I watch Martha Stewart in the morn, when I take a break, and she was showing us how to fold a contour sheet. Now I would be in laundry room half a day trying to do that.She also took us on trip to her chicken coop, The nests were all painted, and not a straw was out of place. she had automatic waters, and the floor was spotless. Kinda made me think of the movie chicken run. I did manage to buy a basket and sort through some of the medicine chest, and put it in order. I do like some of her ideas on plants and pots. what do you all think?

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), March 24, 2002

Answers

I think her main goal in life is a beautiful looking house. That's OK, if it pleases her, but while I can enjoy a work of art I find other things in life are worthwhile, too. Now that she has gone commercial, I bet all of the routine work is done by a large staff. How else can she learn and teach a new craft every week?

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 24, 2002.

turns out,, she has a large staff, around 25 people,, that does nothign but take care of her place , animals ,lawn, garden,, ect

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 24, 2002.

I would have a place like hers too, if I had a staff! In all fairness to her though, the say she works harder than anyone who works for her, and she doesn't require much sllep. I think a lot of her ideas are great,and I like the way she makes home-making seem important. So many people think it just doesn't matter what you do in the home...

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 24, 2002.

Hey, if I had 25 people to do things around the house and garden AND her money -- I would make Martha look like she lives in the slums..LOL!

But, being of the Martha Stewart persuasion...we have a rule in our house...you DON'T make fun of Martha!!!! She is my role model -- although I don't think I will painting my nesting boxes anytime too soon!

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

I won't tell you all what I think of good ol" Martha! Once, my dauhter was watching her can tomatoes and she made two mistakes! LOL! It certainly didn't look as if she had done it before!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

I like her cause she encourages people to learn.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), March 25, 2002.

I really love her ideas. I just make them less expensive and rewrite them to me. If I had 25 staff members at my home my chicken coop would be painted and spotless too, but since it is just me, I am happy to have it standing without leeks at the moment!

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), March 25, 2002.

I prefer Lynnette Jennings. She's more real.

-- lynne (notatthis@time.com), March 25, 2002.

Martha has several homes-----she does far more than what many realize- --& still being in control of a staff is not an easy job either--- along with all she does!!

I appreciate her /as she was a divorced woman who has made it on her own-----I agree she is postive & encourages positive things---& learning & trying new things & expresseing your self in your own way-- from cooking to decorateing--to gardening /etc/etc/etc/etc/etc/---

I would not want to be incharge of a huge staff & keeping everyhing going & have the routine she has---& no priviacy!!!

Owning our own businesses over all these years-- I hope she doesn't have a problem of finding good relibale/dependable/honest help or staff---that most of the rest of us do----but she has made it big enough now--maybe she doesn't have those problems--

I appreicate that a woman--who found her self with out any money & divorced & started out bakeing cookies & cakes---to make a liveing /as gone in the direction she has---I pray she is healthy & happy!!!

I enjoy her & what she has accomplished!! I think she is a positive example & compared to what many T.V. shows have on them /is a good T.V. show also----we live in the "boonies" & we only get one channel sometimes---so I don't get to watch her on our T.V.--but if I could I would! I think she has many good ideas!!!!! And I like her posivive character!

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), March 25, 2002.

I've never seen her show, but wouldn't that all be a set, just props? Maybe she has to keep it a secret to promote the image but I would think someone with her money would have several houses and a large staff to handle the basics.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

What annoys me about her is that she has taken things that I do for my family because I love them and want them to be happy and healthy, and she has turned it into a pretentious, money-making, phony way of living! I do these things not to make money, but to save money - she somehow has caused these acts of love and giving to become, Lord, I don't know... an act of keeping up with the Joneses!!! I am from Connecticut, and have seen this woman's neighborhood. Trust me, with a staff of 25+, she is the FARTHEST thing from a homesteader! A sham, perhaps, and a shame. Nope, I can't stand her - and haven't since she came on the "scene" 14 years ago.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), March 25, 2002.

It's a little unrealistic for people to think they can accomplish everything she does, simply because she does have the money and help so that she doesn't have to dust or mop her own floors, or clean the toilet unless she WANTS to!

