I took it to the forestry department in the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to get it checked out this morning. They knew what it was right away and said it is indeed eastern dwarf misteltoe. The professor said that it is the cause of many witches brooms found in northern Wisconsin, and the northeast portion of the country in general. Externally, he could only find it on the bottom branches. He thinks that it hasn't yet spread to the top of the plant. He took some slices of branches from the upper portions to look under a microscope and saw no pathological evidence of it there, confirming it has not already spread internally on the plant. I'll leave it up to the grafters to decide. Matt

Well, we probably shouldn't get started on the whole hunting vs non-hunting thing because it is too complex and volatile a subject. HAVING SAID THAT,if someone asked me what my stance was it would be simply this: I MIGHT be pro-hunting if everyone who hunted my property first filled out,in detail, a questionnaire completely profiling both their hunting ability and what level of awareness/respect they had for the animal and the life they were about to take. Only through this process of selection and elimination would I allow people to hunt my land, but since that is basically just a pipe dream, and since I know too well the reality of what kind of people hunt near me, I generally utter the word "hunter" with a curled upper lip. The sadness of this situation is that, once again, it's due to human intervention that the predators are no longer here, the deer are everywhere in unnaturally inflated numbers, and the ecosystem is starting to show the strain. And by the way, Scandia...I had a similar experience with a hunter myself in my own woods. A hunter, a man I know, levelled his shotgun at my chest about seven years ago. I was less than 35 yards away and wearing a fuschia colored sweatshirt because I didn't own any blaze orange. When he realized what he had nearly done he said he almost peed himself. I had always been indignant about the blaze orange rule...it was my property and there wasn't anyone allowed back there so by golly I was going to wear whatever I pleased. I learned a valuable lesson from that...I might have been right, but I would still have been dead. Now when I patrol my property I assume I am about to confront Larry, Darryl and Darryl and they all have coke-bottle glasses and can't see past ten yards AND I WEAR BLAZE ORANGE.

If everything is the same, there is no reason to spend more. If not everything is the same, then you have to decide what matters the most and decide which one meets your requirements the best in that regard. Quality of construction is always important. So if there is a way to check that, it may make a difference. What sort of insulation is in place? How are water and wind kept out in a driving storm? If snow happens to accumulate, will melt get in? How tightly do they seal? what sort of hardware is used? Material makes a difference. Is one using a different type of wood? Different thickness? Different process to handle color or protective coating for longer lifespan? If these are clad windows, what cladding are they using? Some other considerations impact maintenance and day to day usage. If they are Casements, which ones allow for ease of cleaning? Does one offer the "self-cleaning" coating on the exterior? Is Casement easy to operate? Is dbl-hung easy to open and close and take our for cleaning? If they have woods inside, which ones use more wood so that from the inside, it is all wood versus another that shows more of other material? Does one come with a screen that also have wood look to match the windows while the other uses metal? if you have SDL's, which one does a better job? Does one have flimsy or skinny snap-on? Does one offer a traditional thicker and more realistic look? It is unclear in your post so I helped you by asking all these additional questions. Good luck!

I'm thinking that if the dining room table ends up full of clutter /used as a drop zone, the best answer is to organize the house in such a way that this DOESN'T happen! What's the source of the clutter? If it's school bags, include something like lockers in the utility room. If it's paper and junk mail, consider some sort of collection-spot by the front door. I personally think moving the dining room table to the bump-out is a brilliant idea because it'll bring in more light, regardless of what you choose don't just accept and plan a major part of the house to be for clutter ! I understand the idea of wanting your kitchen -- not always the cleanest spot -- to be hidden from view, and keeping it in the back of the house IS a good idea; however, that's not the only way to accomplish this goal. A two-level island could do the same thing. A well-planned kitchen (with ample storage) that encourages you to keep things neat could do the same thing. I also have two girls, who are now 18 and 21. A divided bathroom is not a "need". It's not even a positive! Items of architectural interest that don't cost a fortune. You really have to do some reading to figure out what things YOU like, but here are a couple ideas: The dining room in the plan we're going to build is set up much like yours, and this bookcase over banquette in the dining room is a picture I've had a long time. It's not particularly expensive, but it is more interesting than a plain wall. A thick wall walk-through is more interesting than a skinny wall (and this kind of harkens to the problem I pointed out with the skinny wall near the foyer). Note that this wall isn't just thick for no reason: It hides a bookcase /chest of drawers. The curved doorway is expensive, but the storage-placed-in-wall-to-make-it-look-thicker isn't. CPArtist, I don't think it's that the OP doesn't want to create a house with architectural interest; rather, I think she isn't far enough into this project yet to recognize what that means. The answer, of course, is reading and studying. I personally would put the master bedroom back door in the bedroom. I think it's a bit odd in the bathroom, but that is personal opinion. Kids can't sneak out of 5 acres? Oh, please! I grew up with a 5-acre front yard and two 15-acre side yards; the woods and farm were behind the house! And while none of us five were really sneak-outers, an occasional person may've snuck IN without our parents' knowledge. The secret is to have the friend park just out of sight and walk over. This is a parenting issue, not something that can be avoided by organizing the house "just so". Anytime you say, "My kids will never ___ because of ___", you're kidding yourself! MadEye Moody, a wise wizard, told us: Constant vigilance! If you intend to care for the elderly in this house one day, you should definitely make some changes in the bathroom -- that's the #1 thing that causes people trouble in their homes as they age. I suggest you do some reading on Universal Design or Aging-in-Place. You'll find loads of small things you can do now that'll make your "retirement job" possible in the future. Hearing that you're planning on hobby farming, I'm copying the same thing I just wrote on another post a few minutes ago -- It's about a showers in mudrooms: As for a shower in the mudroom, it's not so practical as it sounds: You walk in and want to take a shower before you enter "the house proper". So you walk into the mudroom, dragging in dirt, then get into the shower (be sure to allot space for a hamper for dirty clothes) ... then, although you're clean, your clothes are still all the way across the house. So do you walk across the house in your towel? Hope your kids don't have friends over. A better plan: The real problem is YOUR FEET. So instead of a mudroom shower, go with a nice big foot wash just outside the house (or in a garage); it could double as a dog wash. Make it maybe 2x3 tile, and include a low spigot, a drain and maybe a spray so you can really squirt off the mud. Place a rack or shelf for wet shoes right by the foot wash. Place your foot wash right by the back door so that once your feet are clean, you're ready to step right into the house (obviously you don't want to walk across the yard with your now-clean feet). Once you're in the house, go straight to your own bathroom, where you have your own towels, toiletries, and clean clothes.