CocoaBeachLorax, I feel your pain. On the coast here in West Palm Beach and we are in the worst drought since 1971. Nary a drop. I knew this was the wrong time to start up gardening again. If we can just hold on a few more weeks, it usually starts to rain around the end of June. Man, this is murder. (I'm a native, btw.) Julie in West Palm Beach

I didn't even know there was a Toto or Waterworks store on the westside. Grass is always greener.... I think that's one of the most powerful forces on the planet! Cabinet installed so I can show some pictures of its funkiness, and the gemisch of finishes on hardware already present. I dunno what to do now ... too much thinking as others have said. But as I've said, this decision, about faucets, has always been my very hardest and least successful. For reference, here's my sink: And here it is in situ: Kohler Alteo: It's set into a natural bamboo-fronted floating vanity above reddish-hued slate. There is a glass-fronted shower stall with chrome fixtures and a doorknob with brushed chrome (I don't like the lock but that's all that was available). I do think the faucet has to "belong" to the sink and should be oil-rubbed bronze even though there is other stuff in the room. Here's what I'm considering (thanks to you-all). Delta Vero: Hansgrohe Talis C: Hansgrohe Metris C: Delta Addison (only less tall version): Kohler Alteo: Any opinion?

tragusa3--the 60 or 120 day extension of the option to purchase was my first reply too--give them a breathing period to reassess what what going on...but they did not want US in the driver's seat since an extended option would still have maintained our right to purchase as the negotiated price. They did not want any boundaries on their decision making according to our realtor. She called their realtor asking for a 6 mo first refusal contract and they reluctantly gave that...Talking to our realtor initially, I did not feel that she would have support us if we said sorry--we want to continue with the contract. She said "You can't make someone sell a home if they don't want to---" which I thought was wrong if there was an enforceable contract and you were willing to invest a lot of time and money with lawyers---She just wanted us to drop it...period...almost seemed more like she wsa acting as their agent instead of ours. You are right that cancer is not a trump card in other business dealings...in fact, we did forget to make a mortgage payment when our son was going through chemo and got a pretty nasty letter about being delinquent...when I called to explain, they just wanted us to know what would happen if other payments were late so we better get the checks in on time... life in general does not stop when people have cancer... dixiedoodle--yes, I was the person who was so upset when the developer cut trees we had expected would be there on the lot we optioned--and I remember I got some sympathic comments and some that said don't get all emotional because the developer did not owe us anything at that point in time. ...legally, these sellers had NO right to back out...cancer does not cut any weight there...so reacting emotionally and sympathetically was the only reason to cut them slack... People post lots of things on ths site--not just about the house they are building--there are posters on this site whose opinions I have come to value even if they do disagree with my opinion so I get insight from comments...no, I don't always agree with what people write either about my posts or others...don't think you do either from what you posted to me...isn't that the point of a board like this...I just was kind of amazed that everyone DID pretty much take this story at face value...yet most people tell you to check references and have inspectors review a builder's work and make sure both people have to sign the checks... I picked up the right-of-first-refusal "contract" yesterday about 5 from my realtor's office. Frankly, looking at it just made me feel more suspicious about this situation. Don't think any title attorney worded this or prepared it as my realtor said they had done. There are two pretty obvious grammatical errors that I, an English teacher, saw right away but that an average person might not. I think an attorney or legal secretary has too much exposure to legal documents and proper grammar to make those mistakes. They know that a grammatical error can affect the value of a "legal" document. So I think their realtor did it. It looks like it was generated off someone's office computer/printer, generic paper. The two copies we got have no original signatures of the sellers and their agent. There are no addresses/contact information for our names or theirs--although you assume theirs would be the house they were selling. There is no mention of why we are foregoing the original contract (the serious illness of their son) -- it sounds like both parties just decided to amicably change their minds---which is not the case at all. There is no notary wittness on theirs nor one required for ours so it can't be filed at courthouse to act as hold on property and actually prevent sale for 6 months...there is no indication that the sale price would be the one we negotiated for this contract...which is what we expected...they could set the price 100,000 higher--we refuse--and they lower the price by the same amount and sell 24 hrs later to whomever... Basically there is no way to enforce this---they could turn around and put the house up in June and we could do nothing...DH says that if we tried to continue the contract and they still refused and we sued to claim breach of contract, technically we have suffered no monetary damages which is the only thing a judge would rule on---having to buy a house that is more expensive or that we like less then theirs is too nebulous for a judge to set a real value on---taking them to court and having them evicted if we did win the suit is not exactly the way you want to introduce yourself to the neighbors... DH said that if they are the kind of people who would use an excuse like they did then he does not want anything to do with them and they are going straight to the big bonfire...I would just like to know the truth of the situation...

hi Tina, yes, I'm familiar with regular milk paint; I used it for a number of projects a few years back. Love the stuff! Love that matte chalky tactile finish, too. If one can apply this Sloan chalk paint on top of other finishes, sounds like it's different from milk paint in that it has some kind of latex or acrylic additives. I know they market an acrylic binder that can be added to regular ole milk paint to achieve the same kind of coverage. But that must make it a bit more like a regular paint, and I have to say I'm rather fond of the unique way milk paint can be thinned as desired for that slightly see-through washed wood effect. Great tip on the ammonia as remover, cyn47, thanks! We tried just about everything to get 100-year-old milk paint off our kitchen woodwork in former house; can't recall if we tried ammonia. We finally resorted to a commercial preparation that I thought was more pricey than it was worth. At least we have established a definitive connection between felines and chalk/milk paint. As my contribution towards minimizing general grumpiness, here's a shot of my kitty on one of my old milk-paint projects. Well, at least his ears: