Marda,those small towns are what draws me to these trips. Ive stumbled across something in these small towns(pop less than 500) that really puzzles me. They might have a 1/2 block of building that USED to house small mom and pop stores and then a large old hotel. I couldnt stop thinking about those large hotels. Who stayed there back in the late 1800s? Indiana has many small towns that run close to the old Wabash Erie Canal and the Inter-urban highway but still the hotels werent close enough to either one to explain their existance. My mother suggested they could have been used for traveling harvesters? Suzi do you have a clue? I wish Suzanne was still here because she might have more insight.

Cactus, your valve sounds like one of the Rainbird or Toro lawn irrigation valves. Is that right? Most of those run on 24VAC for safety reasons. Is that right as well? Do you have a plug-in type of thermostat? Now, I'm no electrician, but if the answers above are "yes," this is what I would try: go to Radio Shack and ask for a 110VAC to 24VAC transformer, the plug in variety. Plug the thermostat into the controller. Plug the transformer into the back of the thermostat plug (being sure to keep this part dry). Using 18/2 wire and the outdoor wire nuts with caulk in them, wire the transformer output to the solenoid. Put the solenoid in the water line and you are ready to go. Cottagefarmer is way beyond both of us in regard to electronics (remember, he is building his OWN controller). He may have other ideas on this.

Sometimes I do the US Today puzzle online. It is fun, but easy. It was fun to do the NYT puzzle with friends when we were stay at home moms. We collaborated, chatted, and had coffee while the kids played. (sounds like the stone age, doesn't it?) We generally did not finish the puzzle but continued working on our own and sharing our answers. Eventually as the kids got older, we got jobs and pursued careers. The Group still gets together but not to do crossword puzzles. Maybe we should resume getting together for crossword puzzle time, but we may be too busy in our retirement. I sound really old but I am not, really!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. After the flower delivery fiasco, all went well and I had a very nice day. Went out for lunch, had an excellent meal, did a little shopping at Target and got home in time for a visit from daughter and her house mate plus the 2 granddogs and the little 2 1/2 year old boy that they babysit. Below is my birthday card from daughter. It is a beautiful example of quilling. Her note inside tells me that it will be my birthday the 2nd Wednesday of every month. She will be 'mine' for whatever my heart desires for the day. She did something like this years ago, then work got in the way. She is now semi-retired.