Thank you Bud, Oldog, and wow! the big Kahuna himself, Txbuilder himself! I so very much appreciate your patience and kind support. Never having subscribed to a forum before, there is a learning curve for one whose computer time is mostly spent drinking wine and writing long-winded emails.
Seeing those pics full-screen I realized it was rather obvious where my priorities lie... the first items to materialize on the newly painted shelves look suspiciously like alcohol, cookies and coffee. What you don't see is that there is lovely vase of pink and yellow tulips on the table - just to show that I do adhere to some standards of etiquette.
It's time to pour on the gas now and finish this project, as the garden is calling. And it sounds like screams from Beirut. What a mess - we are already well into a ridiculously early spring following on the heels of a ridiculously mild winter and the yard is miles ahead of me already. It's totally my fault, as I bought winter tires for the first time in 20 years here in Shangri-la, having vowed not to spend another winter sliding and screaming my way to and from work. Not a single snowflake and I think I might have had to scrape my windshield twice. $900 bucks worth of rubber to store in the garage. Which is also a mess.
The fun just never ends... I'm taking the rest of this week off from the house to spend a few days with an old friend who found her husband dead in their bed on her return froma business trip to Hawaii. I confess, I'm looking forward to the road trip and the escape from the endless to-do list here. And of course, to re-connect with my best friend from the old days when our kids were still pooing their pants.
Again, thank you for your tolerance of my ignorance! I promise to practise.
Holly