I don't think the shards/broken pottery at the drainage holes are recommended any more, emphasis is on best draining potting mixes. I don't let my city water stand, I water my biggest containers straight from the hose, carry water to pots on the front porch with freshly filled watering can. (I've got a soft soak setting on my hose nozzle, cannot bottom water pots that take two men to lift!) Tapla (seems to take the lead when it comes to containers and that forum) recommends Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 water soluble fertilizer and uses a weak solution really often. I want to say always when watering but I'd need to read through some older posts to verify that. I've never seen the product and since I stocked up on about 3 yrs worth of Peters when a local store had it 75% off, I haven't ordered it. Tapla: "Most soluble fertilizers do contain the primary macros and the micros likely to be deficient in either bark or peat-based soils, but most lack the secondary macros Calcium and often magnesium. Some contain small amounts of magnesium. Miracle-Gro, Schultz, Jacks, Peter's are examples that lack calcium and possibly magnesium. Foliage-Pro does contain all the essential elements in the average ratio in which plants use them, including calcium and magnesium. It also provides most of its nitrogen in nitrate form, which helps plants remain sturdy and full. I'm sure there are probably other solubles out there that provide nearly the same formulation, but I don't know what they might be. " My Cornell formula potting mix that a local garden center has a bit a lime (the calcium) and once in a while I put a bit of epsom salts in with the Peters when I'm fertilizing...seems to work.

Hi, everyone! The car insurance people have been great. No problems, already got checks for the vehicles, even though the motorist was uninsured. Thank goodness, my husband had added uninsured motorist, on our policy :) The home insurance...not so great. We're still working with them and they are supposed to cover all the costs, but they're taking a long time to get anything done and having moments of "I cannot recollect that conversation" so every single detail will have to be put in writing (as it always should) before we can move forward. Sadly, I still jump a little, when a big truck goes by, especially at night. Since we cannot afford to put boulders in the yard (and I don't really want to) my husband is just parking many farm trucks/vehicles in the driveway, until we figure out a permanent solution. People keep saying...you've lived here for years and never had a problem...it's just a fluke. I answer them by saying, that's true, but that #$@&% driver has only been here a few months. Until he moves elsewhere, I want something a little heavier, between my house and his next vehicle! :)

I guess background information would be helpful :)! This is a new build and is almost framed so walls and window must stay. We have 5 people in our household - 2 adults and 3 boys ages 10, 8 and 6. With boys, lots of food is a priority and I buy 4 or 5 gallons of milk at a time, hence the need for lots of fridge space. We will have a separate freezer in the laundry room (down the hall past the fridge) so we don't need lots of freezer space - just a spot for frozen berries for smoothies, waffles and a half gallon of ice cream or so. The rest (meats, pizzas, leftovers, etc.) will be stored in the upright freezer in the laundry room. I would prefer not to have an icemaker - seems wasteful to me to make so much ice and not need nearly that much. We do need ice in the kitchen though and because we are doing a built in fridge one option is a 36" all fridge, which necessitates an icemaker of some sort and fridge or freezer drawers (these are VERY expensive to get all freezer and the room in the fridge freezer will probably be fine). I am concerned about the ergonomics of spreading all these appliances around and also would prefer having fewer rather than more, but sort of shy away from the huge mass of a 48" fridge. Very open to options in this area though! I am the main cook and almost always the only cook. However, my husband does cook his own breakfast (always uses microwave for either turkey bacon or oatmeal or both), and often we overlap. Other than breakfast, I am the cook and the clean up person. As far as the two dishwashers go, my boys (and husband) seem to eat constantly and on a particularly heavy day I end up running the dishwasher both before and after dinner. Two dishwashers would be used for entertaining but also because it would be nice to be able to run one during the day and still have a place to put the dishes. I am a creature of habit so I run it at night and unload in the morning and to have to break from that routine to have a place to put the dinner dishes throws me off! As far as entertaining, almost exclusively informal and almost never catered (i.e., with a catering staff). The exception is holidays, where we are the usual gathering spot. I don't have a need for a baking center (almost never bake - although I enjoy it), nor do we need a coffee center (we will just put the coffee pot on the countertop). We have a wet bar (with pocket doors) in the den so we will put all water, sodas, beer, etc. there but a snack center if we do the refrigerator drawers would be helpful. Oh and one more thing! Realized recently that there is no view of the TV from the breakfast room. This is not a real issue because we don't watch tv during dinner and I will have a small countertop tv in the kitchen viewable from the island so I can watch tv while I clean or cook. I am a little concerned about the times where tv is watched during a meal (the Masters, college football, etc.) and thought about putting a small 19" flat screen on the edge of the island by the breakfast area, hopefully with a cabinet door or tambour door or something so it can be closed away. Not necessary I guess and won't be used tons but it might be helpful to keep food out of the den! Hope this helps! and P.S. There will be no barrelling through the dining room :) I have cured them of that habit in this house so I am not worried about the oven opening into a path (the fridge would worry me more as that is something they are in and out of all day long).

I 100% understand wanting to renovate your kitchen. However, I too would wait until you can spend more on a full redo. And as someone else said, you don't want to lock yourself into appliances that fit these cabinet measurements if are going to do more of a full redo down the line. So set a budget for what you want to spend on something you can live with for a few years. This is what we did and were able to create a really beautiful in between look. * Perhaps getting a SS fridge, microwave, and dishwasher but leaving the ovens and range white will help tone down the white. Wait for a Memorial Day sale to get them cheaper at a big box store. * Inexpensive backsplash, beautiful faucet, and new hardware will do wonders. * Depending on what you come up with you may or may not need to replace countertops for now. * Get accessories and art in there that make you happy.