As far as I known, all Cactus fruits are edible. The fruit from the pickly pear cactus is widely eaten and used in preserves. There are many different cacti that look like the Dragonfruit vines pictured above. Apparently, some do not fruit? If you want the yummy edible varieties, get named ones. They grow easily from cuttings. I didn't get to smell the flowers, they are too high, and I didn't want to climb a ladder in the dark. A cactus with 55 flowers has to be a stunning sight!!! WOW!! I can only hope to get such a show in the future! Mine now appear to be forming red-finned fruits. Yippee!!!! I hope they stay on. Lisa

Here is an article that may help explain how different regions of the country can have very different fall foliage. Here in southern Ohio we have had no Indian Summer and a very wet Fall. So much so that the farmers, who had expected a bumper crop of corn and soybeans, have only been able to harvest a portion because the fields are too wet to drive heavy equipment on. Here is a link that might be useful: Conditions for Fall foliage color

Your on vacation and your worrying about your tomatoes, hmmm, alot of people might think there is something wrong with you. Sounds like your really obsessed with this tomato thing. This is not normal for most people. Unless you hang out on the tomato forum at Gardenweb and your like most of us. Welcome to the club of "worrying about your tomatoes while your on vacation". Damon

Hi, Autumn. There's actually been a lot of discussion here about where the kitchen sink can go. Although in front of a window has been traditional, these days a lot more time is spent prepping/cooking than cleaning and a lot of people feel that should be done in the most pleasant place to work--as a kindness to the cook. :) In front of a window, facing your family as they play and relax, or wherever. YOUR choice, wide open! Also, sinks do NOT need to be centered when they are in front of a window for the kitchen to look good. If room space allows, a sink counter can be deepened so the wall's farther away and it feels extra comfortable working there. Also, I'll point out that peripheral views out a window that's to one side are vastly underestimated, actually never mentioned at all, even though our eyes and heads are made to swivel freely. Deliberately putting a sink or other important work area to one side of a window can be a way of capitalizing on views to right or left of a window that would otherwise go unnoticed. Just one of those many subtle little details that can make one home more rich and satisfying than another. The swiveling eye potential might be especially worth noting for you since it sounds like you'd prefer neither prep/cooking or cleanup on the window counter since you'd have your back to the living room. You could plan to enjoy a pleasant street view simply via casual glances to the side and directly when you're moving about the kitchen. I got sidetracked, though. What I wanted to suggest was starting your kitchen design through analysis of how YOU work and what YOU want. Leave the computer to begin with and come back to it later. You don't cook on a screen. Start instead with a nice open area, bigger than your kitchen will be, out in the yard maybe. Get some good-sized boxes of the right height and some boards. Forget any official guidelines you've read at this point. Right now all constraints are removed so you can concentrate on how it feels to you. Start by setting up a counter and make a play dinner, something you often make. Start with a little counter, maybe 30", and see how well prep progresses with that space. I suggest starting small because a lot of people come here with beautiful plans that actually only have small work areas--this is when you find out if that'll work nicely for you, or how much more you do want. Add in other items, sink, stove, food storage, etc., as you continue playing, putting each where and how far away you think you would like to have it. If you decide you want more main work space, enlarge it incrementally, 36", 42", etc. Add in more details/considerations as you go. Need a little more room to the other side of the sink? Pull the boards and boxes over a bit. Where will you set trays of cookies to cool, or whatever? Will you want room for others to work in the kitchen? Doing what? A separate counter area for making lunch, getting their own cereal and toast, coffee? Where should all that go? Washing dishes--do you need to move the sink so that someone unloading the dishwasher's not in your way as you stir the oatmeal? Measure your dishwasher and oven doors when they're open to see how much room will be needed to walk by when they're open and shift the boxes accordingly. Can others get to the fridge without coming between a pot of boiling noodles and the sink? And so on. THEN, try what you're learning out with some constraints, like dimensions and doorways of plans you're considering. Draw what you know you want so far on the computer and start considering tradeoffs to design in as much of it as you can. Have fun playing around. I did this for myself and guarantee that if you do it the panic will be gone completely and permanently. You're feeling out of control not because you don't know enough about kitchens yet but because you don't know enough about what you really want for yourselves. After you do this, you'll sneer outright at 3/4 of the plans you see and stop while here to post your own advice to others. (BTW, on the same track, are you sure you do want a split plan? Do you know WHY you like them more? Their active living areas are great for those who want an introverted home, a shelter from the world, and extra privacy for mom and dad in the bedroom. Good for people who are gone all day most days anyway and home when the lights have to be on. They feel nice and cozy, warm and shady by season, are protected from outside noise and other bothers by the flanking rooms, and can be less expensive to heat and cool. OTOH, they give all 4 corners, especially valuable home space with their potential sunshine and views, to bedrooms and garage, so they are typically low on natural light and limited in their relationship to the outdoors (especially with front windows covered for privacy) and can feel smaller than other homes of the same square footage.)