"any ideas how I can get my hands on more?" You can make a pretty effective container using some gallon Ziploc bags and cardboard. I posted this a couple of years ago but lost the original post so Ill try and recreate it here. First you get some ZiplocÂs and make the drainage and vent holes. I used a hole punch and put holes in the locations indicated by the marks. Then you need to cut up some cardboard (scavenged from large boxes) and cut it up into pieces that will fit inside the baggies. This creates walls that in effect turn your floppy bag into a container that will retain its shape. I think the dimensions need to be around 21" by 5-1/2". This allows you to form a ring of cardboard but still be able to zip the bag shut and retain a cylindrical form. Staple the cardboard into a cylinder. You will need to be sure you cut the cardboard so the corrugations run vertically on the short axis. If it runs longitudinally it makes the cardboard very difficult to form into a cylinder. Also if your cardboard is stiff you can make it much more pliable by working it to soften it. I would run it over whatever is handy a few times. Simply grasping each end and doing a "shoe shine" type motion will work fine. Once the form is made I grasp it in what I called a "pretzel grip to slip it into the bag. I would tuck the bottom corners of the bag in just for neatness. After that you just do soil, seed, label and zip closed. I made up a whole bunch at once and just kept them stacked up til I needed them. Now this form (baggies in general) can be somewhat floppy. If you were not intending to move the bags around it will be fine but if you need to move them about it could disturb things. What I did was set the prepared bags on some cheap aluminum pans. I poked some large holes in the pans so they would drain preventing the bags from water logging. If I needed to move them I used a pizza peel (yeah, you read that right) I had laying around to move the whole tray. Could be a solution for the problem of not having enough jugs or two liters.

Tina, the first brug with the flowers is Sam and in the back is Flame. When I take cuttings I'll offer them for sure. First I want to see it bloom. In 2-3 month will be 2 years since I grew it so I want flowerrrrrs. I did not cut it back last year hopping that will Y faster this year and I'll see buds but I was wrong :-( Pat

If you're thinking Arts & Crafts bungalow, you can always look to some of the originals, many of which now have painted trims (though honestly I *wish* more of them still had their original stained trim, ours included!) It was also very common to paint trim and cabinetry (and thus use "lower grade" wood, which in those days meant redwood or fir instead of oak) in the kitchen, bath, and bedrooms and have stained trim and casework in the dining and living rooms, and that worked fine. That might be a way to manage costs while still getting the look you love. And I've seen some gorgeous kitchen remodels using cherry or fir cabinets with painted white trim and white built-ins that mix it up a bit in houses where the trim had already been painted but people didn't want white kitchens (and didn't want the cost of replacing original trim!) Fir in particular is one of my faves with soapstone, though it is a soft wood so it will ding. We also have a painted gray and white kitchen, which mixes it up a bit in a different way. There's no rule that painted cabs must be white---and honestly, a lot of the reason that listings for houses of that age have painted cabinets (especially white) is that it's a very easy way to clean up and "modernize" older cabinets for resale. (At least, that happens a lot where we live---people paint and put on new counters to sell an older kitchen.) Some of those were probably put in as stained kitchens, but had woods that aren't "trendy" these days and thus dated the kitchens. I love our painted kitchen, but if we'd had the resources, we would have seriously considered QS oak or fir (even the fir was far more costly than our paint-grade poplar). I'd be sure you're okay with the tradeoff before switching gears.

I'm a sporadic poster here, but my husband and I do renovate houses semi-regularly, and when I see "cheap kithcen reno" threads I'm always inclined to post to encourage those who don't have huge budgets to improve what they've got. I've posted about the following kitchen before (this is the house we're currently living in) and the before pictures, which were taken before we bought the house, are certainly not hideous; we had a GREAT starting point here. Anyway, this "reno" was about $400: We painted cabinets, put in a cheap subway tile backsplash, replaced lights with ikea pendants, and changed out the micro hood with something more functional, and hung fabric behind the glass cabs (because I'm not neat enough to keep that kind of thing looking good.) Later, we also changed out that oddly tiny sink for a 33" silgranite with better faucet, but I don't have a pic of that on this computer. Anyway, the reason I always post in these threads is to cheerlead those who don't have 50K to drop on a kitchen: you can still have an awesome kitchen on a budget! DIY is NOT as hard as you probably think! I find it much easier to do things myself than to supervise contractors, for instance :) A little paint and tile can go a long way. I've been lurking here the past few days because we're looking at a new project, by the way: An 1810 New Hampshire Cape in need of full renovation! I can hardly wait! If the sellers cooperate, I'll get to get my hands on this kitchen (with it's huge, original pantry): If we get this house (we are haggling over minor price issues right now, so we probably will) I have about $6000 budgeted for a full kitchen reno. Keep your fingers crossed for us! This house is going to be awesome :)