Ok, BIL, I'm inspired again. Thanks much for the encouragement. And one thing for sure - the view and the river access are not available in the city - not at that price. We'll talk more later. girlgroupgirl, I'm surprised that the vinegar/orange oil would not be considered organic. I know that the 20% vinegar is not something to handle lightly but I think our standards here might have more to do with how the product breaks down in the environment and from that standpoint, it should be considered organic. But 20% vinegar is topically toxic, that is true. And yes, termites are a problem here. In fact, you have to have a termite inspection done in order to sell a house. Carpenter ants are a problem. I have noticed that as the biodiversity in my yard has increased, the fire ants have decreased although I'm not sure if that's the reason. I used to get rid of them just by spraying the mounds with my water hose. Then they leave but they just go to my neighbors. But nobody around here complains much about them. I think they went to the 'burbs' of Austin where people use more chemicals. When there is a lot of rain and flooding, I do hear people complain that they all mound up together on floating wood, etc. and you'll see these floating fire ant mounds in the lakes and shores and you have to steer clear of them. Pretty funny, huh? Do y'all have organic pest control companies in Atlanta? That is really interesting about your friend's workmen not being as sensitive to poison ivy. We used to have a bunch around here but we've managed to get it under control in our yards. But our neighborhood park and creek are full. I was never allergic until I was in the landscape business and cleaned out a long row of Azaleas not realizing that I was pulling out poison ivy. Yikes! I was covered and have been allergic since. TECNU is the product to use. Very effective.

Weddingdance, Welcome to Jefferson. We moved here about 19 years ago when we built our house (3 acres of ground); however, my youth was spent growing up in Knoxville. We have been naturalizing our lower two acres back into woodland (long, slow process), but less upkeep and supports a lot of nature. Our upper acre has been landscaped to take native wildlife into consideration, but evolves as plants mature. I agree with Peggy about Surrybrooke Farm. I am amazed with what Nancy has done with this property, especially since it is her family's home too. Nancy did some flowerbed layout for me off of my patio not too long after we moved in. I see by your dates, you are just now moving in. Once you are settled in, please feel free to e-mail me through this site if you would like to hook up. It is always good to meet a fellow gardener. By the way, I hope you were "warned" about the bunny problem in Jefferson, they are cute, but not when they destroy all you have planted. Lately I have been mostly visiting "That Home Site" in the Gardenweb since we are in the process of upgrading/renovating our kitchen.

Well, Here we are in Feb. We had to go back and look at how the kitchen would function after everyone's kind remarks. Then, Christmas came and my college aged kids came home and I just ran out of time to think about the "reno". We have changed quite a few things in the ensuing months. First, we moved the sink to the far wall giving us a "scullery" LOL. Not that I have a scullery maid other than me! I like the idea of being able to put dirty dishes down away from where I think guests may be. Next, we switched the 48" gas cooktop to a 36" induction cooktop. I thinl that will fit more closely how we cook these days. It's just the two of us (myself and Muppetdad) at home most of the time. The kids are all away in school or moved out and independent. We love to cook, but I would prefer an easy cleanup. We tried to move the door to the dining room, but all of our venting, a lot of plumbing and other "stuff" go right up that wall just where the door would go. We also talked about turning the chairs around, but we have a very long narrow kitchen. The island is as wide as it can go. The GC just came back this week to say that the 12 foot sliding glass door to the new screened porch will fit and has been signed off on by the engineer. The orginal idea was to have the entire wall slide open to the porch. This would have been great if we were made of money..... but I will love the 12' door almost as much. At lease it's not 6' which is where we started! The demo has begun on the kitchen. I will post some more pictures of the plans and pictures of demo. I am very interested in everyone's thoughts. Cheers, Muppetmom

Well my goodness what a welcome wagon we have here. I was shocked to see the post with my name on it, and then read all the sweet greetings from you all. Thank you Ron for posting. All I have in the house is midget toosie rolls, but your welcome to them. Or I could make some yummy brownies. lol Okay, a little bit about myself. I was born here in Alabama but left the south when I was two and moved to Michigan. Where my husband and I owned a automotive business (manufacturing) in the suburbs of Detroit. After his death I sold everything and moved back to start anew. But that was about fifteen years ago, oh my. About five years ago I bought an historcial home here in a small town much like Mayberry. We have festivals, parades, eye contact, and homemade everything. I never had children, but they say, "You don't miss what you never had". But I do adore them. I love interior design and I am mad about antique's. I joined because I was starting to grow antique rose's but lost interest. I am turning this into a novel, sorry. Now your turn. ....Jane Susan I did read your email. I thought my house was old, geez. Your house is so sweet. As soon as I fiqure out how to post picture's I will do so.