Did a web SEARCH and found the following site as the first hit regarding SERENADE- http://www.serenadegarden.com/howto/FAQ.html Even on eBAY can you find this product. http://cgi.ebay.com/Serenade-Organic-Garden-Disease-Control-Spray-32-oz-RTU_W0QQitemZ320264801834QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL0806191277r7250 Most 'hardware' stores cater to people who use common (and mostly non organic based) chemicals in a garden, and would not sell such ORGANIC BASED products, so you would probably never see this there, unless another cusomer asked for it and they ordered it special. To find such products, you would have to locate sources that sell ALTERNATIVE products for ORGANIC control. The internet is obviously quite powerful in giving many choices of sources. Bt, is a good example as is Neem. Neither might not be found in many hardware stores. Hardware stores (True Value, ACE, etc.) carry canning jars. BIGGER hardware stores ike Home Depot and Lowes, do not. Its a matter of popularity too. Most home gardeners may not even bother with trying to be organic when they grow things. Here, I spend extra time and money on organic alternatives to harsh chemicals. Herbs are no different. I wouldn't want to add a chemical base like Miracle Grow to herbs, or spray them with nasty refined chemicals. One place that I DO know that carries MANY organic products is Peaceful Valley and even though they are far away on the west coast, I still buy quite a lot from them. Needless to say , if I could find ALL the organic products in a LOCAL garden shop, I would become their best customer!

Kevin- Speaking of rugs....have you heard the latest TV commercials for The Dump? Yesterday (4/10) while preparing dinner the commercial announced that "The Dump is going out of the Oriental rug business." Prices will be up to 85% off this weekend only. I checked their web site, clicked on the Langhorne store and the same AD ran. I don't know if this is akin to the all the Oriental rug stores that are forever going out of business but I thought I'd pass it along in case you were still looking for rugs.

It sounds like you've got a project on your hands. I'm remembering the first house I almost bought. Fifteen or so years ago, though it seems like yesterday, a coworker at my job in Ohio mentioned casually that his brother wanted to sell a house nearby. The brother lived in Texas, and had been renting out this urban house, with no supervision or maintenance whatsoever, for over 10 years. The place was a real pit -- roof leaking, plaster falling off the walls, backyard of oil-soaked gravel, but I was poor and hated my landlord. The thought of a place of my own was intoxicating. Somehow, my lack of tools or any substantial knowledge about houses are put together failed to quench my enthusiasm. I agreed to live in the house for free while the purchase arrangements were made. I had a crowbar, and began by bashing and prying all the plaster and lath off the walls of a second-floor bedroom... and there I got stuck. I had a room full of shockingly heavy, nail-riddled plaster chunks, no dumpster to put it in, no understanding of drywall and carpentry, no truck to transport materials and little money to buy either, very few tools and no internet to help me figure out what I didn't know. Ahh, those were the days. Looking back, it's amazing how clueless I was. The deal to buy the house fell through; it was bought, instead, by my co-worker, the seller's brother (who happened to have been a carpenter in a former life), to be rehabbed as a rental property. I lived there through a summer, working off my rent by helping the new owner with the rehab. The first thing we did was to build a plywood chute from the bedroom window, over the porch roof and into a dumpster we'd parked in the front yard. The broken plaster went out, new drywall came in and the transformation was magical. Then I learned to sweat copper, and proceeded to replumb whole house by myself. I learned quite a bit that summer. I realize this isn't the most uplifting story, but I do empathize with your feeling that you might be in over your head. You will learn more than you can imagine. A local friend who understands basic construction will be invaluable. Ask lots and lots of questions. Figure out what is and isn't worth doing to this house, and figure out the right sequence of events. Don't get wrapped up in fixing windowsills if there's a chance you'll be taking down plaster. Don't pretend you can make the sort of rapid progress a seasoned remodeller could; you'll learn more by doing a small job carefully and well than by trying to bite off too much and doing it badly. Accept your ignorance, and chip away at it. Take care of yourself and your family in the meantime.

I like weed's idea--maybe you could find a used hood on craigslist or at a Re-Store, and paint it a fun color.