Ingrid, thank you so much for the help. I planted my first Old Garden roses in a new rose garden last fall. I found out from some of you that I had planted them too closely together. This was partly from being accustomed mainly to Hybrid Teas bur mainly from wanting more roses than I had space prepared for planting. (New Dawn is the exception to hybrid teas, being such a fine house-eating rose). As it turned out the voles thinned those roses out for me. (You probably could have heard me scream in California I was so irate when I discovered it and the vole war was on...but that can be talked about later). I asked for your help because I didn't want to plant too closely again, and if there is room, why that is one more rose I can plant. I will be "hiding" a few in pots until I steal more yard, but I want to plant what I can now. Lemon Spice was one of the voles victims, and I have ordered a replacement from vintage. At this point, several of my Old Garden Roses are pretty much covered in buds, but so are the hybrid teas...of course that just means the D...arn Japanese Beetles are not far behind. Harborrose, I picked that rose out simply by the picture and I wanted to see what a moss rose might do here. I know some of the roses I am planting will not be here forever. I will go by Petals From the Past and check out the old garden roses. Of course my purse will be in jeopardy, but it always is at nurseries, and I thank you for an excellent suggestion. Thank you both so much for your help. kay

Well, I say when you walk into my house, welcome to crazy you are here. It is usually more than a little crazy around our house. DH is a teacher and computer coordinator and athletic director, so we spend a lot of time at school activities. We have 2 little girls, Rhiannon 3 and Peyton 18 months old, and are expecting number 3 in August. I stay at home with the girls and do some substitute teaching when needed. I love to can, and luckily went over board last summer, with being so huge already I don't think that I will be able to reach the stove come summer time. I also enjoy cooking all our meals, doing some baking and trying new things. I love to garden and we spend so much time out doors that I get so stir crazy in the winter time. I love old vintage things. I am always combing through fleamarkets, goodwill, garage sales and auctions for things for our house. I just love old dishes and vintage linens and have quite a few. As for food, no alergies but we aren't too adventurous. Funny thing is Rhiannon is so veggie, she loves all fruits and veggies, and if given the choice that is all she will eat. Now Peyton is the opposite and loves meat and carbs and will not eat much fruits and veggies. It is funny how oposite they are, but it is kinda like DH and I are. I could easily go veggie and DH is a meat and potatoes kinda guy. This will be my 4th swap so anything my partner sends will be great. The girls love when I get my package, Rhiannon ususally claims everything for herself LOL. They both ooh and ahh over all the pretties. Stacie

Well, I guess I should ask my DH, since he's the one that did the shopping around. He asked around for recommendations and looked into 3 different ones. They all did good work, but what it came down to was price and interest. By that I mean, were they even interested in doing the job. One guy that came highly recommended, came in at a good price, but he didn't think we should paint, but rather re-stain, because that's a look he prefers, and it's his specialty. They guy we went with had good references and we saw some of his work and liked it. Different people use different kinds of paints too, so you need to know what you want. We went with a lacquer, but I don't know much about that, hubby made that decision. We did all the prep ourselves, other than sanding. Cleaning with TSP, a good scrub and rinse, and all the dismantling of cabinets and delivery to the paint shop. I think that helped us get a better price as well. I think we paid about $2000 for the whole kitchen. It's not completely re-installed yet, but I am really happy so far.

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