Stupendous Celeste!! The tour was amazing, we all very much appreciate you sharing your gardens with us. Hum... maybe I need to take Gardening 101 all over again. lol So very inspiring, gorgeous, breathtaking... A hammock is on my to get list also. We'll see how many band- aids get used with my kids flipping it over. lol Rena'

This is fabulous news! I don't want to be a wet blanket :( I'm trying to figure out why they don't want the floor to acclimate to your house longer before laying, especially considering it's Winter and you're in a weathery location. I'd think the exterior cool in shipping it would shrink it and that it would be expanding in the heat of your home. I don't know enough about wood rules--maybe for what you have it's normal to lay right away. In my warm climate my hardwood had to sit in the house for six weeks before it was laid. We have very moderate temperature changes and my wood reacts :)

Personally, I would take the route where I do nothing and lower the price accordingly. I would get a few contractors to give you a ballpark estimate for the cost of improvement that you are considering. Then price the house (townhome) such that it would be about that much less than what you would have gotten with the improvements. The total take home amount is the same to you since you did not outlay the improvement cost. From the descriptions, I would say the cost will add up quickly if you are paying someone else to do the work. Try to sell the house as-is with the lowered price toward the end of your stay. If you sell it without the work, then great. Otherwise, take the house off the market, and you can do the work once you move out. I think the work will go alot more smoothly when the house is empty. Also, factor in what you are willing to take as the "lesser price of the house" so that you are spared of the hassle of organizing workers with little ones around. That way, you know that there is a dollar value associated with the hours that will cost you. This will also lower the price of the house. For some, this is 0 and other it may be tens of thousand of dollars. Only you know what this value is. Depending on the neighborhood, the house without the improvements will be enough of a bargain where you will have NO trouble selling. Talk to a good realtor and get a feel for the value of "improvements" in determining the price of the house. Remember bargain-priced entry-level houses move quickly.

> Feeder activity will slow down, sometimes come to a stop, > when the weather turns mild in winter. > Cold, snowy weather will increase the activity around your feeders. This seems to've been very true. Eventually the activity picked up again, I put out more suet cakes and even filled a few more feeders. Then activity again ceased. My biggest concern, because it wasn't fresh seed, was that it could have grown fungus or become moldy and that I may've been inadvertently poisoning them! But I think I finally figured it out. In addition to the woodpeckers, titmice, nuthatches, etc. along came a Mockingbird who I, at times, noticed seemed to be chasing away the other birds. I was previously unaware of this but looked into it and learned that Mockingbirds are apparently very territorial, aggressive and even considered by some as "pests". We have a Mocking bird that rules our property. We enjoy the red birds, blue birds and beautiful yellow finches, but this Mocking bird will not allow them to feed at the feeders we have provided for them. He doesn't want to eat, just doesn't want any other birds in the yard. What to do with a terrible, territorial Mocking bird?! Mockingbird: Melodious but Mean A mockingbird is chasing all the birds away from my feeder. What Imma gonna do? Anyone know how to scare mockingbirds?