You missed the entire point of my post.. I was looking for feedback from anyone that has used the finish on wood counters (not a cutting surface butcher block) I was not looking for someones thought on the product that hasn't used it. I did understand your point, you don't like that it is Vermont "natural" coatings you don't think it is any more natural that other products out there. And it seemed implied that I couldn't possibly have done any research if I had any thought to use it. I have done my research. They use whey protein (a byproduct of making cheese) in place of heavy metal driers and the toxic binders and carcinogenic solvents typically found in finishes. My thought is is more natural than many other finishes and it holds up great underfoot! Is it the perfect finish probably not there maybe something better out there. I know a LOT of people use waterlox on their non cutting wood counters and I was thinking of this an an alternative. So back to my original question does anyone know how it would wear on a non cutting surface counter top, Or even how it has worn on your dining table.

The Other Side...I think we agree on this topic slightly more than you give credit...what I said was: "There is healthy bonding with your child that is less "child centered" and establishes more independent children" I think from the sounds of it you have formed a relatively healthy attachment to your kids while fostering independence at the same time. My post was really more directed toward unhealthy "spouse replacement" type attachments with children. Your example of letting a 4 month old cry until they vomited is interesting and debateable of course. It is easy to judge without all the info. From your description it sounds on the outset horrible, as it conjurs images of a child left to cry for hours in abusive neglect, however, without the full story I reserve my judgement. Is it possible the parent not adequately burp the baby and the baby vomited after less than 15 min of crying? The parent did go in and change them. It is possible that it was not as abusive as it sounds, but rather a very normal process every parent must go through to allow their infant an opportunity to learn to "self-soothe" in order to develop good sleep habits that last a lifetime? It sounds as if you have the one child? Regarding the 16 year old world traveler. I can't say in this day and age I would send my child (16 is still a child) to travel alone in europe. I suspect it was with a school group (that is not alone)? Otherwise...I cannot give you the "way to go" you are looking for. I simply cannot agree that it is a "good" thing that your 16 year old "did" europe all alone. I am glad you and your ex Husband agreed...I presume a lack of closeness was not what broke up your marriage then? Regarding the pill swallowing...if you can swallow food...you can swallow a pill. Unless you take your sustainance via a straw...you can swallow something that big. Unless someone can show me in the DSM a diagnosable illness that precludes you from swallowing something smaller than stuff you put down your pie whole 3 times a day...I am not buying it! Your mother did you a disservice not teaching you that life skill earlier. I plan to ensure that every one of my children can swallow a pill. Sorry that hit a nerve...It is ridiculous!!!! Its a flippin pill! ok you can yell at me now. Ha ha

"I don't have a list. Neither does DH." That is so us. We usually do some kind of gifts to each other but honestly, we have everything we need and buy something when we need/want it. I absolutely do not like to know what I am getting, have to tell someone what to get me, receive money or gift cards. I love surprises. I have to be very careful when I see something I like because my husband often interprets that as something I WANT. LOL This season is not about gifts to us. I chair a local angel tree committee and we've been very involved in that (finishing up this week!) and seeing the requests from some of those children just makes me realize even moreso that we don't need anything. Still, I'll have some little things for hubby and I know there will be a surprise for me. I like that friends of ours only do a stocking for each other. Good idea. I just want some down time, spent with the one I love. That's my Christmas wish!!

Please do not read my post as being smug in any way...and I really appreciate the horrendous difficulties of gardening in europe at the moment. Apols for dodgy 'T' on my keyboard too,. I had to make a few hard decisions because I was struggling to maintain my various gardens and realised I was holding onto some unrealistic expectations and just becoming discouraged. So much so, I actually considered giving up the allotment last year until I visited a few 'waterwise' gardens such as the RHS Harlow Carr and revisited Beth Chatto's totally dry garden. I dunno whether it is brave or foolhardy, to persist with growing the plants you love in the face of intractable conditions. It's not a path I have chosen though because I am naturally idle and inconsistent (and self-critical to the point of paralysis). I am in the process of turning my entire allotment into a dry garden, bed by bed,...and doing most of it from seed or cuttings. Along with drought and lean soil, a hosepipe ban and water cut-offs were the last straw so I have simply been on a campaign to amass lavender, succulent, silver-leaved plants, deep rooted forbs, geophytes. Sowing eryngiums, antennaria, penstemons asphodels, verbascum, grasses, hardy shrubs such as salvia jamensis and prostrate rosemary, tiny centaureas,.an absolute list. Although I am watering in newly planted things, by the end of the next coupla years, the whole garden will be totally unirrigated. (despite being in the driest part of the UK, on the thinnest soil imaginable (alhough the 'meadow' has been a patchy experiment to say the least). I am not young and see no reason to fight against the prevailing current...but best of all, the dry beds I have so far planted look bloody lovely. I started this big changeover last year after the hideous drought and heatwaves left the allotment sere and dead. I can't believe I struggled to grow unsuitable plants for all these years ...not to mention the fruit and vegetables which were exhausting, needing continual watering and protection, when the solution was right under my feet. Still have roses too...just not so many because I needed an open, sunny and airy landscape, so a lot of stuff has met the chainsaw.apart from the enormous ramblers which top and tail the plot. To be fair, I have never been any sort of specialist and can shift plant allegiances at the drop of a hat. Having an alpine moment too cos I have been building raised beds and hyperufa troughs. So many plants, so little time.