I've been driving for 35 years and been involved in two slow speed accidents, both by drivers not paying proper attention to the road. I enjoy driving, though have sure noticed the deterioration in attention paid to the road and the dumb ass stupid aggressive driving skills of some. What's up with the those bone head cell phone users who happily chat it up while in the middle of an intersection? Years ago, we had a hired man who would travel scary fast down the gravel roads, probably a good 120 kms or more. I was only in my teenage years and one evening had called over to his place to speak to him about his dangerous driving ... the guy wasn't home and I instead told his wife that Rod needs to slow down on the roads or he's gonna kill someone ... she got all offended and told me to speak to him about it instead ... well, I guess she hadn't passed the message along to him, as a few years later a young mother of two had been laid to rest after Rod had jetted through a stop sign and struck the woman's vehicle. Some have said that Rod has paid a high price for his mistake ... mmmm, I tend to instead consider what that lady's children and husband have endured.

Thanks, everyone! I love sharing this stuff with you. Have you designed a project for a larger hooked rug yet? With your new frame how large of a rug can you create? One of my first hooked projects 20+ years ago was a small rug I designed. Then later I bought a pattern that appealed to me and hooked that. I think both still need to be bound and finished (procrastinating about this step is a problem common to many rug hookers). Currently, the two projects I have lined up are a chair seat (I have five but need one more) and a new cover for my footstool. My new frame (which should arrive in less than two weeks) is the same size as my old one, but both can accommodate any size project, as you just lift the rug up and move it to work on different sections. Here's a story for you: Last night I was trying to come up with a design idea for the hooked chair seat. I looked through one of my books on rug hooking, and got nowhere with that. Then I reached for a book on folk art, thinking as I did so that it had been years since I'd opened it. Inside the front cover I found cut-out patterns my daughter Jill and I had drawn for a quilted table runner I made years ago. I didn't use the horse she drew at the time, but there it was, a perfect size for the chair seat. I feel that I was guided to open that book. Here's a picture of the pattern I drew on the linen burlap last night. I'll do some sort of design in the outer border. Now all I have to do is pick which wools I'm going to use. It's like coloring. :-)

Thanks so much everyone. Judy, I love seeing all the beautiful roses you cut, they're gorgeous. Carol, you definitely make the most of your short growing season, I love your roses! Seil, I agree, everything does look beautiful and healthy when they begin to bloom. Patty, in this picture I have Bewitched, Tiffany, Pink Peace, Perfume Delight and the one lonely yellow is Midas Touch. It used to be my favorite yellow HT, it was so vigorous and healthy. I was looking at the bush this evening and it is looking a lot better, hope it really starts doing its thing next year. Ingrid, I do hope you start getting the rain I know you need and you can get really excited about your roses again. I can relate somewhat to your situation, but I don't think we've had it quite as bad here.

Aliris19, I'm so with you on the counter edging! I like to hold the trash can right up to the lip of the sink and sweep the crumbs or whatever into the can. Edging would really work against this! I'm currently leaning towards the walnut butcher block counters from IKEA. I wouldn't put edging on it, although I might paint it black. Desertsteph, it doesn't seem that your junk drawer is truly a junk drawer. If you get a drawer organizer or some cute little boxes, you could very easily organize your batteries, flashlight, scissors, rubber bands, etc. I'm not against a drawer that contains miscellaneous items, I'm just against junk drawers where stuff is kept for years that no one ever uses, and where it is crammed full of stuff so you can't see what's in there, and where no one in the household knows exactly what's in there, haha! If you PM your address to me, I'll send you all the twist ties your heart desires. I can get them free. :-) I have learned two things about this forum lately. One, you gw people have turned me TKO! Haha! Not really! I've been decorating obsessed for years, and right now I'm just focusing on kitchens, because it's the first time in my life I've gotten to design my very own kitchen! Two, the folks here on gw come from many different backgrounds, income levels, and opinions--and that's what makes them (us) so fascinating! I've also discovered, as scone911 so eloquently put it, that if you do a bunch of stuff that you hate just for the resale value, you will not be happy with it. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to do things we don't like, but it's hard when that thing is your environment. I'm lucky with this reno in that I will live in this house for the rest of my life, and then it will go to my daughter. So resale is not an important factor in any of my decisions. Nor is equity. When I'm done refurbishing this old manufactured home, it will be worth more than it is now, but less than what I'm going to put into it. I don't need to worry that if I do such and such I won't get back my money on it. I agree that the fanciness of a kitchen doesn't add to one's quality of life--to a point. First, it depends on one's definition of "fancy," and two, it depends on the kinds of things one enjoys. For example, my range. While I do cook, and enjoy cooking, especially with my daughter, I'm not a gourmet chef. I'm going to purchase an electric range that can switch from regular to convection and has a radiant glass cook top, in black. Is that fancy? To my mind, no. I don't need a Subzero double wall oven and an induction cook top. I wouldn't mind a range with an induction cook top, but I can't afford it. But to some people, my range would be fancy. It's not the cheapest one Sears sells, and I'm not getting it used off Craigslist. I could get it cheaper in white. But that comes to my second point. What do you love? I'm a homebody by nature. There are times I can go two weeks without leaving my house. (I'm also a big international traveler too, which might seem weird.) I can do most of my work from home. And I enjoy being in my kitchen. In my new house, I will have a living room/ eat-in kitchen great room. And I'll be in there a lot. As a researcher, I spend several hours a day reading. And I won't do that in my little guest room/office. I'll do it in the living room. I decided a few years ago that since I'm in my home so much, I'm going to surround myself with beautiful things and create an atmosphere of peace and harmony. But beautiful does not have to mean expensive! I'm a great shopper and bargain hunter. I live within my means (no debt), and my means are not substantial. Yet I have managed to create beautiful living spaces that make me happy! For some, the whole remodel process is a chore, and thinking about design is a waste of time. That's a perfectly reasonable thing to think and feel. But for me, poring over design magazines or surfing the web for home makeovers and obsessing over cabinet hardware is a joy, something that takes me out of what I do for a living and relaxes me. Mrs. Pete, I had wanted to mention to you that my mom was a fifth grade teacher for many years. When my SIL and I cleaned out her home office, we discovered she had kept every single gift, card, and note her students had ever given her! It was a hoarding nightmare, lol! One of the funniest things we found was a letter from a little boy who is now a very famous professional football player. It was an apology for stuffing paper towels down a toilet and flooding the boys' bathroom! We couldn't stop laughing, picturing this hulk of an NFL player being a little boy getting busted by mom, who was a tiny little woman! Cherish your apple mugs because they will always remind you that you were an important influence in someone's life. :-) Oh, by the way, I'm a Siamese cat. ;-)