Here are some more pics of my August flowers and garden: Take a tour through my gardens! Purple Feather Grass and Coral Nymph Salvia. Roses and Salvia. Beauty Secret, a miniature red rose. New Rose Bed - filling in nicely with annuals until the roses get bigger, like self-seeded Cosmos, Salvias and some Dianthus too. I love these little Dianthus. They have burgundy leaves and pink and red flowers. Darling little plants. The Pat Austin rose cutting that I got from plantmaven is making three bloom buds. I love orange roses. I can't wait! Salvias: Indigo Spires (from plantmaven), Lady in Red, and Coral Nymph. New bed I built in January. Will be adding more shade-loving plants in there - just not sure what to plant there. In the back of this bed to the left is the Variegated or Dappled Willow that I got from gottagarden. It is doing wonderfully there. Lots of new growth. Vegetable-Herb Garden up on the hill in the back yard. There are Roma Tomatoes, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Red Delicious Tomatoes, Bush Beans, Sevin Tops Turnip Greens, Jalapeno Peppers, Hot yellow Hungarian Peppers, Yellow Crookneck Squash, Zucchini Squash, Spineless Okra, Hale's Best Muskmelons, Martha Washington Asparagus and Cocozelle Squash. A lot of veggies in a small garden plot. There is a rose growing on the arbor in the center - Damask rose, 'Ispahan' (see description below)...my favorite rose. Heavenly Blue Morning glories grow there too on the west side (left) that self-seeded from last year, and Mina Lobata (Spanish Flags) I planted this year which has practically covered the arbor on the east side (right) now but not blooming yet for some darned reason. Petunias grow on either side and pink & white Dianthus. The old garden rose on the fence on the west side (left) is an old rose that I dug up at the family cemetery. It is covered in tiny pink fragrant blooms in spring. It is the predesessor of the much loved, Pink Fairy, but unlike it's offspring, it only blooms once a year and is BAD about getting powdery mildew. Still, I grow it and love it. No one is perfect! The green grass looking plants in foreground are actually Garlic Chives. It has reseeded so much that it now has run amok throughout the garden and practically taken over the herb garden! Eeek! I am trying to get it all chopped out. One area to go! The same thing happened with the Oregano I had planted on either side of the entry path. I now have it under control. Gads! I love accidents like this combo. Pretty Blue Flowers of the Chicory Plant. White Zinnias and Pink Double Knock-Out Rose (looks red to me!) Feather Grasses, Magnus Coneflowers, Purple Garden Phlox, Wild Prairie Verbena and Blue Fescue grass edge the steps down to the Koi pond in the lower garden. There are irises and other plants too. The Old Garden Rose clump on the right at the bottom is my favorite rose. It has very, very sweet, fragrant, blousy medium pink roses that begin to bloom in May and blooms from 6-8 weeks every spring. It has been finally identified as the Damask rose, 'Ispahan', which is also known as 'Rose d'Isfahan' and 'Pompon des Princes' is one of the finest Damask roses. It's origin is in the Middle East before 1832. The foliage is small, dark green, and rough with a slight bluish cast. 'Ispahan' forms an upright bush 4' - 7' high and 3' - 4' wide. It is stoleniferous, spreading by stollens. The canes are long, upright, and slender. I keep this clump cut into a shrub, but have it in another area trained up on poles and over an archway. I am planting it everywhere I have the space. It is my very favorite rose. Oh, that I could preserve its fragrance in a bottle to enjoy year round. Blooms dry well and make good poppouri, saches or filler for dream pillows. Weeping Willow in lower garden at the lower west side of the Potager. Potager in August. Pretty Butterfly on my shoulder. :) Corkscrew Willow Wattle Fencing - adding twigs as I acquire them. Partial view of the Wattle Fence. I want to build a Higgelty-Piggelty Arch over the gate next to this for my American Rose to grow up on. I love this Butterfly bush, "Buddeleia Lindleyana". It has graceful, arching branches and the flowers are very different from other Butterfly bushes. Very drought tolerant. It has a stolleniferous habit which some people don't like, but I don't mind. It can spread where I plant it all it wants. I can shovel prune it out of where I don't want it. Doesn't spread fast in my dry, sandy soil. I like how this clump is growing under the Black Japanese Pine. Lovely combo and both benefit from one another. It created a great screen. I took this photo early yesterday morning of my Back Yard looking towards my house. Later, I planted a River Birch right about where I stood to take this photo. It balanced things nicely. I will post a picture to show it later. Another view of back yard. No more weeds - just beautiful cool, green lawn. The Wisteria tree (right) is a Pink variety. Beautiful thing and yummy fragrance. New Garden Area - this is where I had the San Marzano Tomatoes earlier this summer. I moved quite a few of my daylilies over here, planted some Primadonna Coneflowers in here, irises including the 'Samauri Warrior' and Euphorbia Chameleon (Swamp Spurge), both of which I got from GG, and Apricot Hollyhocks. I planted the new daylily, 'Apocalypse Now' from schoolhouse's favorite daylily farm in here, too. The huge pot contains perennial white Stocks that I grew from seed. There are yellow& white Snapdragons, which I love. The Perennial Stocks will look better once they are established. This whole area will take on a different design next year as I gradually make the changes. There will be a big Cattle Panel arch with Gardenia Rose growing on it (that I grew from a cutting from plantmaven in 2007) to define the transition from the flower gardens by the house into the backyard lawn and trees on the hill. I hope it turns out like my plans. Hope you enjoy - these photos were taken in various garden areas around my back yard yesterday morning. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hey Kathy, I have one variety which I got this year. I have to grow them in pots so I can take them inside in the autumn. But, yes, I would love a slip of yours. It's adorable! Cute little shrimp cocktail flowers. :) And Glenda, We got a deluge of rain yesterday and all night long and it is still overcast and raining. In fact it is downright dark out there right now. I can see blue sky to the north now, so it looks to be clearing off. I am thrilled with all the rainfall amounts. Haven't measured it yet, but I would venture to guess it could be well over 3 inches. Ya-hoo! ---------------------------------------------------------- ~Annie

