Jerzee, I really thought about what you posted. I asked myself if I honestly was just jealous of her success. I don't think I'm jealous of her success per se, but rather her success made me question my own abilities. She's a top producer at our office, and I'm lucky to have her as a partner; she's helped me immensely and throws lots of leads and deals my way. I just got home after that day and found myself thinking, "What is WRONG with me?" Like PaigeCT, I was thinking "I *should have* done this-or-that. A "proficient" individual would have done fill_in_the_blank..." I believe that's the root of the whole thing. Her success juxtaposed with my horribly bad open house made me question my own abilities, and made me think that I'd made a mistake, I'd never get it right, I'd screwed everything up, etc. While I know those aren't rational, that's where I was. (Poor DH, when I got home and he asked me how it went, I screamed at him, burst into tears and ran back to the bedroom, leaving him standing there with a cookie crumb dangling from his lips and a bewildered and hurt look on his face.) Fact is, when I'm up, I'm pretty much unstoppable. I don't care what the *facts* are, I can get stuff done. But when my confidence is shaken and I don't believe in myself, the world becomes a very scary place! I just need to chalk that day up for what it was; a learning experience. I need to put on my *big girl pants* and go find someone else to help! (Can you tell I'm beginning to become annoyed with myself? I don't have too much tolerance for being down....) Paige, THANK YOU for sharing your own experience. I really emphasizes "That's how life is", and it wasn't just me!! And Susanfnp, I have to say that I've never thought of my "act now---question later" attributes as being GOOD things. I've always considered my impetuous behaviors to be a bad thing, and so I consequently feel guilty about 99% of the time. You really made me realize that I need to have a different perspective! Almost EVERYTHING I do is done without hesitation, and I honestly never looked at that as being a good quality. Just last week, I got the wild hair to remodel a small powder room. One minute I was telling DH that we needed to pick out tile, and then next minute I had the crowbar in my hand removing the old stuff. I felt TOTALLY guilty for 3 days, as I felt like I was "putting everyone out" and not being a good wife, mother, broker, etc. But you know what? That powder room is finished. In 3 days. Why didn't I see that as a good thing before? Wow. What a catharsis. Nothing like seeing your own mess scrawled in black and white on the WWW for a little introspection!! Honestly, thank you. I really do have a different (and much healthier) perspective. And Pecan, I would NEVER turn down your pound cake. It's to die for!

>>If it would keep the door from hitting I would go with a stacked set moved to the left and just cut the shelves. I had rather have less shelving and better access into the house, but then that is just me. The door opens out so it wouldn't hit but it would severy limit my access through that door, especially when carrying things from the car. If I stack I have 35 inches to the door that goes into the main hallway of the unit (with that door open). The frigidairs (or friGEmores) seems to be the shallowest at about 28.5 in for the dryer. So I "could" put in something deeper depending on how much space I need to leave behind it for clearance. I thought about a Samsung, but they're expensive and look HUGE to me. I drew a diagram of the room, but haven't figured out how to upload it here yet.

Back to making mix: Pumice or perlite would be helpful if you can find it. Perlite is much less expensive than pumice. To separate big pouzzolane, try to find something that has appropriate holes - sorting by hand is incredibly time consuming. You could make your own if you find appropriately sized hardware cloth (metal mesh) and using some wood pieces to make sides (I have made few large ones, with different size mesh). Or use something else - try to be "inventive" - I found a toy sieve from my granddaughters toy set that is very good for this - it isn't that big, but helps a lot (9V battery for size comparison):I use it for grit and get it separated (size 2-5mm max):I use different sieve to clean up perlite (there is always some dust and very small particles) - bought in dollar store, these are quite large and you can use smaller ones from kitchen (but they are very inexpensive in those stores and used only for "gardening" :)You can fill up the sieve and just rinse perlite well - dust and smallest particles will wash out. Then I let it drip dry in the sieve, and mix with a grit (or pouzzolane in your case). There is no problem if still damp. Using kitchen sieve, there are smaller pieces than 2mm, but I use it as is. I could sieve it further by using the green 'toy' sieve, but do not bother. Using just pouzzolane, perlite and soil, I will mix them in equal amounts of pouzzolane and grit. You can add some bark or soil. Bark should be of similar size to pouzzolane, it will be bit bigger but shouldn't be too big. I would use no more than 1/3rd bark (so mix would be 1/3rd of each ingredients). Or use soil - I would use no more than about 20% (so it would be 40% of each of pouzzolane and perlite, and 20% citrus soil). I do not use any soil for succulent mix, just grit, perlite and small amount of turface. Turface is clay material used on golf courses. It could be substituted with a kitty litter - but make sure you get proper one. Here is the link (click me please) to article about cat litter, and you'll find info about what is available in France. You don't have to use it, but can. LechuzaPon substrate is available in Europe (I believe it originated in Germany) and is basically mix of inorganic substrates+ some fertilizer (You can add that yourself - time released pellets). I think it is mix of zeolite, pumice and lava rock in similar size. It may be more pricey, but if you have just few plants, it could be fastest and excellent solution... PS: large grains of pouzzolane or any grit you may find could be used for top-dressing...and Thank you for adding your growing zone & general location info! :)

Love your inspiration color. Maybe lighten it up by 25%. I think paints have stuff added to them to slow fading. I would remove the shutters. Then maybe a blue or lime green for the door