Hi Everyone! I have a new flower to share. Now some may say they're not real inviting, at least not the fragrance, but she sure is pretty! Just bloomed this morning. I need to find out which one it is now. lol! I've been waiting since mid Nov. for it to bloom. :) It's only about 3" across. A nice little one. :) Nancy~ Hubby and I both love the new photos of Max. Boy does he look comfy in his little blanket, and clothes. LOL! and I thought mine were spoiled! lol! Jodi~ Our grasshoppers can get a little mean, just like the mantis, so they eat what they want! LOL!! Hi To everyone else, I need to run! JoJo

I was given one and refurbished it myself. Think the range was made in 1937 believed to cost 450$ new . My house here in Austin was built in 1937 the people owned the lot so it cost $1850. to build 1000 sq foot wood cottage type house . These ranges replaced wood burning stoves. We talking high tech back then and expensive for the times . I was told at that time they added somewhere around $1.50 + to your gas bill more or less a lease to own program or monthly service fee ( probably like a cable or satellite today ) . It was in pretty good shape upon arrival I rewired using a high temp fiberglass appliance wire . Cleaned for many days on . I could never keep the clock running (the guy at the clock shop said he put his kid through college repairing antique car and range clocks) so just replace the clock's working. Had to replace some fiberglass insulation in one side wall ( mine had no asbestos insulation ) probably rat damage. Little rust in one of the lower pan drawers. If I remember correctly my top was polished nickel. I think the pictures in this post here seem to be chrome plated (refurbisher might have dolled these up by chroming the top or mine had worn off). The people that gave it to me got rid of it due to the oven not working right. A repair person had replaced the oven's thermostat with the incorrect type so I installed the correct one ( parts house salesman set me straight and sold me the correct type ). I finally gave it to another friend about 8 years ago I replaced it with a real clean Magic Chef from the 60's. A Bluestar will probably be my next range. The stove cooked under powered for me (city supplied natural gas). I had a little trouble getting the burners to ignite . This was due to me turning the pilot light down to low . The range has 5 pilots and it was always hot so I tried to cool it off. Winter no problem but summer you could feel it . The oven is real small. The broiler is nice . I never used the griddle much as a griddle ( had one oven shaped rectangle burner under the griddle ) but did use it as a French top with pans and as a warmer. Had to have a big pilot in the oven to make it ignite. That puff noise is accompanied with a wave type airflow (element lighting up) would blow out a low pilot . There is a gas valve for relighting the broiler and the oven pilot light . Similar to lighting a gas hot water heater where you have to push the button in. They get greasy and stick in when you pushed them ( located under the cook top ) . So what I getting at is these are not a carefree range. If you can not repair one yourself service calls cost would kill you. They are a pretty if you like the style. Its ashame they don't cook as good.

Oh my.......just reading all these all these posts have me smiling, and tears rolling down my face, plus a few chuckles, and the biggest, warmest feeling ever!! You all are the BEST. So much caring, support, advice, and enough sweetness that I feel like I'm in a candy store. :o) I truly love you for all the joy you give, and the big hearts you have. I'd be truly lost without you in my life. Fun2B, "Decorating shouldn't be a chore, but a joy."...very wise words. I've been concentrating on the work and not the joy, I'll work on that and my decorating this weekend! Thank you! Janet, you made me laugh with your DH's 'one spoon, one plate, one glass' and a LOT of tools.....while your 'junk' clutters up the house he thinks. LOL. Men! I don't know how to you make all those wreaths with everything on your plate, and all the pain you deal with too. So very hard on you!! Sending you love and prayers, always. Nana and Jane, sweet friends who know just the right thing to say about my Dad. :o) I'm sure you are right that he's watching over me. I think of him with every bit I do as he always said he loved how it looked and showed me how much he enjoyed it. You've given me an idea on some decorating, will tell you when it's done!!! Marlene, dear friend, could I please borrow your DH !! :o) I love all you said, and you really nailed it too! I really want to thank you for the compliments on my decorating. Hope I can live up to them. Party, you have a Mr O. too, including the obsessed golf part ?! What did God do....CLONE these guys??? LOL. You are right, (tho I don't recall him being a Scout,) if I give him a task he's pretty good at saying ok. I do think he'd draw the line at actually going thru bins or decorating. But he'd bring them in, if I asked. He seems to think if I don't ask, then I must not need help. Jeeez. You on the other hand are a huge help, I loved what you advised....."my advice is to choose a subset of decorations that are your favorites or most important to you and begin decorating. I think you need the decor to feel like the holidays and I think you need to go through the process of decorating." I am going to do this!! Phoggie, so nice to meet you! And thank you. I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband, and I hope I didn't make you sad with my complaining about my Mr. O. I know you must miss him terribly. Several of our ladies here are dealing with the same huge loss in their lives and I need to apologize to all of you if I was insensitive. I also regret you are another of us who suffer Fibro, but you're in good company here for sure! That is wonderful you've been asked to decorate for a home tour! You must do beautiful things. I hope you can share pictures with us. Yes, holiday depression this time of year is pretty common unfortunately. Since my Dad died, I sure had a bad time the last two Christmas'es with it. And fighting it this year, but at least I'm beating it for the most part. I look forward to Christmas Eve with family, but Christmas day makes me sad. Here 'alone' and its just another day. (Mr O still goes to golf course, tho its closed, and just practices. Or watches football.) I hope you hang around with us and keep posting, we're glad to have more members in our little "gang". :o) Hugs back to you. There's a lot of WISE women on this Forum, I sure know how to pick my friends! Y'all are Keepers! hugs, Karen

Thanks for sharing your experiences SueB. I'm glad it's still nice and empty, that's great to hear. Agreed about the driving, it is white knuckle at times, but that's all part of the charm I guess. There is an (unintentionally) hilarious cartoon video about driving hazards on the airplane. Our rental car still had snow tires on it (in May) and we were super thankful for that. We ended up doing a few 'unconventional' moves on some of the tiny farm roads. The Swiss Alps are a close second to Iceland for a vacation spot, I agree! And of your next round of choices, I vote Vancouver. Went there last fall and was totally impressed.