Thanks for all your kind words. I am just getting into this and love it. My imagination runs wild all day thinking of projects to do.....just not enough time in a day (or experience yet) as far as staining, painting and texturing, that is coming soon. I have decided to do a project that might take a little while, new pictures posted on my site (webshots). I am thinking of a big basin with a molting volcano in the middle with water bubbling out of the center and red led lights to give it a real volcano look. So far I have started on the volcano. I will start on the basin next week. The whole thing should be about 25" wide by 25" tall. Hope it works as planned. Here is a link that might be useful: See new pics

The funny thing that got me ready for motherhood the most was that while I was pregnant with Rhiannon and couldn't get a teaching job, I worked in a nursing home. I did just about anything, and towards the end I did mostly baths. After changing all the adult undergarments a babies diaper was nothing. Also learned lots of tricks about putting on clothes on those who aren't cooperative. But the biggest thing was that we had residents that couldn't eat solids so every meal that they served, they would put in a blender. It could be a ham sandwich, pizza, roast, apple pie, broccolli, anything that the regular meals consisted of was purreed for the residents who needed help eating or didn't have teeth or other problems. I learned so much about respecting the elderly and have such an appreciation for them now because of my experiences. Stacie

Chestershouse, sounds like you have what I have. We took down a raised ceiling too. Ours had 120 or so ugly plastic rectangles that didn't all match. Once down we saw huge ac/heat ducts, uncapped hot electrical wiring, huge open holes that went into the attic, and 8' fluorescent lights. I guess the inspector never looked up. We also found a metal I beam with another wood beam that formed an L shape. They had removed two outside load bearing walls. The wooden beam was resting on ONE 2x4 on one side and bolted to the metal I beam on the other side. 3 out of 4 bolts had sheared off and the last bolt was really bent. That one bent bolt was holding up our roof. I am thinking paying for an inspection before purchase is not worth the money. I can walk around flipping switches on and off! LOL ( I know inspectors do more than that, but not where I live.) By the way, we have a drain in a closet. Used to be for a furnace, but don't know what it was before that. It was on an outside wall. Getting rid of all this "ugly" has been very educational. GW members have been instrumental in helping me. By the way, check out the amount of expensive oak in the ceiling grid. We reused all of it.

hahahaha dotz!!!! I got that word from my mother. My housedresses are old sundresses, (some of them over 15 years old) so they're a little short or holey or inappropriate in some other way. When I get home from work, I'll throw one on to do housework. I ended up missing the exit off the freeway for the butcher so went to Costco anyway. And it wasn't busy. And it wasn't hot. And I forgot DD had an after school activity at school, so I had an extra 45 minutes and just hit the store like a fiend - with a list! Managed to get out of there only spending $150, which is a record for me. And, I must admit, $45 of that was for a bottle of Shalimar. I figured, you send me to Costco.... LOL. I've always wanted a bottle, and it's quickly becoming my favorite scent. I keep smelling my wrists. :) Oh, and DH doesn't even know I went to Costco, so he doesn't know I folded... So, the menu is: Red wine Cheese plate with crackers and meats and grapes Herb crusted lamb chops with pomegranate sauce on a bed of fresh cut corn and parsley Parmesan sprinkled Asparagus Quinoa with tiny bits of carrot and onion Blueberry tarts and vanilla ice cream I cleaned the house yesterday, got the asparagus trimmed and washed and in a glass tupperware. Sliced the cheese, washed the grapes. All I have to do today is prepare the meat, throw the quinoa and carrots and onions in the rice maker, steam the asparagus and toss it and make the blueberry tarts. And I cheated with the tarts. I bought some of those little mini crusts, pre-made. DH was grumbling that three lamb chops apiece were not enough. I laughed, I can only eat one. I know Gpa will probably only eat two. I can't believe I thought DH hated lamb all this time. He insists he loves it. Who knew??? I've cooked it and (in my memory) he always complains. And DD flat out does not like it (which I can understand, it's gamey). So..... I have to think of something to cook her, or something to go with the lamb that will match. I'll probably just do some herb crusted tofu with the pom sauce. I do a tofu side with a lot of meals I do, like teriyaki chicken... And she loves tofu. I just want to avoid the whole separate meal thing...