Oh, my! Susan is definitely back in the building! Fall weather is quite energizing. ;-D

Alice, as I view these plans to sell on etsy I find myself hoping you'll also find a way to sell in a higher-end venue. I'm always talking about Martha Stewart, and she mass-produces lots of things, but she also features craftsmen like Mudcat's own Guy Wolff, who does his own thing in his own space and she goes there to see his pots - consequently sending a lot of business his way. I hope you can call attention to your work through various avenues. Those little paintings should be individual, sold with the frames you think best, and go for a good (high!) price.

Andrea, if we're voting, I like the earlier houses more than the more recent one. I'm always a sucker for a big yard, and I love the larger open kitchens. That most recent photo is what one novelist I enjoy calls a "one-butt kitchen." For obvious reasons. Great counter space, but little room for company.

I unpacked a couple of cardboard boxes of things in one trunk that had been put in there back in 1999 when I moved out of the house my ex is in. The woman who used to help with housekeeping made a couple of extra trips over to help me pack, and it included some things I probably would have left there. I may re-wrap them and take them over one of these days. That leaves me with an empty trunk and I'll use it for storing the antique photos for now.

I have been following Martha Stewart's instructions on getting those antique hankies to return to their original white. It really works - soaking in plain water for a couple of days or as much as a week, changing it out every so often, really does work. I have a rust remover I'll use on a couple of the hankies (very gently, it's a soaking product also) and they should be good to go. When I unpacked those boxes I found several of the old linen dishtowels in there also. They're also yellowed from time, so I'm going to try soaking them next. The ones I previously washed and dried probably can never be whitened, it is set, but I'll see what happens with these. (I sent some old ones to Animaterra a while back, but I think those had been washed, but I wonder - do you have any tricks for these old linens?)

SRS