Lyfia, all great points you brought up, it really helps me plan and think. Honestly we have no set time frame for having this project done, since we have an up and running kitchen in the other part of the house and we are working on the new kitchen as time allows. I spent part of this week filling every little brad hole with putty and sanding everything. This weekend we should get a primer on and if dry time allows the walls and ceilings painted. I think we are at the point we are going to put in the cabinet order too. We still have the floor to put down, sand and seal. Tile the whole range wall, put up shelves. The wiring is done, we still need to run plumbing .. which means going under the house in the Summer .. YIKES! We live in copperhead country, not a fun prospect. Last year my DH got bit, we were very fortunate it was a 'dry bite' though! Valinsv, thanks for the help and suggestions, they are very helpful! Les, I love those 50's dinette chairs and if I was going to do a booth, I'd be all over them. I honestly don't think with a very rustic table I'd be happy with them ... even though they look super cushy to sit on. :) If I do go with these chairs I'd have seat pads made for them. I still haven't put my chair order in, I was all ready to go, now I'm hemming and hawing over details again. Part of me wants to go this way, part can really see everyone sacked out in a comfy booth and chairs playing board games and drinking coco. I know that everyone brought up very valid reasons to stay away from a booth, like people being inconvenienced by having to move to let the inside people out, etc. The thing is though we don't have those types of sit down and eat parties where I see it being a problem. When we entertain adults it's normally in a relaxed, casual setting outside on the deck or around the pool area, where we have large tables in each area. When it's just the five of us here, there would be plenty of seating that we could all spread out. I'm lucky that my girls really do get along, there is not alot of she's looking at me, touching me, breathing my air problems. *LOL* I grew up with 3 siblings, I know how that goes, we spent a lot of time bickering. ;) When it's the kids and their friends having snacks, I don't see it being a problem where the kids would feel inconvenienced. So in short I'm still stuck, I think! *LOL* Sometimes I can see right away the path I want to follow, sometimes I start second guessing myself. *sigh* Normally my Husband will chime in with his feeling on the matter and we'll work it out in a way that we are both relatively happy .. this time he really doesn't seem to care, well other than wanting me to make a plan so we know how to finish the room. ;)

Hi All, I used Penn State extension calculator to determine the sq ft i would need to accept the downspout water based on roof size, soil type and average rainfall - that was how I came up with the initial plan of a 10 ft wide recessed area. Phase 1 - Goal - Stop melting roof snow from creating icy pond on walkway and street sidewalk as first step in overall plan redirect downspout and improve curb appeal. We dug a 50ft x 4ft x 6 in recessed area, 0.6 in rain tested it. The troth was filled, with overflow onto the lawn, a bit over the sidewalk and ponding between it and the berm. Prior to the troth overflow the sidewalk to the berm was not ponding. Pointing to this as the source of the icy problem. Phase 2 Based on reactions to prior mock ups, i wanted dark stone or mulch to ground the bldg, a subtle safe walkway from the emergency door (the back of the building faces the street), a rain garden to be part dryriver bed, part plants and part graded lawn. Below is a draft, not shown isgrading from dry river bed out 6 additional ft across from left to right. The software I used has limited colors, river rock will be lighted than shown. Additional plants will be added. For Phase 1 I would do the river rock and gravel right around it, and revamp the downspouts. All and any advise welcome!

