our local gardening society is mainly run by little old biddies (no offence to anyone who feels they may be one) who pooh-pooh non-native plants and who use the gardening tours as a means of socializing, gossiping and the like. I went one year, with the intent of trying to put my own garden on the tour in subsequent years, but the conversations from the venerated members soured me to the idea. This is a town where I was asked (ok, threatened under penalty of a fine) to trim bushes (which were vines atop a 6-7 foot trellis, fully laden with ripening fruit) due to their being visible from the street (but only if you step into my driveway) and the garden-club wrote about an elderly gentleman growing tomatoes in the cracks in his driveway, which he has been doing for the past couple years since he lost his license. The mother of a co-worker of my wife's is a member and she clues me in to their annual native plant sale. Twice I've bought plants only to find out in time that they were mis-identified. I haven't been back since. ~Chills

Here in NE OK the BFs are in abundance as we are enjoying our Indian summer days. I am having a hard time tearing myself away from the garden and getting anything done inside. "On the 19th of October, my garden gave to me 8 Monarchs fluttering, 10 Orange Sulfurs nectaring, 4 Southern Dogfaces romancing, 1 Dainty Sulfur skittering, 1 Sleepy Orange tasting, 4 Cloudless Sulfurs soaring, 3 Gulf Fritillaries sampling, 2 Variegated Fritillaries sunning, 6 Painted Ladies chasing, 3 Little Yellows timid, 2 Buckeyes flashing, 1 Pipevine investigating, too many Sachems, Fieries, Tawny Edged Skippers, Clouded Skippers to count, numerous Gray Hairstreaks, Eastern Tailed Blues, Pearl Crescents, and 1 Ocola Skipper, all posing on the Golden Crownbeard." Fall is the absolute best here in Oklahoma! Sandy

Ginny, I've been following the updates in the local paper... You can too, if you do a Google search to find the Salem News online edition. Every few weeks they usually have an article about what's going on at the site. The basic scoop -- a big developer, the Archstone Corporation had the winning bid for the development of the hospital campus, but the stipulation was that they had to preserve the Kirkbride (that's the big gothic main building). Archstone had its engineers do an initial check of the structure, and reported that with some minor adjustments they could preserve the building. After Archstone got the deal, though, they proposed a plan radically different from their original. Now, they claimed that the age and degree of decrepitude of the Kirkbride would make it impossible to save anything but the front facade. The Danvers town council was outraged (as were many residents). On top of that, relatives of some of the patients who had died and were buried on the campus were very concerned that any development plans that go through must honor and preserve the modest cemetery. The deal was just a big mess. Archstone dropped out. Another company (the name eludes me right now) took it up and apparently has provided a plan that preserves the Kirkbride exterior and its main interior structure... but with major renovations. There are supposed to be lots of new condo buildings, plus use of the Kirkbride and neighboring brick buildings, but I don't know what those uses will be. I presume offices and/or more housing. I drive by there quite regularly, and have always been taken by the beauty of the setting and the drama of the campus structures. I hope that any development that is undertaken preserves the dignity of the place, and its lush green setting.

Ya'll are so helpful :) Thank you! Gad the radiators LOL I had NO IDEA how much work that would be, but it will be a pretty high priority to us (DH hates the baseboards in a victorian) so I will see if I can find out what we have to work with. Slate that radiator is amazing! I love the bronze. The room with the water damage is the dining room and that floor is exposed wood. I can see it's fine when looking under the buffet (we did this on our 1st visit). I may make them move the buffet on this next visit. If not this visit, definately the inspection visit. I'd like to know what they've done with the firebox back there, hopefully just left it alone. We don't want efficiency out of the fireplaces (aside from the one we'd like to put in the kitchen and the exsiting stove in the basement). There are 2 existing fireplaces on the first floor now, one in the foyer and the other in the parlor. I'm sure the fireplace in the dinning room was as gorgeous...I mean why wouldn't it be? So we'd like to have that back :) Both in terms of the fire places and the radiators, we're willing to put some money into the house to restore it to it's former glory. But we obviously want to get an idea of what that entails if it should be factored into an offer! I'l call the historican society now and ask if they have an inspector they recommend. And a fireplace/chimney specialist for that issue. We'll be sure to write that into the offer as a requirement. I'm not a huge wallpaper freak...but those could easily be worked into my decor. They're so much better than the 80's flower "Victorian" decor LOL Honestly, they're a great option..thanks! I may well work some of that into some of the rooms (to save on the removal work) and to add to the distinction of each space. Autumn I'll link the house below. As I mentioned it's a B&B so you can see pictures of the house on their website. I'll be taking a lot more when I visit :) We'll get rid of any "fake" victorian furniture (it comes furnished) and eventually the whole house will be decorated much more appropriately to it's style, but still be a comfortable family home. The kitchen is probably one of our big money items, which will come down the road. It's pretty much tricked out as a commercial kitchen due to the B&B. I'd like to move a few things and then do a more unfitted kitchen appropriate to the house. We'll still have some professional appliances (if you've seen my kitchen you know I like them LOL) but they'll be better suited to the house, like a molteni range or lacanche and the subzero will be hiddenin a custom amoire. I can't wait to get onto that project :) I get so jealous when I see these white cabinet kitchens LOL I'm sorry I hurt your brain with the closet idea LOL But I made someone else smile so perhaps thats the future for me..some people groan when they see it and some people smile LOL We will be VERY sensative to the room that is converted. We don't want to devalue the property and want to make a conversion back to a B&B possible if we ever sell (so we can market as both a B&B and a home). The room that we'd convert will have free standing pieces that are just pushed against the wall, all to look as if they're built in, but all easily removed to go back to a bedroom. There is a bathroom inbetween these two rooms (it's horrificly 80's) which we'll use as the path between them. This means we'll have to add a door to the master that isn't there, but we'll be nice when we do it, and make it removable if someone would wish that. NONE of the trim or windows in that room will be altered, removed etc. Including the door to the main hall. We'll work around and with those features instead of covering them up and/or getting rid of them. I'm going to gut all the bathrooms and do tile (appropriate to the house) or beadboard paneling. I'm thinking the smallest will be turned into wet rooms using the existing drains, pedastol sinks and vintage inspired shower fittings. We'll work a ribcage shower in...most likely in the master, and a free standing marble shower (built out of a few slabs...we used one in Duluth and fell in love) in one of the bigger baths. But the tubs and sinks in the rooms...those will get capped off (plumbing) and the fixtures removed. OK I'm off to call the historical society :) Thanks and if you think of anything else, please let me know! Here is a link that might be useful: Hastings House