Wow, what a mohnin' montage, glittering dresses designed to securely hug shapely contours as well as bring tears to the eye's of the photographer, discussions of "manly" birthday stew, combination kitchen/"li-berries", and epic posts from those thought long lost. What could be better? That is a pretty dress, Brenda. My first Barbie (I still have her) had an evening dress (which I no longer have) that was similar in silhouette. It must be a trifle overwhelming to see your baby girl all suited up for her nuptials, but very special, too. Nice to indulge something besides Cat. diesels, huh? When's the big day? I didn't quite understand what happened in the cornfield with the bike. Did they impale it with one of those pointy things on the front of the combine? How about a shot of the Combine and a basic lesson on what the parts of it are? that will prove important next harvest when the Idyllettes descend on the your farm like Grackles on a lawn. And "ladies foundations" are indeed the order of the day for those with "fuller" (Rubenesque?) figures, though they should NEVER be uncomfortable if they are properly fitted. Many moons ago I was an alterationist in a very swanky dress shop that also sold ladies foundation garments. The women in that department were all older and were "corsettieres", they knew exactly how to measure and fit undergarments and specialized in prosthetics for mastectomy patients. I learned A TON from them and found the niche fascinating and very rewarding. Every woman should go to a good lingerie shop to be properly fitted for a bra; and drive right past some place like Victoria's Secret. ;) The discussion of awfice temperatures made me smile, Cindy. I see that as the next potential conflict in the shop, since there are a lot of windows (that are drafty) and all the baseboard is covered with used pattern material, dust, etc.. It's chilly in the morning and sweltering in the afternoon when the sun streams in the windows. My "office sweater" is a fleece-like arrangement with a zipper up the front and a snowflake motif on a black background. It was left in the shop by a worker who "couldn't take it" after realizing that sometimes sewing can be downright frustrating. Anyway, it has bits of foam "dust" stuck to the front of it and the visiting cat frequently sleeps on it when it's not in use. I cut quite a picture in it. 'bug, I'm to open all windows in the Salon for the first few fires in the new stove and not touch the painted castings as the paint becomes soft with the initial heating. I have a ways to go before "firing that mother up", though. The helpmeet put up the trim pieces that cover the edges of the pulldown ladder to the bahn's attic yesterday. I've dutifully filled the finish nail holes and will sand and finish it this afternoon. And he has all the posts and rails for the stairwell finished, too. I went over them yesterday evening, removing errant pencil marks, filling the deeper, more jagged areas and generally "distressing" the sharper edges. They're made of Hemlock and the wood's grain is quite pronounced and tends to be sort of brittle. It's not ideal for any sort of woodworking for that reason, but it is pretty when it's pickled (I did a sample last winter) and I'm willing to fuss over the parts to get the splintery parts sanded into submission. I've spent a lot of time thinking about your individual trials and family worries, lately. Sometimes it's hard to know what to say, but do know that I try to send good thoughts to the cosmos for each of you and understand that sometimes the toll can be very high. Sometimes just knowing someone understands is helpful. So are "boring" peeks into someone else's mundane existence. ;) I have to "suit up" for the chilly morning. Unlike TCS I'm pretty good at bringing all the accessories home. And like TCS, I sometimes misplace things in safely zippered pockets, too. And it's confession time, Julie. Yesterday I peeked under the couch as I was on my way up the stairs (the railing around the stairwell is open and you can look across the floor at eye level). A scary sight, indeed, with tumbleweeds of animal hair and get this: a full tick, dead as doornail, about the size of kidney bean. She must have succumbed crossing what must have seemed like a tick's equivilent of the Gobi... And on that note, mes amies, I shall head off to work (very late!). Be productive and have some laughs, OK?

Quote: "Have any of you ever seen plants folding their leaves up and together because they'd had too much sunlight?" Yes, indeed, that is one cause of African Violets looking like they are under arrest. The plant is getting too much light and is trying to shade and protect the tender new crown growth. Put the plant in a dimmer area and it will relax. As Debbie said, the most common reason is the need for more light. It doesn't sound like your plant lacks light: a south window is usually very bright. Opposite problems cause the same symptoms - aghhh! Other causes that don't seem to apply in your case include initially being grown in extremely crowded conditions (especially plug growing) that forces the leaves to grow up and genetics (if you have one of the celery/beanstalk type varieties). I think your idea of pulling the plants away from the light is the way to go.

Tub is the Kohler Villager cast iron, 60" x 32". Bidet seat is the Brondell Swash 1000. Brondell must be trying to move these because they are on woot dot com about every 2-3 months at a substantial markdown. Love it. RH sconces are all right, but it's a little tricky to turn the shade which rotates around the bulb to act as a dimmer, so we don't use them as night lights as I thought we might. They do create a pretty pattern on the ceiling. Deb, the top was pre drilled. I wouldn't compare it to a high quality slab of statuary marble, as I suspect given the price that there is a lot of resin holding this together. But it's pretty and it hasn't etched. Flooring is a porcelain imitation of bardiglio I bought at Tile America. I can look up the details if you want them! They substitute their own brand names so I'm not sure if you could easily find it elsewhere.

This year appears to be pretty active in solar flares. I have a friend in Nome, AK and the recent photos she's posted of the aurora. One of her photos shows a black sky, green aurora and clear as day, the big dipper right in the middle of it all. Jodi-