GB What wonderful photos - the trilliums are unbelievable. They are all a treat but the family shot is particularly special and captures both of you perfectly! Woody - your dessert looks delicious and I remember your DH's freshly roasted coffee mmmmmmmmmmm!! In our house Indian food is one leftover that magically disappears. Just recently I saw Annie putting spicy Chicken Makahani on a bagel for breakfast. Hi Littlegardenbug and welcome! Now you've dipped your toe in the water perhaps you'll come visit when time allows. I imagine life is very hectic right now. Mary

I've gotta see if I can figure out mine. That's great you were able to figure it out sheepco! $13 a month ain't bad! DH is always blaming my pond for high elec bills, (they are never even really high..I think he's nuts! lmao!). I only have one mag drive 2000gph pump going. Need a bigger one though, wanna upgrade to 5000gph. Need more umph in that waterfall! I'm gonna show my DH this thread too! thanks!

"You might do better living in these areas:" Why, because places where there have been rapid increases in valuations are less likely to have rapid descents? Here's a quick clip from a recent Business Week article: While a 25% decline is unprecedented in modern times, some economists are beginning to talk about it. "We now see potential for another 25% to 30% downside over the next two years," says David A. Rosenberg, North American economist for Merrill Lynch (MER), who until recently had expected a much smaller slide. Shocking though it might seem, a decline of 25% from here would merely reverse the market's spectacular appreciation during the boom. It would put the national price level right back on its long-term growth trend line, a surprisingly modest 0.4% a year after inflation. There's a recent model for this kind of return to normalcy after the bursting of a financial bubble. The stock market decline that began in 2000 erased most of the gains of the boom of the second half of the 1990s, leaving investors with ordinary-sized returns. I just noticed that Business Week has the Feb 11th issue titled "Housing Meltdown". I think I'm going to go pick up a copy.

Chispa, I don't know, she's just so happy to be hanging out with everyone in the mornings, it just seemed mean to crate her again right away. But it's a thought. Here's our no cost, no construction solution (maybe -- hasn't been tested). We had this cushion from an old bench in the attic, and it slides right into the newel post. If it doesn't deter her, we also have the scat mat as backup. She's with DH this week at our beach house so we haven't tested it out yet. But the cushion can be set aside when not needed and popped into place easily when DH comes downstairs each morning. If I were Martha Stewart I might recover the cushion to coordinate with the runner...that's not happening.