Tuesday I ate, well, bit into then spit out the hottest pepper I had ever had. It was called a Datil Pepper and it burned my lips for awhile, I would have hated to think what it would have done to my mouth or throat had I swallowed it, lol. I like spicy and hot things but that pepper was to much, I can't imagine anything hotter than that. Jake

I need to get more plants for the Gulf Frits and the Pipevine Swallowtails. I'll take this list from the FAQ section with me. All I have now is the Aristolochia fimbriata - white-veined Duchman's pipe for the Pipevine Swallowtails and the Passiflora lutea - yellow passionflower for the Gulf Frits. Neither has a chance to get large enough to support many cats. I had faster growing Passiflora caerulea - blue passionflower for a couple of years, but it died over the winter and I don't know why. PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL - Pipevine family, Aristolochia 1. Aristolochia macrophylla - big leaf pipevine 2. Aristolochia tomentosa - woolly pipevine 3. Aristolochia serpentaria - Virginia snakeroot 4. Aristolochia californica - California pipevine 5. Aristolochia fimbriata - white-veined Duchman's pipe GULF FRITILLARY - Passionvine family, passifloraceae 1. Passiflora incarnata - maypop 2. Passiflora suberosa - corky stemmed passionvine 3. Passiflora lutea - yellow passionflower 4. Passiflora alto - 'Amethyst'/'Lavender Lady'/'Star of Mikan' 5. Passiflora caerulea - blue passionflower

I'll echo the thoughts not to skimp on the range, but I do want to share with you...we were going to get a Dual Fuel Wolf (36"). One big savings (a few thousand) would have been to drop that down to a gas only. And then our ultimate savings was to skip Wolf all together and go with a Lacanche, which is basically the same thing, but made in France and it has color :) Ok we didn't save much...but we'd been toying with upgrading the 36" to a 48" wolf and instead got a 55 1/2" Lacanche for the same price as the 36" wolf. With in that space we also got a warming cabinet, which saved a couple grand on the warming drawer we didn't need anymore, so there was still savings and we got all we'd ever want in a stove. In our rental we have the same amount of space and wanted a nice looking range so we went with an Aga, which was much less in $$ but still had the look we were shooting for in a 36" range. Skip, a good friend of ours has the Kenmore Pro Series Range and he likes it quite a bit. He's a chef and uses it to it's utmost. His comments in discussing our choice were that he'd like that extra oomph he'd get with a Lacanche but considering that this range came in their home, he's very happy with it. They have had repairs though I think three or four times??? Issues with heat regularity on the oven were a repeated problem and I think one of the burners had a clicking issue if I remember right (this is a conversation from a couple of years). I have eaten at their home many times...he can cook like a saint on that range :) Saint Chef that is heh heh Oh now on the hand made subway tiles...I built the poorhouse that pecanpie is residing in out of the things. I'm not going to tell you how much I love them...I do...but I could have done other things with that money. I'm not sure it was the best use of our funds for an item that I actually want to have take backstage to the other bling in the kitchen. I know KNOW you can acheive a fabulous backsplash look without spending the thousands I did...and the rent on the poorhouse just ain't cutting it to recoup those costs...Pecanpie...rent's going UP UP UP!

I live in my forever house - someday. We had similar issues. Location: it's in a mixed building age area - my house is the oldest in the neighborhood 1884 Victorian farmhouse, my neighbors all have smaller late 1940's-70's ranches. Good thing is it's not a cookie cutter neighborhood. Bad thing: there are areas within a mile or so away that are a lot less nice; a big block of low rent apartments, and across the golf course there's a much more modest neighborhood with many more crime issues. Good news: We seldom have any problems; we were broken into once about 11yrs ago, one of several homes that summer, but once they caught the teen, no more until my new neighbor moved in last year - someone broke in and cleaned out the house while they were on vacation. But we're reorganizing the neighborhood watch, and everyone knows everyone, so overall it's a good place. House: It was both a dream and a nightmare when we bought it. Large rooms, lots of charm, great windows, large lot. But we had one previous home owner who stuccoed over the brick exterior, and another scary homeowner who divided the house into a duplex. Lots of work. Wayyyy more work than we first thought. Bad: stuff like two days ago, while I've been busy getting bids on painting and a few other things we wanted to do this Spring, a hunk of stucco fell off a column for the portico. We had suspected a problem for a while, but hoped it would wait. Decided to see what was going on, tore off the stucco, found the original Victorian porch post underneath (YEAH!) but it's rotted and need immediate replacement, so guess what just moved to the top of the project list? So much for my new mill work! My advice is, know what you're getting into. Check out the crime reports for the area with the local police. Drive around at all hours to see what happens in the area. Talk to the neighbors. Get a super picky home inspector. Plan on things taking 3 times longer to fix than you expect. Watch This Old House so often you feel like you're on a first name basis with Norm and Tom. Have or develop good DIY skills or the house and the contractors will eat you alive. Always ;-) Hunzi in her 14th year of the 5 year renovation