am away, my DH has been known to stay up till odd hours watching old PBS documentaries. 5. That said, I forgot about news in the morning. I am now in the habit of going into my office to check the web for news and weather. I miss all of the morning news nonsense and popular culture though! 6. We need the Daily Show, daily, and it's followup. I really miss that at the lake. In re seating areas 1. In this home and the last, we never sat in the MBR. I still don't get that (though I love the lunch date someone described!). If our kids are up, I would want to be near them. If they are asleep, I would probably want to enjoy my house in solitude! 2. That said, right now there are 2 chairs and a settee in my MBR. Frankly more as storage than anything else.

Tinker, could you share the manufacturer of your table? I'm really more concerned about what my eventual table looks like with a tablecloth off rather than on because we don't entertain much. I love intricate edging paired with more simply lined chairs. I guess I've always been more form before function (much to the consternation of DH, LOL). Because out entry is open to the living then dining rooms, I want to be careful with my selection of a table. Got stuck on this decision a few months ago and decided to shelve it and get started on painting the house. Now that the painting is completed I'm back to the dining room. Thanks everyone! It's been fun reading your input.

We are all triangles, lol. Such an interesting observation about the internet and forums. I know eyes probably roll at most of my posts, but someone somewhere might use my non-recipe jumble way of cooking or use a hint since we cut out most sugars and salts a long time ago. Mentioning pharmacists Barb...i've done the same. I wandered into a pharmacist in the city....seems to be one on every NYC block...two young girls behind the counter, young meaning younger, probably early thirties. This was a couple years ago, but i decided to ask about a possible urinary tract infection and we ended up chatting for 20 minutes. They were so helpful and suggested a non-invasive over the counter thing to try first before seeing my primary care as i just had no time...they were a fantastic wealth of information. And made me promise to seek doctor help if it was not solved in a few days. Researching on our own is just good knowledge to have along with your primary care office. We really are responsible for our own basic needs at home and to eat as healthy as we can. It is difficult to start making changes to a dish that is so familiar but i feel pretty shitty after eating comfort food. DH made red-eye gravy, scratch biscuits, the day after a party. With leftovers after i made a de-salted roasted ham NewYears day...we ate tiny portions and it was a treat, then felt crappy all day. We just don't eat that way anymore. (it was delish going in!) Not had tuna casserole since my my mother made it when i was a kid. Loaded with wasted calories. Lots of ways to replace that with vegetables and still be creamy and filling. I've been making a no-mayo nicoise tuna salad for years. Even better, With your prep bowls...6 or 8 soup bowls near your chopping block...chop a half red onion, or white, a half red pepper, a couple ribs of celery, some green onion...pull some peas, limas, spinach, out of the freezer,,,,(i buy the bags over the rectangle cube boxes from the freezer section). Any good veg choices you like...) in the bags you can just take a handful, then wrap it back up with a rubber band. A veg in each bowl, the frozen as well and they start to thaw a bit. Some olives if you like them, capers if you have them. A half a chopped apple and some lemon zest with a 1/4 juice...grate a couple cups of cauliflower. Or chop. Even chopped mushrooms. Saute your onions and celery, grated carrot, garlic...whatever you want and place in the bottom of a casserole, add all other veg and layer with tuna and cooked rice pasta or regular egg noodles but use a 1/4 portion. Just replace all that pasta with 3/4 veg. Cauliflower is such a great pasta/rice replacement. We use non-fat greek yogurt mixed with cottage cheese, feta, or a slice of goat cheese...we like all of those and usually have them on hand. I use a bit of water but skim milk is a good choice for some moisture. And egg stirred in is good but not necessary. I always have citrus ice cubes frozen with some herbs. a couple of those on top...cover and bake...then cover off near the end of oven cooking to get a nice bubbly light brown top. Browning a bit adds flavor. Packed with lots of veggie you can eat a bit more. The rest of the fresh chopped veg and apple/lemon/herb, olives etc goes into a fresh tuna salad for the next day or two. Cucumber and avocado is super on that salad. You then have a crisper drawer of leftover veg not cut up for another few meals at the end of the week. Half a red pepper, half and onion, etc. My veggie lasagna and Shipwreck pie, both are 75% veg and keep winning cooking contests. Because they are baked casserole dishes they have all the elements of comfort food without the high starches and empty calories though very filling and comforting...and we don't feel shitty the next day.