As ventupete wrote, the gaps are there because of building/fire code, not to mention your own safety when using the fireplace. I would be very reluctant to seal these gaps with anything. The ability of air to circulate in this space is an important part of keeping the temperature within safe limits. If you seal the space up tight, your defeating the intended purpose of the required clearances. If the air you feel is coming through your exterior wall, it may be possible to add insulation to the wall from the outside. The air you feel may not, however, be coming through the wall.Check to see if your chimney is properly sealed where it penetrates ceilings; you may be feeling air from below rushing upward along the chimney space rather than through the wall.

Staging and adding color to curb appeal would go a long way. It looks like you got the decluttering thing down, but maybe a little too much--some rooms are a little too spartan and thus not very welcoming. My first impression after looking at the photos was: -The kitchen was updated, but the color and style clash with the table and there are no stools at the island. These things tell me that I will need to repaint either the kitchen or the rest of the house right off the bat to make them flow better. The table (while it would be going with you & not staying) gives the wrong feel to the otherwise modern kitchen & the green tablecloth has to go. The absence of stools at the island make me wonder if there is not enough room for the stools and the table in that space. The chandelier & light fixture don't look like they were updated (the pots hanging from the ceiling draw your eye upward so you definitely notice the lights)--check out the big box stores for some affordable, easy to install updates. Love the window treatments and that wonderfully large window! -Living & Dining rooms both feel very spartan and cold in the photos. Pulling the curtains back will help bring in more natural light and make it feel more welcoming & open. Is the dining room table centered in the room or pushed off center toward the window? It seems cramped at the window end which to me says the room is small and family dinners will be elbow to elbow. As mentioned above, too many different paint colors--the yellow doesn't do much for me & the white or pale blue in the living room is very cold. Framed prints on the walls and an area rug would go a long way to warming the rooms up. -Bedrooms need warming up too--more framed prints & an area rug needed. Slide the bed in the master over so its more centered in the room. The way it is now, it appears cramped. It looks like there is a tray ceiling in there too--an off center bed is negatively accentuated in this situation. The green curtains need to go and be replaced with neutral colored ones and again, pull them back to let in natural light to give an open welcoming feel. -Masterbath needs some warm welcoming touches too. Framed prints, some candles, strategically drape a folded towel along the edge of the tub, add a pretty container of bath salts to the tub corner, add a pretty window treatment to the window above the tub vs. the plastic mini-blinds. Warm, fuzzy, yet tasteful bath rugs will help too. The walls need some color. Make it feel like a spa environment-somewhere potential buyers would like to retreat to after a long day at work. Don't forget a handtowel on the towel ring! -Love the family room--maybe an area rug...that's it. -J&J bath--looks good. Add a framed print or two, a window treatment, fuzzy warm yet tasteful bath rug & hang the hand towel up. Choosing a nice neutral color of towel throughout all the baths would help too. Something in a fluffy white or beige to give that spa like feel would be good. -Laundry looks great--open the curtains. -Nursery looks great--maybe a framed print or two. -Exterior: Deck needs new coat of paint. The front looks a little tired. Adding some spots of color will help the curb appeal--a tall fat planter with colorful flowers on both corners of the porch, some colorful flowers planted in the beds, maybe a couple tall plants under the porch lights. another planter or two with plants and flowers on the back deck would help make it seem more welcoming too. It seems like you were working on updating the house and managed to get to the kitchen, family room, laundry, nursery & J&J bath. The rest appears to have not been updated since the house was built. While I love antiques, the furniture in the unupdated rooms with this scenario does not help. The obvious brass fixtures in the master bath scream 1980s and most if not all potential buyers are wondering how hard will it be to update them. You definitely have 3 vastly different styles going on in the house which can cause a major disconnect with potential buyers. If you were to repaint the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, master bath & living room to more neutral colors (similar to family room & J&J bath) + update brass fixtures + add warming touches as outlined above to rooms for staging + exterior color and I think you could probably relist for the $290K in the spring and walk away with around $260-$250K. My BIL is a real estate agent and when we sold our house with him he even said not to tell him the absolute lowest price we were willing to take for the house. I can confidently say that repainted & staged well (including replacing a couple light fixtures, new comforter for DS's room, new bathroom stuff, quick exterior spruceup by adding color) when we sold our house. We listed the house $10K higher than the exact house down the street that sold a couple weeks earlier for a higher than average price for our neighborhood. We had an offer in 2 days and ended up with a bidding war between two potential buyers that ended on day 5 on the market. Trust me, potential buyers need to be able to see themselves living in your home and driving up to your home everyday--your staging makes all the difference. Good luck to you!

Best, $10 for a pillow? Amazing. Tell me, can you sleep laying that flat? I may order the queen high. At that price I may get two. lol I do have to stack my pillows. Thanks Allison! I'm leary about paying high dollar for a pillow in case I don't like it. Local, I need to look on youtube and find out how one can sleep on their side using a neck pillow. Looks awfully uncomfortable to me. lol Annie, I could do it all except drop my ear to the shoulder. All the movement was tense but I could do it. I'll try to make a habit of it. After I do an exercise I have to slowly lift my head and turn it back to normal position or something bad will happen. I think it's my pillows. Last night I spent a good deal of time rearranging them and woke up feeling good, but stil stiff. Is it just me or have you all noticed how hard it is to get a pillow case on a pillow because they are so tight? I used to enjoy changing pillow cases, now I dread it.