Thanks for the informative post mountainman. I knew that some open eye figs needed to be pollinated and other do not. I did not know that pollinating them could cause the pulp to change color. As for the poetry, I have written lots of poetry some better and some worse than the one above. Though I have never written a poem about figs before today. I just wanted express my love for figs and my unknown Keepers. I would not trade them for any other named fig. For now they are but a sweet mystery to be savored again and again. Till the Fall season over takes them and they sleep as though dead till Spring returns them to me once again. Enough now of poetry as this is not a poetry forum.lol

Awe, Thanks guys!! The kitchen was the selling point for me. In fact the kitchen is larger than my living room LOL!! Keep in mind its an eat in kitchen but as you can see I have a large dining table and even when I open it up to seat 12 there is plenty of room so no I do not miss having a seperate dining room. I am fascinated with whats inside those cabinet boxes in the garage...we just havent had the time to get into that right now. On the wood floors I have been using a swiffer type dust mop for daily dirt and once a week I use orange glow. The floors look so much better now!! As for the backsplash we were thinking about going with something along the lines of either glass tile of faux tin. I would much rather see the faux tin used in a more casual setting such as the man cave so I am leaning towards glass tile. I saw an episode of color splash the other day and he used this beautiful glass tile made using broken glass, it was pretty!! Annie...we love the pool table! Growing up my family had one and as young adults my brother had one and we would go over every weekend for "tournaments". That brother moved and gave it to another brother who ended up selling it to make room for a bedroom ect...so needless to say when we were given the option of keeping it we said YES!! It needs to be felted which we will do when Frank gets around to the man cave!! Woodie...LOL!! LOve the garden state!! BTW...I am exit 23 of 295....love to have you over for lunch sometime!! Cooleen...I agree about the bay window....There are many types of micro blinds out there. Right now as you can see they put up builders grade blinds many of which are cracked and we are missing one slat on each end. Also with your idea I could use the floor of the window to display some art peices. For the lanai I want to put up some heavy panels now and perhaps come springtime go for the sheers. I guess my biggest question is "do I cover the whole wall with drapes-even the doors??" or "do I cover the doors with a door type panel and the windows seperately?" WE use the lanai door as our everyday entrance so if I make it like a wall of curtains we'll have to open the door many time during the day as we come and go and let the pooch out ect....is a dilemma. Lpink...I wish I had a before pic of Amys room....there may be pics on the photo page-look for a post around Jan or Feb. Anyways the trim was done in blazing orange/red. Its was up against off white walls....it was poorly done so I was very proud of Amy for doing all the work herself! Its like a whole new room. She has the room for a full or queen size bed so over the holiday break we will explore new beds for her room! As for the ordeal we had to deal with...its really a distant memory now, We were "meant" to be here and thats all that we think about. You know a lot of people in work still make comments like "oh the drive back and forth must be a drag"...to which I reply "as soon as I cross that bridge out of the city my stress just melts away LOL" Oh and my favorite-you jersey folks will appreciate this one..."oh the taxes in Jersey must be killing you" To which I respond "my taxes are higher but...oh yeah...I have a single house on a double lot only 3 blocks to the beautiful park on the river and my gas is WAY cheaper, my insurance is way beyond cheaper and my sons school was ranked in the Philadelphia Magazine as one of the top 50 schools in the tri-state region....and I don't live in a rowhome where I hear my nieghbor flush their toilets thru the paper thin walls...and the crime rate-what crime rate-my town doesn't even have a police force LOL!!! Usually shuts them right up LOL!!! Thanks for all the comments. I love all the ideas so keep em coming!! Cheers! Susie

LOL, Toni! If I posted my senior picture, you would really think DD & I look alike! I am sure your third graders love Nacho. Sydney is in DH's lap right now. They are watching W. C. Fields. The hawk showed up a few days after Christmas, it might have been New Years Eve. I made cabbage rolls & made DH help, since it was his idea. I wasn't in the mood to fool with them, but when I bought cabbage for me for New Years, since I hate saurkraut, he thought I should buy two heads and use the biggest leaves for cabbage rolls. I told him if I had to make them he had to help. It was while we were making them, that the hawk showed up. I have another pic of it flying away. He might have had lunch in his talons, but we aren't sure. We have a pine tree and a mongo pine bush out front that has turned into bird condos, so he might have had a caught a meal. Tami

rufinorox- They are actually Whirlpool appliances! I would have preferred Kitchen Aid or Frigidaire, but the builder (it's a new build) doesn't offer. Thanks! jsweenc- I figured out that I am fine choosing as things go along. Choosing floors, having those down, choosing what comes next, having that in.... But all at once on small samples kicked my butt!!! But, we're happy! Thanks!