Yeah, we had one of the "local experts" say in her newspaper column, "the antique roses that are once bloomers, blooming only in the spring". *** It may hold true for gardens in harsh-winter climates. But out here, the roses which have survived with no care for a century or more are remontant things like Chinas, Teas, and Noisettes. Oh, and Polyanthas. So when someone in CA writes with certainty that "Old Roses only bloom once," I get sorta testy! Particularly when our remontant Old Roses are flat the easiest roses to grow under our conditions. Jeri

We had the tiniest house (the family homestead) that we moved into to be with grandma after grandpa died. So there were 5, then 6 of us in that little house. Dad added a little onto it to make the living area larger, but honestly, now I don't know how we did it. We certainly never felt cramped, although we must have been. There was always someone bustling around in the kitchen or the garden. We kids had the run of the neighborhood and township and mom and dad never worried about us as long as we were home for dinner. It seems that the whole neighborhood came to our yard to play and as cramped as we were, there was no end to the family and friends that somehow stayed overnight. I guess we just made do without comparison and judgement. Dad worked hard at his own business and tho we never wanted for anything, we weren't excessive in anything either. Homework was at the kitchen table or on the living room floor; one TV, one radio, etc. My grandfather had the telephone installed on the utility porch, because he wouldn't have it in the house. When he died, it was brought into the living room, but whenever I see people walking around with cell phones and ear bugs, and i pads, I think grandpa would be spinning around in his grave. Small spaces made for family time; we went to bed early (except on monday nights, when we went to bed after I Love Lucy) and got up early; ate a real breakfast and walked a mile to school. As small as our house was, tables were set up end to end in the living room for big family/friends holiday dinners (the kids' table in the kitchen). I've lived in a lot of houses since those childhood days and have always preferred smallish houses.

Guilty of the drop in!!! Excuses of being a work at home mom with small children in the middle of building a house and moving aside, can I say that I'm actually quite intimidated by the depth of knowledge that so many here have to offer? So when I'm here (as spurts allow) I tend to not open my mouth unless it's to offer something I have direct experience with or just a little encouragement. It's the reason I lurked for so long, and sat up late with my husband pouring over things like vent hood overlap margin and cfms. Because there are so many truly knowledgeable folks in these parts! Can I tell you how amazed I am when someone comes on with their rough first draft and pages worth of input are given? I'm struck at how detailed and patient everyone is with something that this visulaizing klutz can't even wrap my mind around! I too hate words like "passe", and "trended out" because if anything the endless options of building has taught me is that there is no right answer. Because unless it's YOUR right answer, by nature of crowd think, it's fleeting. I built my white kitchen knowing that in 6 months to 2 years, something newer, better, more awe-inspiring very well could try and compete for my affections. But I've got kids to raise and values to instill, and I have to hope that when it does come along, I can cheer on the next crowd towards the next design breakthrough while being content with what I have. I will likely never build a 30,000 sq foot remote palace in Montana with a gift wrapping room, a flower cutting room, or get my husband ever take me seriously if were to show him a custom La Canche. But I don't resent the folks who do and I covet the sharing of their end work. Because through their sharing I get the benefit of their global travels, the architects who's fees were more than my house, and their decorators ideas! On the same hand, I value every detail of the suburban remodel. Every effort to go beyond the big box uniform is a spark of creativity, love, and build of home and family. After all, isn't that what these kitchens are for? There something inherently good about a place where people give their experience and knowledge freely. It's up to us to be adult enough to recognize the inherent personalities involved and choose to see the good. I sincerely hope popping in and displaying a milestone in our kitchen and then popping out for a spell didn't contribute to the ruffling of anyone's feathers. I love what betsyhac said... I wish Americans could discuss politics as constructively as the GWers discuss kitchens!

I love all those ideas! I'm still tweaking what we have. I'm not using these calendars effectively right now but I think it will just take practice. It's still all so new to me. We will doing more work on our house, including adding built-in desks in our school/office space. I will have white boards for each child since we homeschool, as well as cork boards for each child in his/her own desk space. For the family calendar, we will most likely end up using iCal on the family iMac, but I still like this idea. I have the current month and the subsequent 2 months, plus a weekly to-do board. These all have magnets on the back. The current one and the weekly one go on the shelf; the other two are below the shelf on metal strips attached to the wall. The silver board is actually magnetic and push pin. The metal outer layer has pin-sized holes all over it, and underneath is a material that accepts pins. I love it. I purchased all these from storables.com.