My DH pondered your responses and looked again at the space with the island taped out. We have 3'7" on aisle walkway with two stools underneath island - we can increase that amount to 3'10" by moving 3" which gives us 3'3" on the other side where our shaw sink and DW are located. Remember on that wall we have to the right of shaw sink the DW a bit of counterspace then it jogs R to the east wall. To the left of the sink are 2-3 banks of drawers and then it opens up into DR. The only claustrophobic area if we minimize clearance on sink side would be only to the right of the sink. Remember, the island which is directly opposite & is decreasing in length by 6" so there is more clearance between range, aisle to sink,DW and garage door. Hope this articulates what this looks like. To summarize, we will chop off the end of the island by 6" to create more space around the range, island, garage door. We will move the entire island towards sink side, AWAY from appliance & pantry by 3". DH will raise height of island from countertop height to an inch or two above that to create better visual interest between long island and long countertop on sink side. This is the best we could come up with. We did not have this discussion regarding clearances with our KD and that was a huge oversight on our part and hers. We have to work with what we've got. DH does not want to give up seating at island as that's what is driving the entire design from his standpoint. He envisions sitting there, drinking a cup of coffee and looking out our new thee bank of windows. It almost looks like living in a treehouse as we're up on the second floor and have many deciduous trees in the back yard with an open lot right next to us. Feels very private. If I could figure out photobucket, I'd take a pic of the plans I just found and post them. I've opened up an account before and that's as far as I got. Thank you so much, all of you, for your feedback. Lisa

Same with me this year. The early, warm part of winter kept the grass green and lush into January...then winter decided to hit all at once with a blizzard, followed by a warm streak, followed by below-zero temperatures. I'm good, but even my grass can't handle that crap. It went about half to sleep, which is unheard-of for me (east-central Pennsylvania, here). You take good care of your grass and winterize as well, so it's not that. I can't remember if I've seen a soil test, but if not, it might not be a bad idea. Low phosphorus or potassium can lead to higher levels of dormancy in winter as the grass simply doesn't want to take the risk. Low levels of iron can also contribute as colder soils have lower levels of available iron to begin with, and iron is required to construct a chlorophyll molecule. Other than that, the chosen cultivars can certainly influence how much winter color the grass maintains. My old Abbey/Kenblue lawn was OK but no great shakes. The new elite lawn does much better even though none of the cultivars are particularly good scorers. Rye, common in cheaper mixes, actually performs amazingly well over northern winters. Fescues are so-so, and KBG is usually fair to poor, depending.

*lacunosa - attractive, small leaves, fragrant flowers (floral fragrance), compact, hanging *variegated kentiana - attractive, variegated leaves, compact, hanging, never seen flower, but assume it smells like regular old kentiana...caramel scented *deykeae - beautiful, elongated heart shaped leaves. Splashes on leaves, and nice veining. Pretty flowers with a nice fragrance (hint of citrus). Trellised (easily on 18 inch trellis)or wrapped around and up hanging pot. *mindorensis - plain jane leaves, but flowers are amazing balls of fuzzy and come in a rainbow of colors. Trellised (easily on 18-24 inch trellis) or wrapped around and up hanging pot. *balansae - pretty little leaves, pretty little flowers, easily grown hanging, twined around and up hanging pot. *incrassata - attractive foliage, which can come in an array of styles, from variegated to plain. Needs a bit of space, but could easily be maintained around a 3 foot trellis. *clemensiorum, finlaysonii, callistophylla - all similar, yet different in their leaf looks. Boldy, high contast veins with beautiful leaves, ranging from dark to light green, many with splash patterns on them. Small, pretty flowers with a light citus fragrance. Easily grown wrapped around and up a hanging basket or on a 18-24 inch trellis. *australis - can get big, but easily maintained with cuttings (don't cut areas with peduncles, or you won't get blooms on the mother plant, unless she has some still, or she grows more..this goes for all hoyas). Can be grown hanging or on a 24 inch to 3 foot trellis. Beautiful, fragrant flowers. *pachyclada - EARLY to put on peduuncles and bloom (in my experience), pretty yellow cream flowers, likes it slightly drier (water once every 8-10 days). Thick, succulent leaves with beautiful color and aesthetically pleasing. *elliptica - gorgeous turtle shell leaves, compact, can be grown wrapped up and around hanging pot or easily on 18-24 inch trellis. Beautiful porcelain flowers with red or golden coronas. Subtle fragrance. *many of the pottsii varieties - beautiful leaves that get a red tinge grown in high light, pretty, fragrant flowers *scortechinii or sp. UT-001 - pretty leaves that get gorgeous veining in high light (leaf size is generally not big, but I have had a couple of ones that got a bit exhuberant with their growth). Pretty flowers! Most hoyas only want to be watered weekly (there are some that are less thirsty and some that like it a bit damper). Feed them when you water (1/4-1/2 strength water soluble fertilizer).

The Seneca tiles are gorgeous. They show up well in photos, and yet are even nicer in real life. I Originally picked a nice light olive/ sagegreen for a kitchen backsplash. It was green in the photos. When I contacted the manufacturer, discovered it was actually beige and only looked green in that particular photo. I am having two bathrooms done using the Seneca tiles. Using the blues and greens.