Thank you everyone. I was so worried I was being a PITA. I am so happy you enjoy my pix. GG, I went and peeked at my dat buds before, and I have a Tatula Le Fleur opening..it's the one I thought was going to be a white, but I can see the lilac now. This will be my first dat bloom!! Will post pix after they bloom..keep those fingers crossed for me :) thanks! O and I have more purple buds than I thought..PLUS I have a big one I think will be a yellow..*fingers crossed :) HAHAHA!! Brenda, the water gets cloudy in the afternoon, think its from the sun..I read that somewhere. And there is a very fine film of dust on the liner..can't help it with the dogs always running around, but it's not that bad. It IS great to be able to see the bottom, water so clear. I don't want that algae to come when it's cycling!! but I know it will. Hopefully the plecos will keep on top of it. I am using beneficial bacteria to speed things up. Thanks Rigo :) lol Karyn, if you were closer, I'd def help you out! It's so much fun! Thanks Collielover! I have decided to remove the preform the fish were in previously. I think I cracked it when I was trying to catch the plecos..but I got em today!! they are SO fast. So instead of making a raised brug bed in the middle of the yard with the extra dirt, I will just fill in that hole, and put some brugs there. Still keeping the lil'est preform going though. Started deconstructing today..hey I was able to use the rocks from it, lol. Still need alot more. I have to check the weather again..we still didnt get any storms? Had a bit of rain, couple claps of thunder and that was it. I am counting on that rain! thanks again everyone :)

She was a little but I think I kind of turned her off from plants. Early on I contradicted everything she wanted to do in the yard. She always wanted to put things where they would be most asthetically pleasing and I always wanted to put things where I thought they would thrive. I want to spend all my money on plants and cutting down trees and she wants me to do crazy stuff with it, like fix the house :) I've since seen the er in my ways but recovery has been a slow process. I'm trying to get her back into it. I spend alot of time out in the yard and I would like to be able to enjoy that with her. That's a shame about Artie. I remember when I was a boy, my Grandpa ran over a massive bullfrog with his tractor. As soon as I found it I was obsessed with catching one that big. Every weekend I would spend all day crawling through the 16 inch corogated drain pipe under his driveway but they were way too quick for me. Ah, the good ole days. Thanks Lucy, I think she's pretty understanding. She just likes to give me hell. I do need to spend a little less time on here though. She has brought it to my attention that because I am a man, I am incapable of multi tasking. If my mind is elsewhere I literally cant hear her. Ladies, go easy on your men in these situations. I swear we cant even help it. Ya'll cant just start up idle conversation. You must first snap us out of our trance :) Apparently, while women are more adept to multi tasking due to evolving to clean house/ hut/ tee pee, taking care of youngins, preparing dinner, men evolved to focus extremely well on one thing, catching dinner. According to some book she read. Makes since

dkbc - yep BM Satin Imprevo WATERBORNE in White Dove. Fresh start primer. Marthavila - we are so beat. We're in NJ and the heat and humidity were just oppressive today. I was working in the garage because, as I found out yesterday, DH banging about causes me to lose concentration and mess up on my painting. My "W" monogram tile, pendant lights for island and faucet should be in Monday or Tuesday. Hooray! Electrician is coming tomorrow to start installing recessed lights and make way for island light and sink light. DH will install those after they come in. Granite is being installed August 2. Back splash installed August 3. 40th birthday party, August 14... cutting it close!

Yes, having the drywall does make it seem much closer to reality and easier to visualize. oldbat: having that ceiling raised makes such a difference, doesn't it? ali: years of spray foam walls? Wow, gotta hand it to you on patience. firsthouse: We wanted the wall facing the river to be as open as possible but the space constraints of a small kitchen dictated leaving walls, so someone here reminded me of Shainghaimom's pass-throughs and it seemed like the best of both worlds. The cabinets are being custom built out of white oak boards that my DH cut 20 some years ago and finished with light/med stain. a2: I know I've been bugging people on here for what seems like an awfully long time, lol! Also learned a whole lot from others experience like your big drawer for instance. Thanks to that I'll be making sure the drawers for my cast iron pots and pans is extra beefy. No heron tile... going with the Weaver tile of the marsh set into the solid surface countertop that I'm having put behind the stove. Here: