You know, I have no idea when I got that cactus but, I pretty am sure it was at the last trade that GGG hosted which, I believe was in 2007. It was so small, I was afraid to leave it outside for winter the first two years so it sat in the greenhouse. Last year I left it, in the pot you see, with a couple other plants to test their hardiness. Those that survived the cold and rain got good marks and are allowed to remain in my collection. I am tired of transplanting so many marginal and sub-tropicals each year and have decided to reduce my inventory to more hardy specimens. That Lizard's Tail(Saururus cernuus)is a naturally occuring(in the southeast) wetlands plant and considered to be invasive in certain areas although, quite easily managed in one's garden. It has taken four years to create a small stand of a dozen or so plants from a single plant. Not what I would call aggressive. Crepping Jenny does fine in our full sun and 90°+ temps. I water a lot so, I don't notice much wilting in the afternoon. The Flame Azelea is a "Rescued Plant" from a construction site on top of Burnt Mountain in Jasper, Ga. Several color variations grow wild there. It blooms well for a few weeks and then fades. The blooms fall of as they mature. I have it planted under the canopy of a large Red Oak in almost pure compost mixed with masonry sand. The Yarrow is a super close up. The camera lens was maybe four inches from the plant which, gives a deceptive appearance to the size of the flowers. I like the close ups because you see more of the structure of the flower, like the wishbone stamens in the Torenias which are commonly named 'Wishbone Flower' for this reason. I have all three colors of Yarrow together in one location. The Torenia have become one of my favorite annuals because they tolerate a good deal of shade but, can take full sun in pots as long as they remain somewhat moist(but more tolerant then Begonias and Impatiens). I am currently looking for the white variety in stores to fil in a dark area in a mostly shaded spot that only sees the sun after 5:00. Your Butterfly 'bushlet' is taking a rest in the greenhouse awaiting for a spot to be determined. I don't like transplanting some items from trades imediantly that look like stress could do them in. It has been too hot and I am going on vacation for a week and can't depend on it being left on it's own. Also, I am wary to put it too close to the 'Honycomb' Buddleia since, it is now about 5 feet across and 7 feet tall, and must choose wisely where it will have the room it will eventually require. I want the two close but, not intertwined and plan to use them as screening from neighbors. Hope that answers ALL of you questions.

Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor.

"jr" has a good idea. The home run in question already goes through an upper floor joist in line with the stud, so it's already "on the other side" coming from the panel, which means there will be plenty of slack to run it down the other side of the stud and come through above the single gang box. The big question is whether I can drill a hole in the top plate of the wall. My joist drill won't fit in that space but my 18V drill/driver should be able to handle it... or I can just use a long auger bit.

Sadly the way the house has evolved over the years the side laundry room is the most used entrance into the house.Why would anyone want to use the nice wrap around porch entrance! ;) Anyway two thoughts are stopping me from wanting to move the fridge to the top wall, but I have considered it a 100 times myself. 1. How interesting is a fridge in a bank of cabinets decoratively when it is the first thing that greets you? 2. DH gets a bit antsy about drilling 'another' hole in the wall when we have a perfectly good one already! But I have thought about this idea too as it would eliminate the ungainly soffit. Placing the stove on the bottom wall would also have to run through the soffit because the exterior wall is the window wall.They built a soffit all along the top of the kitchen, except on the radiator wall. The laundry room has a bank of wall cabinets that run perpendicular the bottom wall, behind just about where the stove would be centered (sorry I probably should have shown that better). BUT I have checked that also and I may be able to exhaust the vent through the top part of that wall cabinet if it can clear the existing piping that is concealed in that corner, so maybe the whole soffit could go. So I won't say it is completely out of the question Bmorepanic. How do you plug up a wall vent? Lavender- I never gave the backsplash a thought! That changes my impression of what would be facing me from the Dining room. The fridge is nice cause it's always clean! The sink.... no matter what it is always going to be a constant magnet for mess =( So in that regards,I think the sink has to make a design statement but main focus-no. Would it make any sense to say that since the kitchen is a traffic pass through for both guests and even us, that I will need a little wow upon both entry into the kitchen, and exit when they leave coming back from the dining room? But again, I have no clue on this either. Beuhl- measurements: # Window width-50" # Top (north) wall? 89" # Doorway in top wall? 32.5" # Each wall segment on top wall? At present I have no wall cabinets there, so I will be gaining in that area. I also plan on all drawers wherever possible, and pullout for trash. You are right about the lazy susan and it spins. It will house larger nested pots, and heavy bowls on top. and potatoes and onions on bottom. The radiator area may eventually house some sort of peninsula but at the beginning I will likely do some sort of small table with seating. I realized last night that a solid bank of wall cabinets will not sit well with me, and much prefer to at least get away from those awful big corner cabinets that are hard to use because they sit out over the counters, and become stash bins because things keep getting pushed to the back and the top two shelves are even harder to access.