If I had the advantages she has, though, I would have a house that looks pretty much like all of the ones she owns that I've seen! I would also spend all my time in the garden and with my kids!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), March 25, 2002.

Hello Irene,

Martha Stewart is Satan disguised as a homemaker!

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

Ernest,

Thank you for your bit if humor - I haven't laughed that hard for a while.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

Dear Ernest, I can"t believe you said that, that is so funny, I also got a great laugh out of it. Now I wonder why you said that. I gather you don"t like her, I think she would be lost trying to make it in the Ozarks, cooking possum, and baiting a fish line. And cooking on a wood stove, I can just picture it.

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), March 25, 2002.

Do you know that she gave up a very lucrative career as a stockbroker to be "Martha Stewart Inc"? Now, what do you think might make her give up a multi-million dollar a year job to raise chickens?

No, I don't think she's for real. I know NO ONE who gilds their guests desserts with 14K gold before serving it...except her. That and the fact that she now sells towels through Zellers for eighteen bucks each.

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

Oh Ernest, I almost fell off my chair laughing! That's so funny! Thank you for that!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

I will say that her signature K-Mart product line is reasonably priced for the quality--and is the only thing I would shop in K-Mart for.

I used to watch her weekly 1/2 hour show, but lost interest when it became a daily one hour show--the last straw was watching her get her own personal Steinway piano refurbished. It wouldn't have been so bad if she were just doing a factory tour of say, some museum's Steinway.

The wedding episodes made me cringe too--I believe that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of money spent on the wedding and the length of the marriage....

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 25, 2002.

I saw her show once. This particular 10 minutes was on composting. She described how to "build" composting bins. Hers were the expensive mail order kind. I KNOW she didn't build them because I saw her swing a hammer. Her bins were full of that beautiful storebought compost. Then she takes her little expensive lady-sized shovel to show us how to turn compost. "Okay, Lady, how many months is it going to take to turn your compost doing it THAT way!"

Martha is just another media advertisement to make us real women feel inadequate so we want to buy her ...uh...stuff! I'd like to see her handle one of OUR family reunions. Could she really feed and entertain our tribe without her paid sycophants? I don't think so!

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 26, 2002.

I don't think good ol' Martha could make any of us feel inadequete! She reminds me of a Barbie doll-country-girl- wannabe. I'd love to dump her on an island with just a farm there with a few cows, chickens and a months supply of essentials. I bet her manicured nails would take a beating.

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 26, 2002.

Actually, Martha Stewart is a former Wall Street trader and was a good one. She opted out of the rat race there and started doing what she's doing now. She still had the same drive that made here a success on the street and that's what made her a success in this. Old habits die hard, though. When Martha Stewart, Inc. went public the IPO (Initial Public Offering) of her stock was one of the two most successful in the history of Wall Street, netting her millions of dollars (over sixty million, if I recall correctly). To me, one of the more humorous aspects of that was that the other most successful IPO in history was, believe it or not, The World Wrestling Federation. Go figure...

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), March 26, 2002.

Umm. I don't think Earnest was kidding.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), March 31, 2002.

I had heard that Martha had to leave, maybe sell her Connecticut house. The neighbors got together and complained about the congestion in the area due to her group of people (workers, news people, etc.) They had called it a three ringed circus. She has taught a lot of people how to do things, but sometimes she comes across as thinking she is the one that invented the things she is talking about. Maybe she doesn't realize we have been canning, sewing, gardening and raising chickens long before she had ever thought it fashionable or "A Good Thing".

-- cowgirlone in OK (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), April 01, 2002.

She didn't have to move, but she had to stop filming there--that was what was causing all the problems (not to mention she was probably writing off everything done to the house during the course of filming on her taxes). Well, it's no different than if you or I started a business where people were coming and going all the time in a formerly quiet area and neighbors got angry--as well they should. I would. The highest and best use of a home is as a retreat, not as a busy storefront or business, or factory (just imho).

A smart businessperson would have been bending over backwards in order to "make things right"--free this and free that, a dinner certificate every so often at a really swanky place, etc. She could easily have afforded that.

As it was, she simply had to buy MORE property and build a "perfect" set for her show, not like she couldn't afford it.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 01, 2002.