Rickey, I think it was Billy J. because the cougar travels from our property onto his, through his woodland that separates us, and then gets his cats. The other Billy lives a half-mile north of me and his house is set back about 1/2 mile from the road---he is fairly new here and you likely wouldn't notice his place unless you noticed the green mailbox by the gate. He lives between the big new house west of J. road and the houses that face Old Burkhart. He stopped by the garden a few weeks ago and told me something was killing some of his chickens, and he'd seen a pit bull around and wanted me to watch out for the pit. I told him to watch out for the cougars, as I'd recently had the June cougar encounter. By the way, it is his property that they were seen crossing the other day, and that surprises me because he has several dogs. Unfortunately, none of his dogs are very large. I hope they're all OK. Keep an eye on your chihuahuas! The cougar I ran into along my garden fence the other day was walking along very slowly and stealthily, looking from side to side, and clearly hunting. It blended in really well with the dry grass so your little dogs might not notice it....and it absolutely did not make a sound walking through the tall grass. (We've since cut the grass back to stubble. I mean absolute stubble so a cougar cannot sneak up on us. First we mowed the grass as short as we could, and then I cut what was left with the weedeater.) I am about to go out to the garden to pick some more peppers to add to what I harvested this morning so I can finish the jalapeno bread and butter pickles. When I was out at this time yesterday, the rooster in the trap was having a crowing contest with my roosters. Of course, I didn't know it was a rooster in a trap, and was wondering why they suddenly had a rooster when they've never had chickens at all since we moved here. : ) So, if all is quiet when I go out in a few minutes, then maybe that is a good sign for us and a bad sign for the cougar. You probably did see a cougar's tail crossing into Fred's pasture. His neighbor that lives on the property kind of behind him has lost 12 or 13 chickens this year, and all but one disappeared without a trace. Fred has seen cougars in the past, although usually when he told me about them, he'd seen them at the old home place on the river west of Allen Rd. Back later after I finish all the pepper processing. Dawn

AHHHHHHHHHH....memories! And what a journey it has been! I remember all the things mentioned here. Each time I thought I had another one...someone came up with it. I'm more "hippy" than hippie...LOL! Scarlett, I know the feeling! Those hipster jeans just don't fit right anymore! One thing I did learn to do back in the 60's and didn't see mentioned here were "Christmas Spiders". From the small glass Christmas balls and pipe cleaners, with sequin eyes. They looked like this...of course you've got to remember this one has been around for a good number of years now! LOL..ugly thing, isn't it? With new products and vintage jewerly, they now look more like this example. I made dozens of these every year..and sell most of them these days. We still use the Christmas ornaments like this. I'll never forget the year we decided to make this the family Christmas project! Neither will our 2 daughters! We all had such sore fingers. But, they treasure these ornaments now, and like myself use them every year. Let's not forget Santa and Mrs. Claus made from dish detergent bottles. With the dime store (then Ben Franklin) faces and hands, etc. They are still part of my Santa collection but I don't seem to have a picture of them anywhere in my on line albums. I still make a few of the old things...most often with a bit of a modern twist...using some of the easier to use products. The pasta angel is a good example of evolving pasta art. I do have problems finding the metal thumb tacks used for the candle in these. Someone mentioned the crochet covered clothes hangers. I'm just old fashioned I guess...I still do them. Along with little sachet bags to go with them. I love collecting the old crochet patterns and making stuff from them. These are the vintage pattern projects that I have recently finished. The shaded pansy thread colors are almost impossible to find these days. You can see some of my spiders in this basket...they are not Christmas Spiders. I call them my illusive, almost extinct pansy spiders! I wanted some really pretty silk pansy to put in this basket and couldn't find any...so I used the next best thing. LOL I think I should stop now! I don't think the "old" crafts will be completely lost...they will just evolve. Be Safe, Rach Here is a link that might be useful:

I see very strong difference in gender tastes. There is a strong preference among men for: 1) new things (vintage and antique styles are just seen as "old") 2) contemporary styling (also just called "looking new") 3) wood (especially medium to dark woods) Obviously not all men have those tastes, but quite a lot. Regionally, I think the geography influences design a lot. You see a lot of porches in the South because it's hot there. You see a lot of nautical/ocean themes influences on the coasts. You see a lot of log cabins in the woods. A lot of stucco in the desert. And cultural influences -- Spanish style in California, colonial homes in New England, etc. So I don't know that trends don't reach various regions -- it's more that not all are applicable to the typical homes in those areas. I dunno about age and trends. In terms of pure aesthetics, the only real difference I've seen is that younger people are on the internet more, so we've seen a larger variety of options and are more up on trends. But a middle-aged person who uses the internet often wouldn't be any different. I do see a difference between ages when it comes to function. Experience means you've seen more of what does and doesn't work and therefore you are more specific about that. Young people don't have any idea what works until they've lived in a few houses, and until then they just pick what's pretty. I consulted with my mom on function many times during my remodel, and her perspective as someone who has lived in a zillion houses was invaluable. She'd point out all kinds of functional concerns that never would have occurred to me. And there are the basic facts that younger people tend to not be in their forever homes, so resale is always a concern. And pockets aren't as deep. So they might seize on trends for resale purposes, but they'd seize on the cheaper-to-install trends. Whereas older people have more money and more freedom to please themselves. But at base, in terms of liking trends? Not installing them, but just liking them? I only really see the difference in genders.

3z3z3 - a separate post on kitchens would get you more help. if you want to set things up more for handicap/injury use be sure to post that. any of us can get an injury that will cause mobility problems at any time. about 14 yrs ago now (wow... that long ago?) I broke my knee cap. that was painful... and painful to move around. and I'll tell you it was painful to get down/up on/from the toilet. horrible pain. we don't normally realize how much weight / use we need from our hips, thighs, legs to do these normally simple normal life things. when I moved to my new place I did what I could to make things easier for me now and in the future. it started with it having a tubless shower. no more climbing over a tub edge! that's made a world of difference for me! I put in levers on doors and changed a floor (nice one too) that had a too high lip on it from the hallway and DR area. and have plans to change out the bathroom / kit faucets to 1 lever handle. I had some vinyl plank flooring put in cause I do fall frequently (more than normal people) and wanted a softer landing. also, if there's a leak, it'll be easier for me to pull up so subfloor doesn't stay soaked. no cabinet handles with sharp ends and at least a 1.25" projection - also at least 5" long. plenty of room for getting my fingers in/around the handle. the no sharp ends is in case I do fall, nothing sharp to hurt me. I also made sure the place was big enough that I could get around with a walker or wc. I have plans to have 1 lower cabinet changed to drawers in the kitchen (it doesn't have many cabs anyway). I do have a good sized pantry off the side of the kitchen where I could keep more things if necessary. and a ramp is in the back of my mind. unless something rushes it, it'll probably be 2 yrs or so down the road. I have 4 steps in/out any ext doors. I recently bought an AF to use instead of the oven (mostly). some of that is that I'm single and what I use the oven for is usually very little. I also bought a 1 pot cooker (3.5 qt) so I could hopefully use less 'pots' for cooking and not use the stove. this pot will cook something for the time set and then go to 'warm'. if I doze off or forget about it, it won't burn anything up like the stove burner would. I'm also considering an induction hot plate for when I do want/need an actual burner. I think it's less likely to cause a fire than my electric coil stove top burner. I can't remember when I ever had need of more than 1 burner. I lived in the old place 14 yrs with a 1 burner hot plate and survived nicely. Then i'll probably just detach the coils and cover the top - maybe with a piece of SS.