Silverkelt, I'm surprised about the Bucks. They do so well for me. I love them, but I guess your weather and soil is quite different than here. Betty, You might not believe me, but I don't feed them.(Well the roses along the front walk do get pond water from when I clean the filter, but none of those are in this pic thread.) I do dig good holes and amend the soil when I plant and mulch well, but other than that they are pretty much on their own. I have added compost to Mme. Ernst Calvat in the past because she seem to have needed it. So once in a blue moon, I'll do that if a rose seems to be losing vigor, but most go for many years without any feeding. I also haven't even sprayed them in years with insecticidal soap or anything. So the foliage is what it is. I really haven't had serious foliage issues in year. Dr. Huey that came with the house (not shown) gets black spot pretty good every year, but he is in such a difficult space to get out, I've left him there. Maybe one day I'll remove him. So pretty much my garden is a tough love garden. I give you a good spot to put down roots, prune you once in awhile, if you seem to be starving, I'll feed you, but other than that, you are on your own, lol. Remy

They say people buy houses with emotions - and I surely bought this house with my emotions. I fell crazy in love with the house the moment I laid eyes on it. Probably paid a little too much, but the seller replumbed the house for us and did a good, good job (probably a $10,000 repair job) and fixed the slate roof (not cheap either) and re-wired much of the house (probably another $5,000+). The boiler was replaced in 2004 with a high-efficiency unit, and that's a plus. So, I console myself that much of the big ugly work was already done before we bought it. It's got some nice features, such as a full basement (Very unusual for southeastern Virginia) and a huge attic with a spacious walk-up staircase. The house (and the 'hood) went through hard times in the 1980s and this fine old home was used as a boarding house. They had deadbolts on the bedroom doors and there was a family living on the sunporch (very small) and another family living in the attic (with pink insulation dripping from the ceiling). In 2004, some guys bought it for the purpose of flipping it. After two years, they grew tired of it and ran out of money before they could do too much harm (thank goodness) and that's when we bought it. It was a diamond in the rough when we bought it and we've dumped too much money into it, but hubby has a nice job with the city and I tell him, "This house is your GIFT to the city." :-) It's true, too. But there are days when I wonder about the wisdom of buying such an old house that requires a steady influx of cash, love, inspiration and perspiration. Nonetheless, when I trot downstairs in the morning and see that beautiful entry foyer, I always feel a little happier. I tell people that this house is a beautiful sculpture made of wood and designed so that people can live within its beautiful walls and admire its artistic grandeur from many different angles. I do believe that. It's also 100% identical to the house in which I was raised. That's probably why I grabbed my new husband by the lapels in February 2007 when we stood in its empty living room and said, "I HAVE TO HAVE THIS HOUSE." It was built in 1925 by a man who owned the local lumber mill and his wife became ill whilst it was under construction. He urged her to hold on promising her, "I'm building you the most beautiful house." She died six months after moving in and her funeral was held in the living room. It was a home built with love and that shows in every joint and every piece of lumber. Of all the houses I've ever seen, this is one of the best-built. These fantastically huge beams in the basement have no knots. They say the original builder hand-selected each beam and joist before it was delivered to the site. I believe that. Thanks for saying nice things about my house. Makes me feel better about having bought the old lady. :) Here's a photo of the man who built it, sitting in *our* backyard (from the 1950s).

Right now you have a clash between the yellow maple cabs (which are being turned green with your lighting) and the chocolate/washed flooring. Total mismatch of undertones. That being said, the undertones are PERFECT for the fireplace AND the banister. You can look at a European Oak-look laminate. They often have tones of silver AND gold (small amounts of gold) in them. That could be enough to satisfy the kitchen (assuming you wish to update the lighting) and the dark banister/fireplace trim. Right now the banister and the fireplace trim are the STARS of the show in your space. Getting the gold/green in the cabinets to play nice with chocolate/black can be hard. There is one CERTAIN way to deal with this: Tile in the kitchen and laminate flooring everywhere else. Laminate flooring should NOT be installed in kitchens. They have MASSIVE issues with water/steam. The steam from dishwashers has been enough to cause a moderate priced laminate to bubble and peel inside of 3 years. The simplest answer is the obvious answer: split the two floors and allow the colour tones in each room to speak for themselves.

Tyrant Flycatcher is the family name. Could be a Pacific Slope Flycatcher or Hammond's, but the PSF appears to be more yellow. Both are in the Tyrant Flycatcher family. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/pacific-slope-flycatcher