1. in our area? not really 2. I'm a big fan of mixed property line screens, but they have to be well thought out or they look like Home Depot had a year-end sale and someone had a gift card 3. I'm sure someone will disagree with me (this is the internet) but I think trimmed/sheared arbs look like dog crap. There are plants that take a lot of shaping well, and then there are arbs and junipers 4. Nigra's fine, I guess. We planted a privacy screen for a client and ended up with a 50% loss, but I'm attributing that to not listening to their designer that they were drowning them all summer. So don't drown them. Other than that they're a perfectly fine, boring pointy evergreen that gets the job done. Big question though - what's the deer situation like? If you're in Loudoun you can cross Emeralds right off that list, right this second.

I have kind of forgotten what my original question was! Haha! Well, there is just one side of our property (a 100x100 ft. lot) that needs to be fenced in. I have been wondering what kind of fence to put there. Price is an issue, since I have already spent my tax refund from this year. :) Today a fence guy came out and gave me a few different estimates for a few different ways of doing a fence. The way that makes the most sense is to do it like the rest of the yard and do a 4' tall chain link fence. It would span about 75' feet and would totally fence in the yard. We don't have any dogs to keep in, but it would keep dogs out. So the quote he gave for fence and installation for that 75' of chain link was $725. I don't even want to ask my neighbor if he wants to split the price because he doesn't have any money at this time. Heck, neither do I. :) Maybe if that "economic stimulus" check comes. :) -Katy

Please don't post unless you're adding to the "best advice" - don't just bump for the sake of bumping or b/c you like what you read. (DJFiler -- you're fine.) The longer the thread gets, the more challenging it is to read, so let's keep the posts to new ideas. [Note: We used to bump years ago b/c threads disappeared forever if they fell off page 67...even if you had the URL you couldn't get to it. However, for the past 7 years or so, that has not been the case. So, no need to bump! PLUS, this thread is part of the "New to Kitchens" set of useful URLs!] . . One of the best pieces of advice we got: With a peninsula, instead of using a corner susan or blind corner or even voiding out the corner, we took a 27"W cabinet, turned it 90 degrees and faced it outside the Kitchen. It became our Pet Center. The corner is 24" x 24", but you need 3" of filler on each side of the corner. So, instead of filler on the peninsula leg, the 27" wide cabinet acts as filler on the inside of the Kitchen but is usable storage on the outside of the Kitchen. Pictures: Outside the Kitchen: . Inside the Kitchen (We had to add an additional 3" of filler b/c of the warming drawer handle...if I had it to do over, I would have used a 30"W cabinet turned 90 degrees so there would have been no filler at all on that side.)

barb- I agree with sleevedog, there aren't any dumb questions. It's something you haven't experienced that you need/want to know, and this is a handy outlet for information from people you trust. BTW - I do use powdered stevia, and even grow stevia in my herb garden and use it in whole dried leaf, powder, and extract. Which one I use depends on what I'm adding it to. I get the liquid flavored stevia from Amazon or iHerb (there are probably many other sources for the same brands so look for best price and special offers). The brands I have on hand are NOW and SweetLeaf. I saw a display of Harvest Snaps at Wal-Mart and I thought how clever marketing was to place it in the produce section of the store to make you think you were eating healthy produce. If memory serves me, the one I looked at was green pea and was made from 70% whole peas. The good news, there weren't very many ingredients in the list - peas, rice, oil, citric acid, and maybe something else - a chemical preservative. At least it came in under 5-ingredients, which is one of my personal "food rules" when it comes to processed foods. Michael Pollen said it best in one of his books - eat all the junk food you want --- as long as you make it yourself. I make sweet potato chips at home in the microwave when we want the occasional chip to go along with a lettuce wrap, or cut some corn tortillas into wedges and bake them when I make guacamole or salsa. I make high-protein "crackers" with the pulp remaining from making nut milk and dehydrate them. Dehydrated apple slices and a few nuts or peanuts has always been a snack food available in our home. Believe me, if you have to do more then rip a bag open, you'll have and consume a lot less snacks (LOL). -Grainlady