Well, I posted on this some days ago...cyberspace strikes again! (I must be forgetting to hit the "submit" button!) Ugh! Anyway, what a beautiful day for you, Kirk & your family...looks like such fun ... & such beautiful artistic quilts ...I knew Carol would be getting a great idea! Because her quilts are stupendous!!! (that means, really, really gorgeous!) My Mom was a quilter...so I appreciate all the time & talent it takes. TFS your day! Can we join Marlene & her DH? Got room for a camper? LOL! Jeanne S.

I think "ordinary" is relative to the buyer. It's only Christian County's second year for a plant sale and keep in mind the weather wiped out a lot of things that would normally have been potted up, and their group is smaller than other counties. I found a great deal on assorted herbs. They had a good selection of houseplants, shade plants, sun plants, and general garden related items. You also have to be the first in line to get first pick. There wasn't anything I saw that wasn't labeled with the plant name. What information were you wanting? The plants were categorized by sun, shade, etc. What is it exactly that you were looking for peaceofmind? They had some freshly harvested, dried, dark green bamboo poles that I haven't seen anywhere in the last 7 years. Try the Greene County Master Gardener Plant Sale next week Rain or shine Saturday, April 28 7:30 a.m. sharp Under a large tent at the back of Nathanael Greene Park (Japanese Garden Parking Lot) There are shrubs, small trees, bulbs, perennials, annuals, grasses, ground covers, herbs, aquatic plants, houseplants, seeds, magazines and a selection of garden-related items. The park is at 2400 S. Scenic Ave. (south of West Sunshine Street) in Springfield (follow signs). Priced to beat local garden center prices. Also there will be Reforest the Ozarks. They are providing an opportunity to purchase new red and white oak trees at the discount rate of $10 each. This includes a five gallon bag of mulch per tree from the City of Springfield Public Works Department. This is the perfect opportunity to help you reforest your yard after the loss of trees in the area from the January ice storm. Each tree is approximately 5-foot tall and is valued at approximately $20. Cash only will be accepted. Participants also can make a donation to the Springfield-Greene County Park Board to help replace trees lost throughout the city-county metropolitan parks system. City Utilities of Springfield and The University of Missouri Extension Service will provide information about choosing the right trees and planting information for residential properties. The University of Missouri Extension Service will have experts on hand with advice about your gardening questions.

I passed on the ebay deal due to having a previous problem buying an appliance from another seller-just wasn't worth any potential hassles for me. I paid about 250 more to get the lower line models from Best Buy and also purchased the extended warranty for peace of mind. Love the machines, they do everything I need and have so much more space than my old ASKO. (Don't get me wrong-loved the ASKO but with three almost teenagers I was doing laundry 24-7.)I can now do a week's laundry in one day. I am paying about 5.00 more a month in electric but water stayed about the same. Only problem I am having with machine is some excessive vibration on heavy loads like jeans and bath towels. I think it is possibly due to flooring as utility room is a converted back porch. My DH is planning to crawl under there and put some cross bracing in between the joists so maybe that will help.

I think some of you are munging together the topics of slab foundation vs raised perimeter foundation, and basements vs no basement. I believe houses with basements would have a raised perimeter foundation at least around the portion of the structure where the basement is. The prevalence of slab foundations in Texas wouldn't facilitate having basements. I don't know that there's anything particularly unique about soil conditions and variability in Texas versus elsewhere but the very consistent use of slab foundations there does differ from other places. Parts of the South SF Bay area have dense clay soils. My first house was in such an area - a low spot in the backyard could accumulate a few inches of standing water and if it remained cloudy and not sunny after a rain (to evaporate the water), the large puddle could remain for a week. That house had a raised perimeter foundation (as did most in the area. There surely must be suitable trenching equipment to dig through the hard clay for the foundation footings in such places.