DC has long hot summers that seem to extend into the middle of the fall. I also think your growing season likely ends closer to Thanksgiving than Halloween. Your weather has been very dry this seaon because of prolonged drought, but that's a fluke, it's not the norm. Usually DC, Arlington, McClean, etc are all torrid--very hot and steamy--just like up on LI. You have a very growing season, but the big problem that ends it for tomatoes can be humidity and heat related problems like Early Blight. Talk to your neighbors and ask them what type of growing problems you can expect this Fall, specifically ask if any are related to the climate. Keep some plant fungicde treatements on hand, like SAFER or SERENADE, and start to use them if needed to control any problems. T

One of the best and easiest things to do is to engage every one who passes your booth in some kind of conversation. Smile, say hello and give them some kind of compliment on what they are wearing, their haircut, how cute their kids are, etc. I found that it made people pause a little longer and actually take a look at my crafts. Also, bite your tongue and continue to smile when someone makes an insensitive remark about your items or display. I was lucky and had a large variety of items for sale but there are always people who will just breeze by your display without even glancing at it. I found that people overlook things even tho they are right in front of their faces - if you put the same item at a few different places in your display it will help. It will be tiring but fight the urge to sit behind your table - stay on your feet and tell potential buyers to ask if they have any questions. Good luck.

OK, I am sorry that I have to be so blunt here, but the present placement of the porch fireplace and required chimney stack really bugs me! I'm glad you posted the elevations but I think you need to ask your architect to do a more accurate one of the porch side. The front drawing shows the porch chimney stack sticking up above the ridge of the house (as it properly needs to do for good draft and safety), but the elevation of the porch side doesn't show it sticking up anywhere near that far, perhaps because if it is shown correctly you will have the same aesthetic objections that I do. I have looked and looked at the porch elevation to see it is just a perspective problem, but I don't think so. If it was shown correctly the chimney above the porch roof surface would completely dwarf the part below the porch roof. It will assume a smokestack appearance. Frankly, having the FP there just doesn't work for me anyway. Can it be moved closer to the house (which will improve the spatial relationship between the parts of the chimney above and below the plane of the roof) and place it where it will not block the center view of the porch and second floor window? Perhaps closer to the DR and Game room intersection? That would also balance the chimney locations a bit better. I think your drawing shows that the fireplace may be two-sided which will have to change if the FP is moved closer to the house wall, but the disadvantage of where it is now is so extreme it seems worth it to me. I can see from your inspiration pics that the TX Hill style orginated from German immigrants' stone houses which have distinctly balanced, almost 18th c. proportions, with evenly spaced fenestration and lower roof profiles. It's a very attractive interpretation of a vernacular style and I find it very appealing. Is one reason to have the porch FP where it is to keep the radiant heat away from the main building during the outdoor grilling season? If so perhaps a different, more projecting porch pattern could be designed that would move the FP even farther away, reducing the need for the chimney to be so high. If not, maybe it could be joined to house near the game room ell, making it convenient to kitch and DR? I think you loose so much of the very attractive open veranda feel of that fabulous porch by having it where it is sited now! If you are quite dedicated to the FP placement where it is now, please feel free to assume I just don't get it! But if what I've written causes you to review the placement while it's still on paper (and cheap to change), perhaps you'll come up with an improved design that you'll like even better. L.

To explain my second sentence about moving the range and hood out of the sight line of the central hall. In the layout shown above, 27" is currently occupied by the two components that are 9" and 18" wide. Assume for a moment that the sink stays, and the lazy susan stays. Assume for a moment that the two components, 9" and 18" wide, get replaced by a single component (e.g. drawers). Then, this statement may be clearer to you now: A size smaller than this total (27") will take up less width than the current two-components, and thereby cause the entire cook zone (hood too) to get moved to the right. This also causes the left hand side cabinet to increase by the same number of inches, if your cabinet run remains the same overall length. When you reduce dimensions in one component it increases dimensions in another component, if the total has to remain the same. You get more useable space if you have large components instead of two smaller ones. In addition to the space, the ergonomics are better not worse. People here in this forum have discussed this, earlier this year. On the left hand side the cabinet run ends many many inches before the wall ends. You could cover more wall and have more counter and more storage. -- it is good to have an all-fridge and an all-freezer, too. -- A small sink of the size you have is good. A big sink can be smaller than shown since you have so much sink volume already available in the small one. If so, the loss of total sink volume is a minor thing. But the gain of space in the other cabinets might be significant. I quote plllog: "What I really see in your plan, however, is a lack of storage space in the kitchen area" =Hth. -- An oval table is the right shape. The island could be longer. Since the island can be seen from almost all angles anyway, there is no compelling reason to end it arbitrarily at the perceived-on-a-layout line that the long hall wall makes, and exactly on that line, to the inch. Now, you might ask how much room is needed behind the chair backs around the oval table. I won't put a specific number on it here because it might then cause a lot of buzz about how much is enough, recommended, necessary, etc. Currently that space is shown as 12' by 15'. Twelve feet is too much. Even if you put a hutch or other furniture on the far wall. In my house I have less than twelve feet, and I have furniture on the far wall. And, nobody has ever had a problem passing others, during fancy meals. Besides, the people serving the plates don't need to pass each other as if they each demanded an aisle equivalent of passing space. And, in your case, you have the two main aisles too, which I don't have in my house. So, your house is far far more open than mine. I think an oval DR table will appear dwarfed and floating in a 12' by 15' space, and that you really should do a layout and 3-d simulation that extends the island overhang. -- I think that with 2 DW's you will need less storage not more. Or the same not more. With 2 DW's, one is holding stuff while the other one is empty or being emptied. You can get that advantage with two dishdrawers because they each operate independently. Please note that today all DW's take plates that are not rinsed previously so there is no need to have an immense total sink volume for dirty stuff that is "on its way to the DW". I think that with 2 fridges you might not need more pots. How you manage meal leftovers is up to you. I never let more than one meal's leftovers get stored. It's a self imposed rule. I have two fridges. I have fewer pots in 2010 and 2011 than I have had in the last 30 years. I got an induction cooktop. -- an undermount sink "can" fit inside any base cabinet because you can groove out some of the cabinet sides to leave space for the sink rim. A sink can also straddle two base cabinets because you can groove out the sides to give space for the sink body. The latter exercise might make some people want to then write a lot about the wood of the cabinet sides. (How much wood, what type, how much id left over after the cut, will this be"enough", would one want to reinforce,,,,....) People don't do this, in this forum. But, within X period of time they might start writing about it and thereby encourage someone to do it and post their final result. I cut two adjacent cabinet sides in order to let my cooktop straddle two cabinets. Nobody whined or opined anything negative. Not the countertop fabricator and installer (they heard about it and saw it). Not GW kitchen forum participants. The same notch/cut/groove/cut idea can be applied to make room for a sink. Yes you may add a piece of steel to reinforce things too... more later if and when. When I stand at my cooktop I can open either drawer underneath while remaining close to the cooktop because each drawer occupies half of the space under the cooktop. This is great for a one-person cooking team, and a bit awkward for a two-person cooking team. But consider this: the big advantage of trash pullouts when they were invented was that they were on the side when you stood at the sink, instead of forcing you to step aside and to Open A Cabinet Door. HOWEVER now that undercounter drawers are proven to be ergonomically better than doors, one may consider a sink straddling two cabinets that contain all-drawers. Hint hint. This is new thinking. -- by moving the cook zone over several inches you will have to rework the wall shelves and cabinets. Do not symmetricize the sink under the window. Let the window be mostly to shine light on a countertop.