Thanks for the additional mouse plant information. I'll be sure to mark it somehow so I don't dig it up (or at least reduce the likelihood of me digging it up) during its summer dormancy. Amy, you're as likely, or unlikely, to get fruit from your seedling as from most grafted, named varieties, so I'd say test-drive you new seedling and see what you think. Otherwise you'll be spending prime money for a grafted named variety that probably won't bear fruit anyway in this climate. My old one has become a very, very attractive little tree. As gardengal mentioned, they really can't be expected to bear fruit in the Pacific Northwest unless you can give them additional protection. My old one does flower reliably, so that's a start, but in this climate they're basically fun foliage plants. The raintree catalog mentions that clearly, and I hope the sales person did when you talked with them. I still may plant one in this current garden as a foliage plant. Let us know what you do with yours, and how it works out. Take care, Grant

$360,000 to build + $200,000 for 40 acres with 330' lakeshore in MN. The cost to build includes about $30,000 for gravel driveway, $7,500 for underground electricity, well for $6,250 and $10,500 for septic. 4 BR/2.5 bath. 1,450 sq ft main finished, 1,100 2nd level finished, 1,450 basement unfinished, 780 bonus room unfinished. 2-car garage unfinished, 28'x28'=780 sq ft. Colonial variation with 6 dormers. 9' ceilings throughout including basement. Open floor plan two story great room/kitchen/dining room. Master BR and laundry on Main Floor. Split-faced block, Hardiboard siding. 8/12 pitch with architectural 40-yr shingles. Upper mid-level finishes. Large porcelain tile, BR-111 Amendoim wood floor, 48" stainless steel double oven stove with custom 48" range hood, maple stair treads and railings with white balusters, maple fireplace hearth surround, custom mudroom lockers, geothermal HVAC including radiant floor in basement plus desuperheater, garage and bathroom tile floors, closed cell sprayfoam insulation, quality vinyl argon-filled casement windows. Finished building August, 2009. Hopefully plan on never moving. I was nervous building in a severe market collapse because I didn't know what would happen if our appraisal was less than what it cost to build. Local lender really helped as well as one-time close construction to permanent loan as they had an incentive to get it closed. I was technically the GC although we had an experienced, quality builder. I did the tile, wood floors, built master shower, painting, basement waterproofing, interior and exterior drain tile, much of radiant tubing and below slab insulation, closet systems, pantry, low voltage wiring including Cat6 and coax to multiple locations in each room, security wiring, music system and speaker wiring, fireplace mantle, hearth and surround, etc. On-site every day after work and many days before work too and every weekend.

Yes, Emergency Vets are very expensive. We have been through this as well. In Toronto at our "best" Emergency -the one where many specialists are located, emergency surgery will only be done with a 24 hour work-up - which sometimes your pet won't have. So they call Guelph University's Small Animal Clinic and a specialist will meed you there in the middle of the night - a 3 hour drive for us with a paralyzing dog - a nightmare - but a great neuro. You absolutely have to have a referral to do this. We had to pay 50% of estimated cost upfront before the admitting doctor would even look at him - neuro was on his way in - in cash or equivalent. Wonderful clinic at Guelph - of course I hope never to see the place again. Emergency surgery at Guelph costs as much, if not more, than surgery by a Toronto specialist. "Regular" surgery can cost less. My own vet had to hit the road at midnight with her dog because the 24 hour rule applied to her as well - which came as a shock to her. Emergency back surgery for a Dachshund runs about $8,000 Cdn. at the moment for those who might have wondered. And of course many breeds are starting to require back surgery in alarming numbers - our neuro's 2 dogs also - we were all sleeping on the floor on mattresses.

We considered doing just this. However, our plan was a 1-year, not a 10-year, to finish the second floor. I DO agree with the previous posters that you should do windows and rough plumbing electrical. Our plan: we'd figured out the basic layout of the upstairs. (You'll probably need some bearing walls in the interior, no? So figure out where they will be and what the room layout will be.) it'll certainly be easier to have a complete plan of the upstairs before starting, so you'll know where the stair will come down, and they builders will frame in the opening for the stairwell into the floor, etc. Personally I think I'd have the stairs done now and just have a closed door at the top... Our plan was: -Have the builder do the exterior framing, roofing, window installation, exterior siding, interior stud wall framing. -Since we DIY plumbing & electrical, we'd have carefully planned the rough-ins for those to correspond with the downstairs kitchen electrical and plumbing, and run plumbing stub-ins up through the floor and electrical up through the floor (that way the downstairs can be finished and you won't have to open up walls later to run stuff unpstairs!) -We planned to leave the interior walls bare- just studs- but to insulate the exterior walls and seal them with vapor barrier. We felt that at that point it would be OK to leave the top floor unheated -or very slightly heated- until we finished it. So, we'd have a finished downstairs, and a finished exterior. The stairway to the second floor would be sealed/closed with a door. Upstairs, the floor would be plywood subfloor, the interior walls just studs with plumbing and electrical rough-ins coming up through the sole plates but not going anywhere, and the exterior walls insulated and vapor-barriered. I'm not sure I'd want to leave it like that for 10 years, though! What if circumstances changed and you had to sell the house or something? You'd have an empty shell. And wi-sailorgirl's point about paying taxes is a good one. In my town that add'l living space would add a hefty chunk to the annual taxes :( I guess an in-between solution might be to do the careful plans for the second floor now, and run the plumbing/electrical in the downstairs walls, and make sure your architect/builder knows that you intend to "pop the top" at a later date so that construction details can be planned to facilitate that later.