Since responses have tapered off a bit for now, I thought I might give you the HTs with the most votes so far. Keep in mind that so many HTs were named (over 70) that most of the selections got one vote only, so I'm listing the more limited number that got 2 or more votes. Peace--8 votes Double Delight--6 votes Queen Eligzabeth--4 votes Memorial Day --4 votes Yves Piaget--3 votes Red Intuition--3 votes Neptune--3 votes Tiffany--3 votes Pope John 2--3 votes You know, that top list looks similar to the one I remember from several years ago. Maybe Red Intuition and Pope John are new to the list. I guess we have located what are called "perennial favorites" here, haven't we. I guess these would go in the "honorable mention" category. Gemini--2 votes Firefighter--2 votes Garden Party --2 votes Veteran's Honor--2 votes Mrs. Oakly Fischer--2 votes Louise Estes--2 votes If anyone wants to go on adding your 3 top nominations, feel free to continue. We can re-total later, if necessary. : ) Kate

I had no idea the P roses would be so outstanding. It's been fun seeing so many that are totally new to me. Beth, I love Party Time, which does look a bit like a party waiting to happen. Poseidon is one of the loveliest lavenders, very elegant.There were so many in your group that had exquisite shading, like a watercolor painting, especially Premier Bal, Paw Maw, and Paradise. There are just too many I like,and I'm going to have to do a lot of looking up on HMF because they are new to me! Carol, your Purple Beauty has a lovely porcelain smooth look to its petals. Is it more purple "in person"? Sara-Ann, those are a gorgeous pair of Peace's. Seil, I love your Peace rose color variation with its soft yellow. Pinocchio is another with many lovely color shades. PJPII is just the most luscious white, and your photo shows every detail. Pat, that super clear photo of Paris d' Yves St Laurent is stunning (wish the name were shorter). Oh, I adore those frilly, cute Passionate Kisses. Your Peace blooms are close to those I remember on my Dad's Peace rose blooms back in the 50s--really, big, fat, and gorgeous. That rose was such a sensation then. As a kid, it was the only rose name I knew. Iris, that Pristine of yours--is it real? It's too perfect. Makes me want to touch the computer screen to feel those smooth petals. Snowheather, Pretty Lady is lovely perfection, but Peach Silk has me drooling. A bunch of us forum people have convinced Heirloom to offer Peach Silk again, we all like it so well. I hope this really happens. Curdle, that's a fine photo of Prospero. What a smoldering beauty. I've craved Chartreuse de Parme for years. Your luscious photo will have to do. Lynn, what a pretty bloom of Pure Perfume, especially since it's the first one. Brittie, oooh, I love your Prince photo. It's so different and evocative. Thanks for a look at all these beautiful and unusual P roses. Diane

Prior to the introduction of the EPA and the Clean Air Act in 1972 it was customary for single family residential homes in the suburbs to have an empty 55gal barrel in the back yard. The barrel was stood on end, the top was cut out, and they punched about a dozen 2" or 3" holes around the bottom to let air in. The household trash was collected in paper grocery bags and once a day just before sunset they would take the trashbags out, drop them in the barrel and burn the trash. We were supposed to have a heavy screen to lay over the top of the barrel to prevent sparks from flying out, but most ppl ignored that. As you might imagine, there was always some trash that didn't burn, cans, vegetable peelings & such so about once ever month or six weeks we had to haul the barrel to the town dump and dump it out. In the larger cities and ppl of means in the suburbs had an indoor trash incinerator, which is what I think the unit in the first photo is. The trash incinerator was a simple burner that you dropped your trash bag in and as it burned it had a flue pipe connected to the house chimney to carry the smoke out. Some actually had a gas burner to effect a better combustion of the trash, but either way, you had to open the door on the bottom and shovel out the excess that didn't burn. Opearting a home trash incinerator is strictly prohibited today. The large dark unit in the second photo appears to be a coal fired furnace, athough without seeing the rest of the top I can not tell if that one is a steam or hydronic boiler. To start a coal fired boiler or furnace you began by opening the firebox door and building a small wood fire. Once the wood was burning good you put a little coal on it and waited till the coal was burning good before adding more. From a cold start it usually took about two hours of close attention until you had a full fire up. Once it was burning good you had to go down about once ever 3 to 4 hours and shake the grate (the pull handle on the left side) to break up any clinkers on the grates, then add a couple shovels of coal. At night you went down right before bedtime, shook the grates and added about 4 or 5 shovels of coal, then open the ash pit door on the bottom and get 3 or 4 shovels of ashes, which you carefully spread over top of the coal so the coal would only smolder overnight, and first thing in the morning, even before coffee, you had to go down and use a poker to break up the ash klinker on top and shovel some coal on to get the heat up again. On the ash pit door there should be a flat panel that is hinged from the top, which is called the draft door, and it was connected to a damper chain from a pulley above the furnace. On the first floor of the house there was a brass knob on the wall that was connected to that damper chain. If you wanted to turn the heat up you turned the knob and it would open draft door allowing more air into the firebox and heating the fire up, but careful, The chimeny flue had a barometric draft relief door that would normally regulate the amount of draft ofer the fire, but if you opened the draft door too much, the fire would get too hot and you ran a serious risk of a chimney fire. Growing up in the 50's & 60's it was a right of passage for boys about 10 years old to learn how to burn the trash and stoke the furnace. The smaller unit to the left of the furnace in the second picture is an oil fired hydronic boiler. If you look on the large copper pipe on the front of it you can see a black section that is the circulating pump for the hydronic system. In both of those boilers the water is contained inside cast iron sections and if the boilers were not properly drained it is almost a foregone conclusion that the water has froze and cracked the cast iron over the years of sitting idle. It also almost goes without say that over the years of storage the firebrick & refractory lining in the fireboxes has deteriorated beyond use by humidity. My greater concern is Asbestos. Both of those boilers will have to be dismantled in place before they can be taken out and they contain substantial amounts of asbestos. It will require complete containment by a professional Asbestos Abatement crew to dismantle and remove those boilers and that can be very expensive...did your realtor disclose that fact at the time of sale?

Some of those pictures have me wishing a more high-end range, with red knobs, were in the picture. Ah well...I can always replace the range when the money fairy comes by. (I won't. Inertia is a powerful thing.) DJHinVA-- I looked at that orange counter. I looked at it long and hard. (I'd have gone with one of my alternate backsplash tiles.) I couldn't convince The Husband. AND...we'd already fallen in love with the tile I chose. It (and the counter) are our "big splurges." I know that $36/sq 9if memory serves)isn't REALLY that much for tile...but we are trying to keep this kitchen at around 25K-30K--with all new everything but the ceiling and a 5K "oh sh!t" fund. (I've done a major reno before...one needs an "oh sh!t" fund.) And if there is an expensive finish out there...I tend to gravitate toward it. Heh. SO--I have to hold myself back. For instance...I WON'T be buying the Valli and Valli pulls that I fell in love with. Nope. But I'll find something else that functions as well...and I'll love them. (Actually saw some Hickory pulls at Lowes that I liked nearly as well...at less than 1/2 the price.) I'll start a new thread when reno begins in a couple of months. Thank you everyone...this has been fun. And y'all have made me see the wisdom of the stainless. I hadn't thought about the "eye-stopping" qualities of white with wood cabinets. Last kitchen we did (20 years ago!) had mid-tone oak (it was what we could afford) and we kept our original appliances which were 1985 almond. No eye-stopping there. And, of course, this kitchen is all white. No eye-stopping there. Stainless makes MUCH more visual sense, from that perspective. melanie