Some of the things are improving a little now that I have been away from the home for a while. It is amazing how much "family stress" can aggrivate conditions. They are still there but some of the stress factors are gone. Arbitration (binding) was yest morning. Now I just have to wait to see what division decisions he makes. Hate knowing I will leave behind the plants that gave me all that harvest since they haven't been cared for and I have been told some were mowed over so they probably won't survive. Ah but I shall do as I did for it....plant what people give me and manage it organically. It will take a long time before the clay soil provides as did the sandy loam I fortified with the compost down here. Putting down new beds in clay soil or for that fact even trying to break clay soil to drop in a seed will be so different from before. But for bird feeding I can plant sunflowers and that will save on bird seed money. Then just rotate what I plant each year until I can no longer get outside. I still will utilize body saving practices as: pipe for planting sticks (pruned or windfall limbs) as walking sticks buckets to sit on crawling (dragging along the walking stick for getting up) making sure plants are zone hardy make sure plants are soil & companion amlicable rely on birds for bug patrol I will (hopefully) have more space in which to garden now but recognize the percentage of land available & garden size I make it has to conform to my ability to handle the clay. Much more back breaking than what I started with before.

I try to wash sheets in my Fl with other heavier things. For instance, I'll wash a pair of sheets with a heavy towel or two. Or I'll throw in half a dozen men's dress shirts. I do absolutely nothing to arrange the load other than making sure that the sheets are actually seperated from each after being pulled off the bed. I load by putting each large piece in individually; for smaller items (T-shirts) I'll grab a bunch and stuff them in together. I don't have any problem with tangling unless I make the load too big. I dry sheets on the line, but give them a 5 - 10 minute toss in the dryer beforehand. After pulling the items out of the washer, I re-stuff them in the dryer loosely, not all in a ball from the washer. But other than that I don't find tangling is really an issue. I think washing the sheets folded would lead to poor cleaning. To try an untangle the tangling issue I would try these steps: reducing load size, dividing large objects among a couple of loads, and try variations of combining larger, heavier items with sheets until you get to the right combo. HTH, Molly

Great list (I love lists) and great gifts. This is also nice for my "where did I put it " list.

Since I'm a photo buff, I would use photos if I was keeping it indoors ... on a porch or something. I would get 8x10's blown up of my favorite prairie flowers or grasses, i.e., coneflowers, prairie smoke or grasses...turkey foot, big bluestem, etc. You could go either way and it would be a lovely piece of art. A pot of dried prairie grass would look nice displayed with it. But, if I were using it as a "garden" type item, I think I would try an old method...and I still have a glass print that I gave my Grandma many years ago. 1. Tape a coloring book page on 8x10 glass... use paints to trace the page, i.e., a kid digging with a shovel in a garden or a child smelling a peony, etc...use simple bk pages..maybe some older ones. You can use water colors and fill in the traced areas with paint. 2. Tear off a piece of Reynolds foil & gently wad it up...then un-wad it. Add this to the dry painted side of the glass. Tape the foil and glass together with whatever tape you want ... electrician's tape comes in many colors or duct tape. I would probably paint the tri-fold frame. Whatever you do...or maybe already did, please share a pic! Jeanne S.