Thank you so much, begoniagirl! I am blushing. :) Funny that we have the same lamps. I have been thinking about changing mine out for something with a little more contrast for that room, and perhaps putting mine in the master bedroom. That's a plan down the road, when I redecorate my mantle...maybe a spring project! Where is your fruit fabric? I'll have to go find your thread showing the Decatur Buff. I remember your thread about not liking your paint colors. I'm Glad you like it. I love the BM Greenfield Pumpkin, and think that would be perfect in my daughters kitchen. I am going to suggest it to her and show these photos. Well, got to go...Riley is barking to get inside. :)

"Now I am planning to test my house for Radon. I don't have a basement but the townhouse was built on a concrete slab. Where do you suggest I test? And since this is a 2 level townhouse, do I test upstairs as well as on the 1st floor?" On what level are the entranceways to the townhome? If they are on the first level, I would check both the first and second level. This is due to constant ventilation of the first floor area when opening and closing the doors, so the upper level may actually have a higher radon content. If the doors are on the second level, as I've seen sometimes, then checking the lowest living area should be sufficient. As for the granite, this is some of what I've found: Granite is a normal, geological source of radiation in the natural environment. All of the minerals in granite contain some radioactive elements: the white or pink feldspars contain potassium-40 (which is also present in bananas and kiwis, as well as salt substitutes), the black biotites and horn-blendes contain potassium-40, uranium ore and thorium, and the small inclusions of minerals such as zircon, apatite, etc. contain uranium and thorium. The inclusions can contain the highest amounts of radioactive materials. From this I would say the radioactive content can vary greatly within a small area. We have responded to several people's requests to test their granite, and none have registered any radiation levels of note. But, they are few and far between, as Dr. Llope has found some, so the only way to be certain is to survey the granite for radiation. But the chances of your granite being of radiological concern are very slim. Joel

Wow....what an amazing list of people.... too many of them no longer with us or active here. It is nice to remember some of their names and their struggles that we shared. Thanks for the memories.

I guess I just feel very deeply that distance between what I see and how I say what I see..and I strive to narrow it somehow to be able to transfer the thought. Said aprineverends and every color scientist and pioneer of color systems that has ever lived starting with Aristotle. :) That's essentially the definition of colorimetry. Colorimetry is the science and technology used to quantify and describe how humans see and experience color. what is meant by "neutral", usually..and why? Depends on who you ask. Technical - Like undertone, neutral has a technical definition too. A true neutral is achromatic gray, white and black. Why - As soon as any degree of hue is detected (visually or measured) then it's a chromatic gray. As more hue is discerned, it's muted. Chromatic Grays and Muted colors are Near Neutrals.. . . because they are literally nearer to a true neutral. Color Mixing Theory - the color mixing approach to neutral is completely divorced from human color perception. Instead, neutral is defined by the color formula and the balance of tints in the mixture. Why - The theory is any color can be a neutral if there are equal amounts of each tint in the formula. This is the most useless definition of neutral of all because individual tints affect and change each other as they're blended to create a single color; the characteristics of the individual tints and the base in which they're mixed are blended away into oblivion and you're left with a final result - a single color. A single color with a definitive wavelength, frequency, fingerprint, DNA. So, when you end up with a single, final result that can be efficiently assessed by the 3 dimensions of human color perception, hue/value/chroma, why bother with the minor points of chemistry? Unless your job is to make/mix the color, there's absolutely no reason to get wrapped up in the minutia of tints and bases. Experiential - some people use the word neutral much like they use the word undertone; a big umbrella to cover a wide range of color, pattern and texture perception. Why - Using neutral and undertone to articulate a visual experience is the best some people can do. With color in particular, the more you know how it works, the more clearly you're able to communicate what you see. For example, once you understand that every color (including whites, muted colors, and chromatic grays) belongs to a hue family, you don't have to default to abstract notions of neutral and undertones. Instead you have a refined vocabulary of color terms to pull from so you can communicate color clearly.