Deanne, loved your halloween vignette. You find the neatest containers and I love finials in any form and material. Michelle. I am amazed that your copper boiler has lasted that long. Who knew, copper would be so long lasting in the garden? Norma...enjoyed both your whiskey barrel pics and the pic of you waterinjg it. I have two whiskey barrels, but I have been growing peas up a trellis in them. String beans in the summer. I keep trying to plant something pretty around the edge, but nothing has looked good yet. Ei...great watercan collection! My fav is the purple. Also found the birdbath with succulents so eye catching with the alliums which are huge! I am a big fan of wire racks and mossed containers. I have one hay rack to fill this spring and I am going to need help figuring out how to moss it. Denise...I love your trio of wire baskets with succulents. Are they heavy? What did you use to hang them? I also love your bird cage idea with the candles in it. Marian...Your Achimines is so unusual. It reminds me of a streptocarpus, one of my favorites. Eden, the dish drainer is amazing! lol I would have never thought to put the dishes in it..and it fits just perfect! I have often wanted to catch a few yard sales to find some unusual containers to try to repurpose like this, but I seem to garden away most weekends in prime yard sale season. I did buy a couple of wire wastebaskets with the intention of mossing and filling, but I never did get around to it. There's always this year...hope springs eternal. Okay, who pray tell, is Angela? [g] pm2

The thing that struck me about your post is that you have what "seems like" 2 dozen duffel bags. How many duffel bags do you actually have? I'm a very literal person, so I'm visualizing 24 duffels in 1 house. That's a lot of bags, whether they are floating around/distributed throughout the house, or all stacked and stored neatly in a well thought-out location. You say they are floating around the house. To me, that means they don't have designated homes. I do understand from your post you are trying to get ideas to make an organized home for things. I would do an actual count of bags so I knew exactly the status and project I'm dealing with. The way my brain works, I don't classify the duffels as the problem (other than the fact that 24 duffels are too many)...it sounds to me like you don't have homes for the contents of the duffels...and you are using all these bags as a means of storage for other things...and you don't have storage places for the things inside. My point, in trying to get to the core of your question, I'm trying to determine if you want to: 1. store the empty duffels when not in-use? 2. organize/store the contents of the duffels? 3. want to store the full duffels and contents in a sense that you would use duffel bags as the storage containers instead of traditional boxes, rubbermaids, or whatever. Different solution ideas for what you intend to do. Could you clarify? I really want to help...I'm either not getting your question, or wondering if you are so focused on the duffels themselves, that you're not thinking about the contents, and the other options you have. As for the suitcases...I have a musty basement too. You could get a large airtight bag (large garbage bag or 2), twist & secure the opening, and store it in your basement. As long as the contents of the bag are kept airtight, you shouldn't have a problem. You stated you do use the suitcases for business travel...so it's not like the suitcases will be shoved in some musty corner and never touched for years on end left to degrade and deteriorate. I'd love to further discuss the duffels. Could you provide more info or thoughts? Gayle

oh dear I don't want to end up storing one in my dining area! I'd love to borrow yours, I'd even make something for you, but I suspect we're pretty far apart. I'm in northern Utah. I saw one similar to that Bosch at the house of the woman who stripped my tool chest, they had a dolly for it, that folded out into a table. Very nice. I have a carport to work in and it's pretty dry here in the summer, but no room or weather (or theft) protection for long term storage. My cellar is tiny with a low ceiling, made lower by duct work, one light bulb, no sockets and crumbling concrete stairs and once down there it would probably stay down there, collecting spider webs and dust. I have a few more people to ask, I'd really prefer to trade or pay cash to someone to cut to my measurements. I really like my fingers and my time for other pursuits. But I also want prompt delivery and the people I haven't asked yet, I haven't asked because I know they are either very busy or are dawdlers, or both. I get the dawdling...I'm slow to finish projects myself, but impatient when starting them.

I think both ideas of sandbox and fish pond could be fun and enjoyable for kids. But with pond, small kids could never be there unattended. I wouldn't hesitate to clean it and let my own little kids use it for summer wading pool fun. But I'm not sure I'd recommend that for someone else. If they were the kind to do that, they would just do it. I'd probably make a little slide and ladder so they could operate the fun by themselves (while being watched.) I also like the idea of filling it in a making it paving, as that's useful in this small space. Another possibility ... it looks like it's begging to have a statue placed in front of the niche. While that wouldn't be a play thing, kids do enjoy statues. (I remember as a 4-year old being in love with the dark red velvet drapes in our church. For me, it was the real reason to go to Sunday school.)