messmaker & marineguy: Thanks for the compliments. While I wouldnÂt exactly call it "low maintenance", I think youÂd be surprised at how little time it takes us to do the entire 2-3/4 acre yard. In the spring we have to do it once a week, but as we get into summer the growth slows and that interval gradually stretches to every two weeks plus. WeÂve averaged 21 mowings per season in the 5 years weÂve been in this house. In the fall and winter, the grass stays green but doesnÂt grow any, so we donÂt mow at all from the beginning of November until probably the middle of March. As I said earlier, we use two tractors and honestly, it takes my wife and I about 5 or 6 hours to do the entire yard including trimming and cleaning the tractors and equipment. Everything is set up so we donÂt need to do much trimming with the weed whackers except around the house itself and one small section of hillside too steep for the tractor. Both tractors are set up to mulch so we donÂt need to pick up any cuttings. Most of the trees are evergreens so thereÂs not much leaves to worry about and for what leaves there are, I use a backpack blower to blow them into the barked areas. The bases of most of the trees are barked and there is a 6" strip of dirt so we can mow around them without the need to trim. The same is true of the seasonal pond (it fills up in the winter, dries up in the summer), the gravel paths, planter areas and the pasture fence along the back stretch of our property. I hit all those strips of dirt with Roundup in a backpack sprayer twice a year and that takes care of the trimming. Although it might look smooth and manicured in the photo, itÂs really just fairly bumpy mowed former pasture after we cleaned out the blackberries and brush. None of the field was smoothed with machinery and we only seeded the bare spots with pasture mix. And none of the yard is irrigated at all except by Mother Nature. I do occasionally walk around the yard with the backpack sprayer full of a selective weed killer to control dandelions and such and once a year we fertilize a relatively small area directly behind the house that we use as our back yard.

I'll pass it along, but he does "read" posts here sometimes, and I told him I had linked to a slideshow of his seedlings, so maybe he'll stop "lurking" and start posting too. :) Come on Tony, we're all friendly here....we don't bite!! ;-) Jan

Thanks for all of the compliments and good wishes! I owe a lot to GW, so I wanted to show what can be done by "seeing" the layout function first. Also I used the new SW alkyd cabinet and trim paint. It is soap and water clean up when wet, but scrubbable after it cures. It levels very nicely. We used it on kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, and whole house doors and trim. (painters sprayed it on the areas they did. I laid on with a brush and laid off with a foam roller on the projects I did.) Tinker, the original back splash was very basic 4 x 4 "bathroom" style tiles in the same antique white as the formica. So they are kind of hard to see in the before pictures. The installer had to remove the old counters and lay down a new plywood base for the install on the counters. He removed the wall tile and I believe he only had to patch drywall in a few spots. There were also some drywall patches behind the stove area, as the 220 outlet had been removed by the electrician, and in the wall area where the original cabinet had been. It took the tile guy and plumber a week. He was a true pro and knew that the drywall patches needed to dry, that the tile needed to be set up before grouting etc. He was very proud of his cutouts by the electrical outlets, and we showed him the tiles we had to work with and asked for his input on the details. He came up with the diamond behind the stove. We like that because that tile, and the half round liner bar were leftover tile from our previous kitchen, so that made it feel like home. So the backsplash is the same porcelain as the counters in the main field, with the sesame colored liner bars, and the black running bond horizontal tiles.

In my original reveal I indicated that I did not have a good experience with the appliance store. I didn't name names, but since you have posted about them, I will warn you now - look and have fun, and then go find another place to purchase. This company put me through the worst customer service experience that I have ever had. And I am not the only one. This company made me so mad that I posted a YELP review of my experience. Seems that they have very positive reviews about the store front itself, but many people who have actually ordered including me did not have a good experience. Here is my review - for the Fountain Valley, CA location.: The store is beautiful I will agree; however, the backend process of this company is completely broken from my own experience. I was hoping it would get better for others but that's not what I am seeing in some recent reviews and not what happened with me. I do not believe that the management of this company has truly learned from the feedback from this forum or from direct feedback from customers who have had less than stellar experiences. I have decided to step forward and explain my experience. My order consisted of a range hood insert, double ovens and a Capital Culinarian range top. I ordered these items in the summer of 2012 for delivery in November. In November, I was told that my appliances had arrived. I did pick up my range hood insert, but my kitchen was delayed; so, I requested that Fixtures hold my appliances until the kitchen was ready. I was told that this was not a problem; however, since, the delay was on me, I thought it only fair to pay the balance of what I owed in full. Fast forwarding, I arranged to have delivery on January 24th. However, my granite installers requested to have the range top on site to ensure that the granite was properly templated. This was where my troubles began. I contacted Fixtures on January 14 to have my delivery moved forward by two days. I was told that their delivery trucks were on a weekly schedule, and that I could take delivery on the following Tuesday. I was told that my ovens were in their warehouse but that my range top was elsewhere. Hmm, elsewhere??? Nevertheless, I asked them to confirm the delivery time and that I wanted the appliances in the morning on Tuesday, January 22. I had no further word from Fixtures and followed up with an e-mail to them on Thursday, January 17. I did get a reply. "Your oven is in but I'm working on the cooktop. I will be in touch shortly when I have confirmation." I did not hear anything further the rest of Thursday. On Friday I requested information on exactly where my range top was as I was paid in full. I received no communication the remainder of Friday. On Saturday I visited the store and spoke with Steve. Mind you, I am pretty upset that I have even had to go this far. Steve proceeded to tell me that the range top was still at the factory. At the factory??? That's not the right answer. As the factory was closed, he told me that he would call me on Monday about delivery. I told him that I wanted a call by 11:00am. On Monday, 11am passed. I called and left Steve a message, and said that I was going to pay the store another visit if I did not hear from him in the next hour. Noon rolled around, and off I went to visit Fixture's again. This time, I got the other store manager - don't remember her name. She checked on the appliance delivery and proceeded to tell me that my range top was sold to another customer. WOW, I finally get the truth. I admittedly got very irrate. I was told that there was a range top in Reno, and that they were going to work on delivery but they could not deliver on Tuesday but could deliver on Thursday. I told her that Thursday was unacceptable. I then demanded that the floor model be pulled and delivered to my home for the granite template. I did get a follow up call from Tom Cavallo. I told him that the backend process of his company was completely broken. I asked for a refund of the installation charges given all of my troubles. He agreed and said that it would be refunded the following morning. Did the refund happen the following morning?? Nope. I had to follow up yet again to get the refund. There is no management at this company and no problem solving. At every turn of my issues with them, the solutions all came from me, the customer. Just about all of the follow up came from me, the customer. Unfortunately I am following suit of a growing list of unhappy customers that have actually ordered product - 1 star is all that is deserved here. If they had actually done a good job with me, they would have had a dishwasher and refrigerator sale as well - which would have rounded out replacing all of my appliances with them. I will be looking elsewhere. Tom and Jeff - No need to retort to my review of your company- there is nothing you can do about your failure with me. Just move forward and fix your issues so that other customers do not have to suffer.