Well, it's that time on a Sunday evening - I'm early tomorrow, as some of you are, so perhaps it's time for the reveal?? Taptoe originated signalling the moment that beer taps had to be shut, hence that the day had ended. It comes from the Dutch phrase Doe den tap toe, meaning "Turn the tap off": however the Dutch "Taptoe" bugle call Taptoesignaal, now used for remembrance events, is not the same tune as the Last Post. The "Last Post" was used by British forces in North America in colonial times, but its function was taken over in the United States by "Taps". Since 1928 the "Last Post" has been played every evening by buglers of the local Last Post association at the war memorial at Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium known as the Menin Gate, commemorating the British Empire dead at the Battle of Ypres during the First World War. The only exception to this was during the four years of the German occupation of Ypres from 20 May 1940 to 6 September 1944, when the ceremony moved to Brookwood Cemetery in England. On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres, the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate, in spite of the heavy fighting still going on in other parts of the town. These buglers or trumpeters are quite often mistaken as being from the local fire brigade; however, they are present every day representing the Last Post Committee. They are indeed members of the fire brigade, and can sometimes be seen wearing the uniforms, but it is not the Fire Brigade that organizes "Last Post". The Last Post Committee have both silver Bâ­ bugles and Eâ­ cavalry trumpets with either British Army tradition being respected at services at the gate. One point that is noted is the difference between the Rouse and Reveille. Rouse is the call to wake up; Reveille is the call to get out of bed and form up. Reveille to the Commonwealth: Or-der-ly officer is on his round! And if you're still a-bed he will send you to the guard And then you'll get a drill and that will be a bitter pill: So be up when he comes, be up when he comes, Like a soldier at his post, a soldier at his post, all ser-ene. to the U.S.: I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up this morning; I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up at all! And so I am off, as I must get up in the morning!! I think everyone gets stars today: Thanks for playing - see you next week. Nancy.

.Thank you all for being such a wonderful group. It has been nice getting to know you, laughing at your jokes, crying with you over your sorrows, thinking of you as seeds sprouted and as flowers bloomed, and praying for you through all the happenings in 2005. ~~Thanks YaYa/Mary for sharing your time & effort starting our group & taking care of things in '05. ~~Thanks Dusty for being my 1st ever secret pal. You're so sweet. I hope all is going well with you. Please drop me a line. ~~Thanks April for taking over as my pal. I appreciate each of the things you've sent. Just yesterday I was looking again at the magazine you gave me as I sipped some hot tea and thought of you up in MI. ~~Thanks Pooch/Annie for giving us such wonderful & well written messages & laughs. ~~Thanks Shirley for allowing me to visit you and for sharing from your beautiful gardens. ~~Thanks Jenell for not minding when I was slow at getting your package mailed. Give your precious Kira and Ruby hugs and kisses from me. ~~Thanks Paul for sharing many wonderful pictures of your flowers. I felt like I could almost smell them. Perhaps we can work out a trade for some of your beauties sometime when it warms up here. ~~Thank you to each of you who shared from your heart and your garden. ~~Thank you to each of you for your thoughts and prayers regarding my health and loss of voice concerns in '05. It means a lot to know others are thinking enough of you to lift you up in prayer. -- May each of you be richly blessed in this new year as you have so richly blessed me and each of us here as well as others out and about in your areas. -- May you have great gardening weather for winter sowing, spring planting, transplanting, weeding, mailing gifts to others, and for sitting back and admiring all the wonderous blooms that are your reward for all the hard work. -- May your blooms be bigger, brighter and more bountiful than ever before. > ~ No matter what, may you always let the son shine, even on your rainy days. The son can brighten any dark place, just like the seed that is planted in the cold, dark soil, that then rises up from its grave as a new plant to brighten up that dark place and your life. ~~ Happy New Year & Happy Gardening ((((((pals))))))! Take care my garden pals and have a 2006 full of wonder and joy. In HIS palm, Gina / ilsonshine

Lavender, thanks for the advice, and we really have taken everything into consideration. It has been two months since I posted my first version of our plan, and there was a month I was silent while trying to figure out a way to make it work with the kitchen in the back. There are two alternatives we considered and below is the thought process we went through while making a decision. For each I put together an inspiration board of photos and in the end we decided the kitchen in the front was the best plan for us. 1. Place the kitchen in the back to the right of the dining room (or flip the room) keeping the living/dining room as is. Summerfield did a plan for us with the kitchen in the back, and we seiously considered it as it is a wonderful plan, however that setup had different draw backs. In Summerfield's plan we didn't like the kitchen was more closed off. While if it is opened up then the room feels too long and narrow and we lost the feeling of width created by having windows on both sides. 2. Dining room near the entry, the kitchen in the back with the great room. This allows for a smaller dining room since it isn't balancing out the space with great room and kitchen and allows for more light moving across the house. I like this set up in larger homes with a seperation between formal public areas and private informal areas, however that isn't the way we actually live. For us, putting the kitchen next to the great room and moving the dining room to the front makes everything feel to informal and I hate the competition between the TV and the kitchen. For the plan I posted, with the kitchen in the front, we measured it all out to make certain the space works and moved our own furniture around to see how it would feel. The icing on the cake, on Memorial day weekend we rented a huge home with friends in wine country that had a similar main room layout (only much larger), and it really solidified that we love this floor plan. We actually measured it all out in the rental to see how our plan fits and it really helped us visualize it. We love being able to enjoy both our front and back views/light/breezes, that the living/dining spaces are together, and that the kitchen is at once part of the space and at the same time seperate. All that said, if the new designer (or Summerfield) comes up with a great idea that is different to what we have outlined we are open minded, I just don't see how it would work more effectively. Also, writing out everything here has helped relieve some of my own anxiety about this plan and gain some more confidence in our decisions. It is "different" and I've been worried about that, but it is what works for us, and it isn't so diferent that we need to worry about resale value.

Well, I was quilting, then swearing, then ripping. When I first heard that the September block was difficult I couldn't see why. Everything went fine until I had to press as I joined the parts. Now I remember why I always give up and follow a pattern. This one just said press to the dark side! Well, I sure feel like I've gone over to the dark side ;-) but pressing to the dark side didn't work for joining everything. If anyone has a magic formula I'll think about making a second one. I already cut the squares and made the strip sets.