cilantro and dill i direct seed. Cilantro likes it cool/cold so does well fall/winter/spring and not so good in summer unless you are willing to seed it every 2 to 3 days, keep extremely well watered and shaded (like lettuce). Dill I direct seed in April/May/June and again in August and generally get some all summer (though it is never ever in the correct stage when the pickling cukes are coming in.). of these two cilantro is by far the better seller. Oh Italian parsley is another annual I do. That is started indoors under lights in Feb. I prefer the large leaf Italian to the curled parsleys. I am at 38� longitude on the western frontier of Ohio

Hello Karen, Sorry it took me so long to find this thread. Bill left a trail of breadcrumbs though and that's helped me along. :) So, from what I see in the photos it's a textbook Bay Area "single-coat mortar installation". He's got a moisture barrier of Aqua-Bar asphalt-impregnated Kraft paper and he's used 1" galvanized chicken-wire for lathe. His float looks to be a nominal 5/8" thick at the exposed edges and he's been pretty dang clean judging from the surrounding walls, so I don't think he's a hack. Now for the not-so-nice news. I can also tell from the photos that he's got quite a bit of lippage on those walls. It may be that those large porcelain tiles are not "rectified" (re-milled at the factory for flatness and squareness)and so he's made the best out of warped materials? Ann Sacks, and many other boutique showrooms, sell beautiful tile but it isn't always a guarantee that it's also flat or square. The best test will be to lay a straightedge across the tile (front and back each)from corner to corner and from side to side. Can you see daylight between the straightedge and the tile? Does the straightedge teeter and rock? If either of these is the case, then your installer did his job. If the tiles are flat however, he's ruined some very fine material. Without a better picture of the return-walls, I can't tell you why he chose the cuts he did. It may be that he allowed the niche's dimensions to dictate his layout, rather than the other way-round? All-in-all, it's not a terrible job and grouting may shine it right up or it may make things worse? A good grout job is like **magic** though so I think in this case I'd share your concerns with the installer and emphasize how much you HOPE he can make things better with a spectacular grout job. He should take the hint and screw his wizards cap on tight for the task. Best of luck, Shaughnn

Hi LL, I am confused, I have been gone a few days only popping in for a quick check in and have not read your past posts. I knew you had changes but did not know you were thinking a different counter material. What about blue? Are you still thinking about blue? And I thought you did not like granite. You liked formica, corian, cesearstone, cambria... I could be totally lost. Forgive me. I like your floor plan, and I do get it. I wanted huge changes in my space. Taking down wall so that I could have an island rather than pennisula. Changing my range area so that I could put in a large hood. ... But NO, life got in the way. DH reminded me this is not our forever home. We need to pay for college. We are not here for the long haul. As soon as my youngest is gone to college we are off to Europe to try an experience living abroad. I know all too well the constraints. Dreams vs. reality. So, fill me in. What is going on as far as colors? Ideas? And materials? Thinking of you and loving your project. It will be beautiful just wait and see. ~boxerpups

Glad you liked my kitchen! I actually loosely followed the directions from celticmoon. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1021240521611.html For me because my cabinets were different than hers, I lightly sanded the areas that were really worn and I washed with tsp because my cabinets had been oiled down a few dozen times since we lived here. (Oil will prevent the gel stain from sticking.) I also had a lot of small paint brushes and a ton of foam brushes because my cabinets have so many crevices. I wanted each coat to be as even as possible. I also went really light on my coats because its harder to get even with all the cervices. I also cleaned my formal living room/dining room really good so there wouldn�t be any dust and laid out stuff all over the floors to protect the carpet and let my doors dry in that area. And try to remember that if you�re taking your time it will even out eventually. It looks pretty bad before it looks pretty good.