Concrete pavers are like any other product- you get what you pay for. If your heart is set on a natural material, you may not be happy with even the best concrete pavers. Is bluestone, in a random rectangular pattern an option? Concrete pavers are durable- again, if you buy good ones. My brother laid a paver patio about 12 years ago, dug it up two years ago, and relaid all the pavers for a new patio. Looks good as new.

I bought a couple of these towers from Raintree. I got them because my garden space is quite limited where I am now. The first one I got was the short one--that one was not a bad idea. I would recommend it. It has about 2 dozen holes for the berries. When you grow the berries, the pots fill up with roots and the soil gets depleted. You do have to clear them out every so often and renew the soil. I went to an all day class at Raintree on March 22nd and they said in one of the sessions that the berries only produce well for 2-3 years and then you have to discard them. That may be simply that the soil in the containers gets exhausted? I am no expert on that one. As to the larger tower. I emptied it out yesterday as most of the plants in it were dead. It is nearly as tall as I am 5+ft. It was awful to try and get the tangled roots out, and that is a job you would have to do periodically. I think this is important to know. If you have very little space for gardening, you might want to go for it anyway? But it is useful to know ahead of time. That is the tradeoff for the taller tower. And it is also heavy to pick up to knock out the old soil. As I said before, the shorter tower was easier to manage with regard to this issue. I am going to sell the larger one because I plan to move to a colder planting zone and the roots would freeze in the winter in that tower if they were not planted in the ground. Also, where I plan to move, space is not an issue. YMMV. Abs

I'm in a similar situation and was told that I would need to get a county official to provide me with a letter stating that certificates of occupancy are not issued in my area. The IRS could not tell me just which county official to go to but, after checking around a bit, I found out that the septic permitting office in my county was providing "no certificate of occupancy" letters. So if you had to get a septic permit (or any other sort of permit), I would check with that permitting office first. If that doesn't work, try your county commissioners. As for "proof" of when you actually move in, the IRS can't tell you what evidence they will actually accept - but they will tell you that the "burden of proof" is on the taxpayer. Apparently, whichever IRS agent reviews your tax filing just gets to decide whether the evidence you present seems convincing enough to him/her. But if the agent decides against you and denies your claim for the credit, you CAN appeal the denial so there is at least some hope you won't be denied willy-nilly. Still, it seems likely that the more proof you provide of your move-in date, the more likely it is that the IRS agent will be satisified. So: 1) File a change of address with the post office and provide copies of the change of address forms. 2) Officially (in writing) notifiy your employers of your new address and keep a copy of your letter. 3) Change your voter registration. 4) If you had been claiming your house in town as your homestead, contact the taxing office and officially relinquish it. Than claim your new home as your new homestead as of your move-in date. Even if you live in a state where homestead exemption is automatic, you can still file an affidavit in the county land records stating that you are claiming such-and-such an address as your homestead. And you can send a letter to the taxing authorities for both your old home and your new home stating that you are changing your homestead. 5) Change your home and automobile insurance policies. Automobile policy rates are usually set, at least in part, on where your car is "garaged" so changing that address will be further proof of your move-in date. 6) Since you need water and electricity to build, you've probably had most of the utilities hooked up and in your name just about forever. But if you were planning to get cable service or DSL or a land line telephone or anything like that, go ahead and get it hooked up before the 30th and keep the records. 7) Start having the local newspaper delivered to your new address... even if you only sign up for a three month subscription. Nobody has a newspaper delivered to an address where they aren't yet living! 8) Hire a moving van - or at least rent a U-Haul - to move your belongings. And keep the records. 9) Arrange for weekly trash pick up at your new home. 10) If you still have a portajohn on the premises, contact the portapotty people and have them pick it up and send you a final bill. (Nobody keeps a portapotty after they've moved in!) 11) If you still have a dumpster on your property for construction debris, get it hauled away and get your final bill. The IRS is not going to believe you have moved in if you still have a dumpster sitting in the yard! 12) Throw yourself a housewarming party and invite everybody by email. Be sure to indicate on the invitation that you are celebrating the fact that you have FINALLY MOVED IN to your new home. Keep copies of your invitations and the guest list. Every guest is a potential witness for you in the event you wind up having to appeal a denial of the credit. Think also in terms of providing evidence that you have MOVED OUT of your old home. Eg., If you were planning to sell (or rent) your old home, start advertizing that it is available as of May 1. And keep records of your efforts to sell or rent the old place. Or, if a family member is going to live in the old house once you move out, have them sign a dated rental agreement even if you only charge them $10 per year in rent. And have them change all the utilities at the old house over to their name immediately. Or, if the old house will sit empty for awhile (like us, you may be planning to spruce up the old house a bit before putting it on the market), have the utilities shut off until you are ready to start working on it. That will help prove you are no longer living at the old address. Besides, why pay for utility services you're not using. And, keep calling the IRS to ask about this issue. The more calls they get to their help-line asking questions about this specific issue, the more likely it is that the IRS will develop guidelines to give their agents so that there will be some consistency in how agents deal with those of us making a claim for the credit under our somewhat unusual circumstances.

Julieckmo- wow, you have alot stored in that corner cabinet! Way better than a lazy susan or the black hole blind cabinet that I have now. Tracie.erin - since you showed me that recessed pantry, I've been obsessed with it. It seemed like the perfect solution. Unfortunately, DH is totally against for now. Something about having to relocate something important that's in that wall. Frankly, I have so much on my plate right now with my son, that I don't have the energy to fight with DH over it. But I'm still obsessed! Lysia - I am struggling with what to put in the butlers pantry area. One on hand, it should be something that is helpful to have near the dining area. Also, it can be something that is ok to be somewhat separate from the rest of the kitchen, which is why cleanup makes alot of sense. But most importantly, it shouldn't be something that would obstruct so ideally, the DW nor the fridge should be there. I think you have me convinced on two sinks though. Lavender Lass - you and Lysia make good points about not having enough room behind the island. But without those cabinets along that wall, I know I won't have enough storage. So the island probably won't work. I'm starting to think I should just give up! I'm going to fiddle with cabinet depths and aisle widths and see if I can come up with anything else. But I'm doubtful. Buehl or Williamsen or anyone else, if you have any other ideas please let me know. Thank you all so much for your help. I may have pulled the trigger on another poor layout if it wasn't for your insight.