I got the story on why he had been using bad gas in it. They bought some gas cans and filled them up in late 1999 for 'Y2K', and of course nothing happened. So, instead of using the gas in the car, they just left it sitting there. This is the gas he was using in the mower which explains the severe carboning and awful running. Now we're trying to find a way to get rid of 20 gallons of eight year old gas. This is the worst example of using bad gas I have ever heard of. When I took the old plug out, small chunks of carbon fell out of the head. She will be using my 4-cycle mix in fresh gas from now on, which over time will clean it up.

Here's where I am in my current thinking. If anyone can help me improve on it or select alternate plants, especially where I'm not sure what to put I would appreciate it. upload pictures A - Existing Arborvitae ~5' tall about ~3.5' wide B - Blueberry Bush (Liberty) A little odd but best spot for it. Might move next year if doesn't work. C - Loropetalium (Purple Diamond?) A little big but hoping I can keep it pruned to about 3' height. Looking for a burgundy evergreen that fits this spot and isn't Japanese Barberry. D - Grey Owl Juniper (made mistake above with Green Mound). A dwarf golden japanese yew might be more appropriately shaped and sized for the space. I want it to be shorter than the Abelia and Loropetalium. E - Kaleidoscope Abelia. Will likely go a little more to the left if I find the right shrub for D. F - Siberian Iris (Butter and Sugar?) Planted so it looks like it's shooting out from the base of the Loropetalium G - Some Giant Lilyturf to fill in that space H - Not sure what to put here. Some low growing flowering groundcover. Maybe forgetmenots or something like that? I - A small yellow shrub. Not sure yet. a compact wintercreeper maybe but everywhere I look I see euonymus so want to find something else. J - Regular sized liriope. K - Existing hydrangea with blue blooms L - Existing plants. From top down there's a hosta, some wide bladed spiky thing, and then about 4 yellow flowers. About 12" high. Might be corepsis or something like that. Found this picture of a Dwarf Japanese Yew and really like the spikey foliage that's on the right of it. Can anyone tell me what that is? From: Oakland Nursuries

Red: Initially, I was thinking of doing it in time for Thanksgiving, but couldn't get everything together in time, then since Johna so kindly offered me her fabric, I had to make use of it--so we can all blame Johna I'm in the midst of this project two weeks before Christmas. JK!! :) I glad you are enjoying the detailed photos. I wanted to document it all as sometimes people just see the before and after, but the during photos I find the most educational for people considering a similar project--plus let's me know if I'm on the right track. I think this is the most challenging application I've done so far with RAF. I did my drum tables first and they turned out beautiful, but these are much more distressed. It's a tough call what to do as I'm worried if I scrub too much I'll rub the existing finish off--which I think I may have done a bit in the photos I posted above as I don't remember it looking quite that worn before I started. But, the shield area are all quite dark--patina or dirt?? Who knows? I'm finding there I can scrub harder, but that area is still darker than the rest. Perhaps that is all the patina? I'm wondering if the wood/finish is sensitive to sun as my tables leaves are also quite a bit darker--can't even think about doing the table right now--summer project for sure since I'm freezing my b*tt off in the garage. For all this work, I'd say $50 per chair is pretty good. I'm finding it takes me one hour per chair to do RAF, and another hour per seat to remove and I've not started the reupholstery yet. One good thing is that the original upholsterer marked a center line on the seat bottoms where I noticed he then used to line up the stripes so they went even from top to bottom plus he used the same stripe for the centers of all the chairs. I'm going to do mine the same. For me (personally), I find a kinship with the original craftsman when I work on this furniture and can more fully appreciate all of the nuances that went into the construction--which I think is probably getting to be a lost art.

Joann, I mentioned this before, the new shellac system. I have very strong nails but I have one that splits vertically right down the center. It is a pain to keep it patched when it is acting up, as it is right now. So I started having shellac done, it lasts 14 days and costs me about $30. I have a couple of friends that started getting the same manicure and they say that they are seeing that their nails are growing without the damage that a gel or acrylic nail would do. I get both French and color, like the French a bit more because it doesn't show the growth as much. My nails grow very fast.