I really have changed my opinion of chipmunks. Even more after reading about the chickadees! How awful. Attacking pulmonarias is one thing, but eating birds... Chipmunks ARE just striped rats, and I too have never seen as many as this year. I have some in the backyard that continually raid the seed that falls from the bird feeder (when the squirrels, who hang on the feeders and snack much of the day, drop them). And just a day after Boy Cat caught Chipzilla I saw another in my new front garden. They're everywhere. And Boy Cat can kill as many as he can catch and I won't mourn them anymore. Boyo officially became our cat after we took him to the vet for what we feared was an ear abscess. It was actually a hematoma brought on by head-shaking due to ear mites. Once the vet got him, he wanted him snipped, of course, and we agreed. After that, we figured we owed him a good home. He insists on going outside but we always get him in before it's too dark, and he can't go out in the morning until the sun is well up to avoid coyotes' favorite hunting times. I couldn't bear to lose him now, but it's a question of quality of life. If we try to keep him inside all the time he'll be miserable. And now that my pulmonarias are recovering it's time for another loss. A %$*#%^&*% deer (giant wood rats!) ravaged my Hosta 'Guacamole'. Just like last year. Sigh. I doubt it will recover enough to flower this year. Grrr. It's always something...

i lost my senior great dane girl 5 weeks ago to bone cancer. it was sudden and shocking and i still look for her. my remaining dane girl and eden were joined at the hip, pip took the loss very hard and had been grieving so much, it broke my heart. i contacted pip's breeder and one of her former co-owners and asked that they keep an eye out for any adults that any breeder friends might be considering a new home for (retired show dogs, etc.). the co-owner gave me the contact information for one of her people who had a dane boy she had been looking for just the right home for and the rest is history. meet "flighty foto my way", call name "frank". frank will be 4 years old on 5/31. he is a very sweet boy and he and pippin hit it off immediately at our meet 'n' greet friday. they do zoomies numerous times a day, sleep curled up together and are just a perfect pair. pippin is so much happier and that makes me happier. even though i miss eden terribly, i am beginning to heal now that pip is feeling better. frank is a bit on the thin side because he lived the last 4 weeks with a female dane who was going through a heat cycle and when that's going on, intact males ignore food, do a lot of pacing and fretting and routinely lose weight. he's eating like a horse so i'm confident he will gain and be back to his normal weight soon. i'm giving him a few weeks to settle in and then i'll make an appointment to have him neutered.

Hi, Nicole, You're right to be concerned about mixing materials on the exterior of your home. Our rule of thumb is to limit the exterior materials to a maximum of three. That said, simply limiting the number of different materials doesn't guarantee the combination is pleasing. If you have sufficiently thick skin, you can always post alternative elevations here on houzz.com for comments.

Chispa and 3onthetree, I think you were closest to understanding what I was trying to ask. :) The spacing by the hood is 12" at the narrowest point so there is room for sconces there. Is it too much to have both those and pendants over the island? Or which would you choose? I am undecided on lighting inside the glass cabinets because they are more for useful dishes rather than display. (The rendering is for layout only and does not show any tile, trim, or countertop choices.)