I've been trying to find Brandy Nicole. Do you still have it, and would you be interested in selling a fan or trading for something I have?

Very nice vignettes. Thanks for posting them. "Weeping White Spruce" Now, if this were the Conifer Forum (lol), that would be Picea glauca 'Pendula'. Which, by the way, may need to be set free if it's tied as tightly as it looks to that stake. tj

If you buy peony roots from any of the mass merchandisers such as Walmart, where they sell them 3 or 4 to the box for 10 to 12 dollars, expect them to be MINIMUM roots. The price is right and the difference is selection and the time required before the first bloom. They are available NOW and should be potted up and allowed to establish roots in a one gallon pot until this fall when they will be ready to plant in the garden, preferably in a full sun location. Do not expect the first bloom for the first two years. The foliage will look good all summer and die-back to the ground in the fall. Al

CEF- I keep waiting to see a picture of the living room, pretty please with cookie dough on top? ;) So glad you are able to sell the doors and make some money back. Also, yay for having a properly working car!! Pinkelephant- I am so intrigued by your old school house turned home! I'm curious, do you happen to have any pictures from when you first bought it? It sounds like it has already been through a lot and now you are renoing it again. Your little girl is gorgeous!!! Sorry I couldn't help more with layout, it must be b/c of the time of year it is, the board seems kinda dead. You might try posting another new thread asking for layout help. There are some amazing layout guru's on here, you just have to be lucky enough to catch them. Good job though on shoring up walls, getting window openings set at this time of year, I know I don't want to be outside working right now!! OB2B- I.e. refinishing wood floors, I don't envy you. The first place hubby and I bought was a 60 year old house, remodeled in the 80s and they installed wood paneling and carpet over the wood floors. When we bought it, the first thing we did was pull off the paneling and pull up the carpet. We ended up refinishing all of the original floors ourselves before we moved in. I can't imagine trying to refinish wood floors in a house while living there! The dust and fumes are so pervasive!! Good luck! Also, on a personal note? Only 10 lbs?!?! You are doing much better than I am with reno fatigue!! Terri- I really want to see the before/after pics now!!! From the pic with your son, those trees were massive!! It must have made a huge difference to remove them! Annkh- I'm not a skier but those views look amazing!! I'm glad to hear you had a wonderful time on your ski trip. Schick- I, too, have all our taxes done, just waiting for a few forms to come in before submission. Are you good with electrical or are you going to have to hire it out? Our first house had to have the main replaced to bring it up to code, we were able to do it ourselves. When we added my kitchen last year, we added a sub panel for the new addition and, once again (thankfully) we were able to do it ourselves. I have only, in the past few years, come to realize why renovations are so expensive for the average homeowner. I was raised with a dad that taught me plumbing, electrical, car work, etc. (Yes, all work was done with a permit and passed inspection) No wonder others reno budgets are so high!!! I would have never been able to get even a fraction of what I have if I had to pay others to do it. I hope you are able to replace the main without eating into your bathroom reno too much! As for me, we left Saturday afternoon for them to spray insulation. We came back Sunday night with a vomiting kid and I spent the next few days trying to tend to her AND get work done. She was well enough to go to school on Tuesday so when the baby was napping, I pulled (what used to be) the window in the master bedroom which will now be a doorway to my closet. I also went in my "closet" and pulled all the decking off of what used to be the outside of the house. Just need to finish running electrical in there, build a header and install a door, and get drywall up and I will be able to start planning the design of the closet and planning the reno on the master bath. The bricks were delivered yesterday and the brick layers are supposed to be here tomorrow to start bricking. My dad is the one calling the shots on the reno since it is his (and my moms) place and I think he is honestly just ready for it to be done. We hired out pouring the slab. We hired out the septic (necessary since you have to have the proper licensing, etc. for it to pass inspection.) Hired out some framers to do the HIPP roof and now hiring brick layers to come and do the brick work. Most of this (except the septic) we could do ourselves but he is ready to be done and I don't blame him one bit!!