Good morning fellow bird watchers. The robin is getting very close to leaving the nest. I received a box of seeds and gifts from Sue yesterday. Did I mention seeds? WOW! seeds, seeds, and more seeds. The seeds for newbies were donated by Mellen, djm906 and Sue. A very special thank you to all three of you for your generosity. There are thirteen on the list now: araillia bogartbaby clacy2k dhardee efrosty1 ktd125 margec melissa_nc momtoej monipook nightnurse1968 sweety13 wynative Thirteen, hmmm...I don't have triskaidekaphobia, but fourteen or fifteen sure would be a more comfortable number. Anybody else want to join? Ara

I read this when I was looking to purchase the Kobe: "Kobe Range Hoods are designed and manufactured by Tosho & Company, Ltd., their Japanese parent company." (misleading statement, states only "Japanese parent company" leading one to assume that it is made in Japan. They need to go on to state "with manufacturing facilities in China). A lot of info here about Kobe: http://www.thenaturalhome.com/stainlesssteel.htm An interesting read about the quality of these hods, but then again they are selling them and are somewhat biased. I try whenever possible to buy locally and support sustainable manufacturing practices. China does not have a very good record when it comes to the environment. The quality is variable but some companies who locate their facilities in China maintain excellent quality control. So you can get excellent quality with Chinese made but at what cost? I ordered the Kobe hood from the website listed above. I called first and had the best customer service so far compared to other companies I contacted. It was ordered via the internet late Monday night, order processed on Tuesday and the hood arrived on Thursday afternoon. All the paperwork was English with some Japanese writing on it. Looked everywhere to find where it was made to make sure and could not find it stated anywhere. Finally on the outside of the box I saw "Made in China". I was a little disappointed but no surprise really. Does anyone have a list of countries of origin for appliances? I went and looked at a few different websites and none of them stated where their product is manufactured. I think that as individuals we can vote for changes by how we spend our money. Another point might be individual parts. While an appliance might be "manufactured" in one country, they still might get individual parts from Chinese manufacturers. Not sure if this is true but someone told me that most refrigerators have compressors which are made in China. My next search is for buying a Bosch dishwasher and a Sharp OTC MW. Thanks for all the input on the hood decision! Wade

i have a dining room table and chairs from them. the chairs are upholstered and very comfortable. the base of the table is beautiful, and the glass top is very, very thick and beveled. i think they are very good quality. i got the furniture through a local designer.

Flamingo, I thought that was where he would head immediately but I do not think he realizes it opens yet. The sewing cabinet came from a place called Mother's Attic and the chest came from The What Not Shop.... both are in Morgantown, WV. The chest was part of a set- there was a desk and I am not sure what the third thing was (I should have asked, I might have wanted it too!) but the guy volunteered to break the set- I would not have asked him to but I sure took him up on the offer! The "What Not" guy said he sees the sewing chests often but the cured parts tend to break. I would LOVE to find more. He no longer buys them from people because he said those curved parts are too much to deal with. But he said I got a good deal- that is a pretty good compliment from a dealer! LOL Both need