Barb, you sound frustrated. Don't get down, there are a lot of really good deals out there on fine sewing machines. I just typed out a long note, but lost it when I forgot to save before going to my Profile page to add some photos (I cannot seem to directly upload them to a comment -- anyone know why? I have to first put them on the profile page. grrrr. I don't want to leave them there for more than a day or so.) Sure, people try to make ends meet by finding bargains at thrift stores. YOU can be one of those people ;) I've gotten lucky. I have a lot of machines that I love to fix up and use. I find some through friends (put the word out!), and Craigslist (CL). I just got a nice Kenmore all metal that was an older ad and I offered less. I am one of those people who like to sew and also to fix things up (within reason). I asked you some questions above, if you care to answer them, even to yourself, it will help you save time and money in finding yourself a nice little sewing machine. There are all types of sewing machines, so it's worth giving this some thought. If you let me know your general geographical area, I bet I can find some good candidate machines for you. I enjoy hooking people up with good deals and good machines. So think about if you're the fix it (clean, lubricate, adjust tension if needed) type of person, many people just want to sew and have no interest in fooling around with a machine. There are still great deals out there and you can find a good sewing machine repair place to do the fussing for you. Most of the machines I get only need dusting, oiling and a wee bit of fiddling. A free-arm is handy. A zig-zag is handy. You can learn a lot online by just reading blogs, reviews and so on. User feedback is invaluable. If you just want a fairly inexpensive, light weight, portable sewing machine and don't need to sew through thick layers, a lot of people like the Brother 6000i. Keep the faith and get stitchin', Barb.Above is a nice Elna 6005 Heirloom Edition. I got this a great price because I was willing to take a little trip over hill and dale. It's an electronic (computerized) machine that will do some fancy stitches and even lettering. The price was so good and the machine looked pristine and well cared for. The family didn't want it, was given to them, and I didn't even test it other than see that "the needle went up and down". Above is a sweet little all metal WHITE brand straight stitch only machine with a "scrolled" faceplate. $24 and in a case and in nice shape. I drove 50 mins one way to get it. Did not bother to test it. Why? Because these things just go and go and go. What's to not work? And it can be fixed easily if something like a belt needs to be replaced. Isn't she pretty? Good thing I rushed to get it. While there the seller had 3 other calls asking about it. He said, "Guess I priced it too low." All it needed was to get warmed up (it was in a garage, he'd just gotten it from a clean out job), dusted, lubricated. It probably weighs about 28 pounds, but if I need to trek it anyplace, that is what suitcase dollies are for. Above and immediately below: Singer 66 Redhead (aka Redeye), non-electric for treadle only. It cost my friend $5 (what she offered, person was moving) and a car trip. It was frozen solid. It took me some few days to get it freed up and cleaned (got to be careful what you use so that you preserve the lovely stencils. Mostly just sewing machine oil and very gentle touch and lots of patience. It runs very smoothly now and is just gorgeous. Above is the scrolled face plate of the Singer 66 after clean up. This is a little portable Kenmore 12 Stitch "convertible" I picked up for a good price an a nice 50 minute drive one way. I think it came with a case, but nothing else. Just sewing machine, the part of the table to make it a flat bed, case, presser foot, controller and plug. No manual. No accessories. Typical for online ads or newspaper or yard sales. I usually don't need a manual, and most of what it's missing one can find online. If you don't want to clean, lubricate, find parts, then you can buy one for a good price that someone else has bothered to fix up. This machine is a low shank (easy to find extra feet for, like zipper foot, hemmer) and has a few built in utility stitches. Above is a machine I found for FREE & a car trip two towns away. The guys house reeked of cigarette smoke. He was moving. Machine was a tad dusty. I cleaned it up. It came in a junky but functional table. Too bad the timing is off -- the stitches won't form. There are ways to address this and YouTube can be your friend. The way I look at it, for the most part, is that if other humans can get it running, I probably can figure it out too if I want to bother. I think I'm going to try to fix the timing then give it to a young mother who works dogs and cats. She can make them toys, coats, fix leashes, and mend her children's clothing. The machine is mostly metal with some plastic. Probably weighs 25 to 30 pounds. Above is a nice little Singer 99 that only does a *very nice* straight stitch. No reverse, but there are tricks to doing a 'tack' stitch to keep the thread locked. This a 3/4 sized sewing machine. All metal, easy peasy to work on and find parts for. Reasonable price plus a morning car trip of 30 miles. Someone doing piecing for quilts would enjoy this sort of sewing machine. There are a lot of them out there. They purr along when lubricated and are handsome to behold. This is a nice straight stitch all metal vintage sewing machine. Typical of CL the seller didn't know what it was, just wanted to get rid of it. He didn't know the model number. Sometimes people price things as though they belonged to Queen Victoria. Or they take a photo of the back of the sewing machine, or give the model number for the motor. But I recognized it. Know what it is?

Here's some more photos of random ones after I flushed the soil. The humidity is at anywhere from 45% to 65% at this window. (Window is in a master bedroom adjoining a bathroom... thus the fluctuation. :) ) The one above looked gorgeous before I transplanted it. :( it's one of the worse looking ones now. I had mostly Macs, Russians, and trailers in this tray... very valuable to me! I think I will do like Rosie suggested and take cuttings from them all. Just in case. Thank you all for your help!