Many (((hugs))) to all of you. Have missed everyone. Thanks for sharing your lives, flowers, family, and pets. Love it! I sure would have enjoyed that plant exchange, Cindee. Our garden club has one each May. It's such fun. I, too, was not with you for the whole summer. This has been the worst ever summer time-wise. Each time I turned around, something HAD to be done. Art class ran into June (which is no good for me). Then it started again in Sept., but I told her there's just no way, so I got a two-month reprieve. Start again this coming Thursday and am taking my 15-year-old granddaughter Katie with me as a visitor. She has awesome talent and is as bad with art as we are with Hippis. I purchased another garden tractor this summer - I now have three and use them all -- there is just so much to take care of. Have also been picking up kids from school - into June this year, and come Sept. that started again. It's 1-1/2 hours r/t which really cuts into my days. Next year they will at least both be in the same school. Now I'm dog-visiting. My friend went to FL for many weeks and her husband pays me to come and be with them for an hour each day while he works. Oh, and I decided a truck would be in order, so purchased my son's 2000 black Dodge Dakota V-8 Sport. The price was right, and this will be better to carry mulch. It was hard to get with the Explorer (plus it's fun to drive). This way I can just drive up to the mulch heap and have them dump a bucket into the truck. Then I can drive it right to the garden that needs it. My days are all just cut up and I get nothing done. Lots of my plants got frosted, and the hippis were under blankets for several 30 degree days. Had some construction going on until beginning of Oct. and could barely squeeze through the furniture stacked around for probably two months. It was not a bad summer, actually a pretty good one, but it was stressful. For the most part I was healthy, and pretty much kept up with things like the 25-year-old I think I am -- not the 74-year-old that I just turned today. I neglected my orchids and many of the gardens, but the hippis grew and grew. I repotted most of them for the sake of better growing medium. I could probably exchange some orchids in the spring if I get a chance to repot. Right now they should be throwing spikes, so not a good time. Also, some Hippi bulbs. I have to say, this has been like sitting down at a nice table under some palm trees with warm breezes relaxing with a bunch of dear friends that enjoy the same things and understand eachother's obsessions. Soon we'll all be sharing tons of gorgeous pictures. I also have a bunch of bulbs coming from RC and want to order some of those on my wish list. But gotta run now and try to dig the rest of my dahlias.

I live in the Buffalo area. Many of here put dormancy requiring plants like VFT's in an attic or garage or the fridge. Other than that, from May->November they can just go outside.

mythreesonsnc - We're just south of The Cliffs in Travelers Rest (you're in Davidson, right?). No view of anything but our woods and various critters, but, after 20 years in hot, flat Houston that is more than enough. I did a quick scan of your links & that Finlay house did strike me. TNX. macv - well, if it works the way it is, then mebbie I should stop worrying & just be happy. :D We can do pretty much anything we want on the RHS since that is just the front of the garage. If the ganged windows on the LHS need to change to match, then I need to be careful because that is the egress window from the guest bedroom. We're going to lose the transoms above the guest bedroom windows and "fake" it with trim because those weensy transoms make it stupid expensive. Sorry, that there is no dimensioning, but the garage is a 2-8x5-6 triple. I just worry when I get to the back and there are bunches of 3-0x6-0 windows. Is 2/2 still OK when each lite is now 1-6x3-0? sue36 - I know what you mean. I want it to feel "homey" & I'm not sure the 2/2 does it. However, I'm willing to accept what the pros say. Thanks, so much. Y'all can't believe how much I appreciate the inputs. Jo Ann

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y............!!!! Some prep-pics of this project! * Gettin' most of the supplies grouped for this pic! * Pic of shower-side after all holes filled & feather-sanded. Primer cut-in around perimeter, and brushed on repaired areas. This shows those repair areas AFTER the Spray-texture was applied to the primer, making them look hazy/whiter over the gray primer. * Closer shot of shower corner, showing the texture-sprayed area that was primed FIRST....THEN textured...THEN cut-in perimeter. * The "pain-in-the-A$$" upper-corner cut-ins over lights, etc. Notice again the lighter look of the spray-tex. around fan outlet, etc. * Kinda cool pic here! Lights were too damn hot to work over, but I needed light obviously!! * "Main rolling" of primer starting!! * Closer look at the final primer-rolling over the primed/spray-textured repair areas. These areas are now TOTALLY SEALED-OFF from the paint layers to come. Wood'ja like to see the FINISHED look...?!!?!? ;-) Faron