MsMisk ~ love your purple/reddish cockscombs and those wonderful blue morning glories behind. Wow! Eduarda ~ I want you to know that I miss you being here. Ellen ~ your goldenrod and asters make a wonderful combination. I need to see if I can get some goldenrod to grow down here (zone 10 s.e. FL), as I don't have a lot of yellow and those looks so 'cottagey'. lindakimy ~ I love your blooms and your coleas are so wonderful too. Is that Russian sage in the background behind your yellow flowers? Michelle ~ Love your gardens and that we could see it from above. Your dear GD is a sweetie. It is still hot and humid down here in Plum Cottage gardens. When oh when will we get some cooler weather? They are predicting night time temps in the high 50's the end of the month. We'll see, it sure would be a welcome relief. I've been working in my potting garden. Setting up my mini green house and getting ready to plant some seeds for lots of colorful blooms these next 6 months or so. I've still got weeds to pull, vines to trim and weedwacking to do. I've said I'd like more garden space, but I really don't think so latley. Our 1/4 acre is plenty for me to handle these days. I don't want to be overloaded. I want to putter and enjoy our little haven. Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

I just brought up this thread to be mean . . . In my garden, the vole problem has been very limited this year. The owls moved out of the barn a few months ago but an owl flew over the garden back about October 1st when I was out there before daylight. And, I found pigeon and dove feathers in the barn on a couple of mornings - actually, what was left of a dove including the feathers. So, the owls still used the barn right thru the Summer. When I was in the garden yesterday, a large red-tail flew over very low. In a few minutes, he flew back over the garden. Shortly thereafter, we scared a rabbit out of the double row of mustard. It was remarkable that he was brave enuf to hide there with so little cover. The hawk probably resented our arrival and the subsequent departure of the rabbit. Here's something I wrote on the veggie forum just a couple weeks ago: "I've frequently seen a red-tail hawk sitting on a high post at the end of the neighbor's grapes. He will be out there for a little while even when we are just 50 - 100 feet away. The other day, he was eating something (and I'm absolutely certain it wasn't a ripe grape ;o). I stayed out of the garden until he'd finished every 'mousel' and flew away." Maybe a high post nearby would help encourage the wild birds-of-prey. They've certainly been a help for me this year. BTW - On 2 occasions, I have been successful with, at least, getting the vole to vacate its home using a hose and water. Filled in the hole with soil and that was that. Level ground but very porous, rocky soil . . . If I had to do this with every vole hole in the nearby alfalfa fields it would be a full time job. digitS'

Hi @Tracy I used Sherwin Williams Pure White for my cabinets, and also used it on all of our trim, doors, and ceiling. The name 'pure white' is deceiving as the color is more of a soft/warm white versus a stark bright white, but it doesn't have a yellow tinge to it ... hopefully that makes sense? I must have watched a gazilion youtube vides comparing different tones of white before landing on 'pure white'! We used knotty alder wood for our stained lower cabinets. I LOVE white oak, but it was not in our budget as we also remodeled our primary bathroom, fireplace and outdoor area (I've attached a pic of our bathroom below - same color palette as the kitchen with agreeable grey on the wall and pure white for the trim and same stain as our kitchen cabinets). I showed our painter a sample of the post oak flooring and had him make up a few custom stain samples that would compliment it. We wanted to go with a more natural look, he ended up only adding a few drops of brown and white into a clear coat to land on the stain that we have. I wonder if you can ask your painter to try and do the same or go into a Sherwin Williams and see what they suggest. I wish it was a straight up answer for you ... unfortunately I don't know what color of brown or white he added to the clear coat or exactly how much of it. I hope this helps! There are so many stressful decisions.

It seems there is some confusion. The IntelliQ W4000 series machines are 8 kilo machines. Where as the 24" width (European-size) machines come in sizes between 5 and 6 kilos (depends on models/product offerings in your country). The W3033 is a 5.5 kilo machine (smaller than the 6 kilo Professional "Little Giant".) In comparing the 6 kilo machines versus the 8 kilo machines, the difference in capacity has to due with the fact that the 8 kilo machines have a tilted drum. The physical attributes affect the physics of it in operational terms so you can't "stuff" the machine like you can the try horizontal-axis 5-6 kilo machines. Doing so (and I have found out from experience) will either cause damage to your clothes or machine. The users manuals states to leave about 4 inches of space from the top, so in essence that 8 kilo machine become more like a 6 even though the drum size is smaller. To cut to the chase though, I have washed in a 5 kilo Miele 1 King size fitted sheet, 1 King size flat sheet, and 4 king sized pillow cases with great results and room to spare a towel or extra pillow cases. So to answer your question, you CAN wash your king duvet, sheet and pillow cases in the smallest of the machines. I dried the load in two separate drying to minimize wrinkling.