I did this once, quite a few years ago :-) I was concerneded about using any product that might be toxic, but I was also worried about the crown of the hat collapsing, so I found a margerine tub that was a good fit for the inside of the crown and cut the "birdie door" through both layers. Then I stiched around the edges of the opening with yarn and used a staplegun to attach the hat to a thin piece of plywood the same size as the hat brim. I hung it on one of our porch posts where it was mostly out of the weather, and it became a favorite of the house wrens, they nested in it almost every year. I was able to pull out the staples to make sure the nest was cleaned out before each nesting season. It lasted for several years before the straw just finally started to disintegrate. Dunno why I never made another one?? :-/ It was cute, well, I guess that's another thing for my list . . .

gardenluv, I wasn't always this way, used to want things nice like other people, tried really hard on my limited resources to make it that way, made my own curtains, painted, worked, went to school to support us, etc. Now I don't care what the house looks like any more, and I escape with my flowers and photography. And the internet, ignore the not-so-nice ones and have met some wonderful people. My son isn't a bad person, has a stressful life, I am not at all demanding, give plenty of time, always thank him for every little thing he has done and mean it, but just gave it up and accepted my family the way they are. My sister who is very wealthy is ashamed of me, too. I can tell. Finally I even stood up to her about it in a nice way, said if my house was such a problem to everybody, they don't need to come here, can't stand the nagging to spend that much money I don't really have. She never had to struggle like I did and had a cleaning lady. My mother had a cleaning lady. My son has a cleaning person. I don't really want one but am going to have to accept some limited help. I can still clean quite a bit if I will motivate myself to do it and not try to do too much at once. My house is really pretty nice if all the repairs got made and in a nice location. I try to keep the outside looking nice soas not to alienate the neighbors; otherwise I don't care what they think either. The fight really started one day when I was feeling so happy about a beautiful rose, took a picture of it, one of my most beautiful photos ever, emailed it to my son. He shot back about my estate, that I won't make a plan, won't talk to his expensive lawyer, finally in my own defense explained to him that he can deduct it as a business expense; I can't. He's mad I won't let him manage my money (for good reason) and affairs, it made me very hurt and angry. Accused me of not caring about the grandchildren, how little he knows how stretched thin emotionally I am with all THEIR problems. I would never have badgered my father about his estate or said one word. Now I'm worried how to set it up because each one would just blow what my parents and grandparents worked so hard for. My main asset is one half of two small farms, the value is in the land, and selling them would be the ultimate defeat if I don't have to which I don't yet AFAIC. I do need to find an attorney and even know how to make my own will, did it once when facing surgery, but this is more complicated. I can clear some of it out myself and have some help lined up. I can't get all the expensive work done at once, and yes, I grab things for myself sometimes. I refuse to squander it all on myself because the lives some people lead don't appeal to me any more. And you know what? I'm going to get my beautiful iron ended yard bench boards replaced along with dealing with one expensive thing. That will make me feel better than any of the rest of it. My daughter had some of our beautiful family heirloom furniture, and brought them back when her house was foreclosed. Some of it is sitting in the living room because I don't have room for it, and I can't bear to part with some of it. My pianos I need to give up. That will hurt so I put it off. That will make more room. And I can organize my garden things better. I don't want to move but don't know if I should stay. I can't bear the thought of not having some room to grow my plants outside in the ground or I'd do like others. But I'm not them. Anyway, my son has done a couple nice things for me which I appreciated but wish I hadn't let him do it because he paid, and there is always a price I guess. He left me holding the bag with the rest of what he said he wanted to do, new gutters and new windows. So I just gave up. They don't owe me anything, and you have to learn to just accept them for what they are. I still love them, but it's not the same like when I fought to raise them. As to independent, it's a reaction to realizing how dependent and totally vulnerable I was after my divorce in the 70's and what it took to get men to help you. I wasn't willing to do what I saw other women doing to get a man, and I have made mistakes. I learned from them. So I had to pay and pay and got tired of it, and men will take advantage of you and your ignorance about doing things right, well I guess women will, too. I really got shafted a couple years ago when I paid a guy to help and my arbor fell over, did a terrible job. I was monitoring what he was doing until I got distracted by his wife and talking to his little girl. He took off for FL. So I'm going to make some tea and wait for my seeds lol. In spite of it all, I haven't lost my sense of humor at times. But writing about that jerked me back to reality. That's not the half of it, enough, others have it far worse, doesn't make me feel any better. It's beautiful out today, and makes me feel better just looking out the window and thank heaven for flowers and winter sowing; I'm having so much enjoyment from it and others here. I'm sorry you have to deal with parents being like that. It's not you. It's them. They should be ashamed of themselves. Not you. I think it very gracious of you to do what you are doing to keep what's left of the peace in your family. You have your priorities right where it really counts. And the rare ability to be able to understand what it's like for some people, not only me. Bless you!

Just wanted to report back on the black ants that were coming out of my switch plate and roaming around on the small counter next to my stove. They would subside and then reappear. After feeding them with the Terro for three weeks or more, I just finally removed the liquid traps, cleaned the small counter area well, and hit the stragglers with some Windex. Now, they're gone and have been for days. While the Terro worked well on the red ants, it just seemed to feed the black ants.

Our GC had a wonderful exercise for us. His assignment even before we met was to have DH & me write out our top 20 items/ideas for the house (in order of importance). We did this seperarately w/o knowing each other's top 20. We then brought this list to GC on our first meeting. This enabled him to get the big picture. We also took these lists to the architect. Along with this list, was a photo of what we desired & a layout we thought we liked. As the process has developed, all of our smaller, nitpicky items have come out. GC has appreciated the thought process that I've put into it all. He said it has made everything move smoothly. In the end, I will have less daily choices to make. Although I did SO much research prior to all of our meetings, I have welcomed GC's ideas & knowledge, as well. Afterall, we are hiring him for his skills, knowledge, & expertise. He has been doing this 30+ years & I have only just recently begun this process. I definitely would not go into this seeming like a total know-it-all or you will make GC's life quite unpleasant. Also, in all honesty, about 90% of our desires for our home, GC had already planned for, so I would really be looking for the best GC you can find.