Sorry to disappoint...it's just me, Lynn. I e-mailed Natal several hours ago and haven't heard back from her. I told her GW people were concerned about her. Haven't seen her around in a few weeks. Hope all is well. Earlier today (about 4:30) I was listening to NPR and a woman from Baton Rouge was being interviewed (that's where Natal lives). She said that the worst thing about Katrina was the influx of people, refugees, if you will, from New Orleans. She found that state of affairs overwhelming, but said BR did not suffer too much from the actual storm. I hope that is the case this time as well. Natal...where art thou? Stay safe!

I know it's a little crazy but we have been light starved for 30 years so I couldn't help myself! and we are so lucky to have great views of the foothills behind us :) carolbarrel, the two tiered island idea is something i hadn't considered---not quite sure how to do it though.what were you thinking? electical outlets on both ends of island is a way good thought. thanks windows on east wall in kitchen are counter height so i could put window seats there or i can put sink and dishwasher there and also have some lower cabinet space. the window seats are especially appealing though, because up to this point i have only been thinking of counter or bar height seating at one of the islands. if i did put storage under the seats maybe i wouldn't be gving up too too much storage space. what do you think? would love to know if anyone has any experience with refrigerator drawers. the original plan to put refrigerator and an under the counter oven together would necessitate more bending than would be ideal (getting old sucks!!!)-.so i am wondering if using the same space and putting wall ovens (now i get 2 ovens) where i was thinking of putting fridge and then putting fridge drawers in one of the islands would make more sense. could always put a 2nd fridge just off kitchen in butler pantry area. are fridge drawers good for everyday adult use and not just snacky stuff? would having the "real" fridge out of the kitchen proper be a mistake? thanks again for the input ...and yes you are invited anytime :)

I originally thought your first two pics might be progress photos and that there was more Kerdi yet to be installed. But your later photos show tile going over an unwaterproofed niche, the upper part of the door jamb with no kerdi, and your last photo shows bare wood behind the durock at the niche corner. In addition to what has already been written about, I am also a bit curious about the waterproofing at the shower entry, at the curb-jamb intersection as seen in the bottom right corner of the third photo. It may indeed be there, but I don't see any overlapping of Kerdi with residual schmears of thinset in the curb-to-jamb corner. If there is incomplete waterproofing in that spot, that'd be a huge issue, because that area will likely see pooled water every time the shower is used. These are the thought processes that I do not understand; the installers that take an advanced product like Kerdi and only install half as much as needed to properly waterproof a shower. Some of what they install seems to have been done with care and concern. In other areas it's done with ignorance or apathy.

To add to Yardvaark‘s suggested photo request, the warping and shrinkage in panorama photos make them more difficult for me to understand, so I prefer seeing a series of slightly overlapping photos not joined into a single panorama. How many acres are we talking here? Lot sizes vary quite a bit based on zoning, so you could have anything from 1/2 acre to 10 acres. As Christopher said, there is a middle ground between a set of trees manicured with ongoing herbicide and acres of lawn. We mow a chunk of our property as lawn, have several large shrub and tree borders 15’-20’ deep, and maintain other areas as rough field which have some trees, and keep other areas as woodlands . The field areas get mowed after the ground nesting birds have hatched and then about now after the grasses have seeded and are fading. We do use a bit of herbicide in the field on persistent woody invasives like buckthorn and bittersweet, as well as on poison ivy, but in general, just seasonal mowing takes care of woodies by not allowing them to become established. As long as you aren’t trying to maintain the look of a manicured lawn, mowing around trees isn’t an issue at all. The issue with removing all grass across a large area is that nature abhors a vacuum, and even the densest mulch will slow but not stop plants growing, not only woody plants such as native oaks and hickories, but also invasives and various herbaceous plants. You will be spending quite a bit of time for the first 10-15 years while the trees size up and the area still has a good amount of sun spraying herbicide, not a choice I would make. Also, if there is any slope at all, having bare ground covered with pine needles can leave you with massive erosion problems. You can start by planting a thick band of trees with an understory of large shrubs, well mulched, perhaps 15 feet deep and see how the maintenance works for that before committing to removing more lawn. The reason most folks have lawn rather than other plantings in the eastern half of the US is because it is the easiest to maintain.