That's too bad but you'll have plenty more blooms over the season. I'm going away next week as well and know that my plants are going to look like crap when I get back. The neighbors kids that take care of my animals and plants when we're away really do a pretty good job but there's just too many plants to expect them to care for as well as too many animals. It takes me a couple hours each day to water everything and I can't ask them to do that. Besides that the animals are more important and there's quite a few of them too. We have a dog, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, 2 sugar gliders, 4 chinchillas, 4 geckos, 2 hamsters, 1 rat, 1 lovebird, 1 tree frog, 2 crabs, 2 anoles, 2 tropical fish tanks and 2 goldfish ponds to care for. It's like a full time job taking care of our pets and plants. lol I'll put up a large shade cloth and stick as many plants as possible under it and hope for the best. Certain plants I will have them pay special attention to and I'll try to group stuff so they can just hit it with the hose. I hope your plants do well and have a good time! Karyn

Interesting thought, fly! I spent a good deal of time on the website linked below - but this woman isn't a pet psychic, I get the feeling she's more of a hand-holder. I wonder if she would give any better advice than what I've received from you all here? (I'm doubtful. Still, I'm somewhat intrigued!) In all honesty, I don't know if I could fully put my trust in a psychic. I guess my biggest issue would be that I'd worry I was simply handing over $ to someone who was taking advantage ... I don't know. I really know nothing about such things. I've just returned from yet another neighborhood scouting mission, and just about gave my stupid self frostbite in the process. DH is certain that Molly is not going to venture out any, if at all, in this cold. But I do see numerous cat prints in the snow, and somebody is coming back repeatedly to eat from the dish on the front porch. Could just be that big tom though ... ::sigh:: Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Profiler

I would LOVE to visit you in Tyler...one of my favorite places in the world, but I'm stuck over here in the west this week and next :^( Blessings to you, I'll be thinking about you! J

Wow, thank you all so much. Lavendar_lass thank you for posting that layout, I really am liking it (thank you Buehl as well, yes I have two growing sons and a huge husband, never thought of leg room!). Rebunky thanks for posting the pics I'll have more to say on that later because I love love love that buttery black counter with those pretty white counters and am guessing you are deciding backsplash? :) I am dying to see your kitchen. Excuse my absence, we've been in heavy duty talks. Thanks to the so many of you that posted, each and every one of you has given me something to consider, that's what I was looking for. I was dragging my feet on ordering cabinets (which is about to delay us), and I realized it was just that I wasn't really happy with the kitchen layout, but couldn't figure out why. I am really starting to get a better grip on the issues, challenges, and space requirements. I am embarrassed to admit we just didn't re-visit the issue of expansion of living space vs. screened porch, and I think this has to do to the evolution of our project. Which has been less than ideal. We spent months and months thinking based on one contractor) that it was out of reach. I think we just let that dream go, and didn't go back to it. DH who I thought might kill me, based on yet another design change, just loved it. Of course it comes down to numbers, for my interior contractor, I'm approved. I need to verify with the framers the true cost difference. He was talking additional baffles (?) and flooring framing (it's not over heated living space) however we wonder if treated vs. untreated wood and some other things may just really offset it. We will see. This has gotten me actually excited about the kitchen. Finally. This is the whole reason I love to have other eyes on a project, sometimes you just really gain a fresh perspective that shakes you up and lets you think out of the box. I'm notorious for getting stuck in that box, so I try to compensate. Main Line, I appreciate your opinion, I agree that professionals make a difference. I did go to a professional for the original design. She did know my thoughts, and designed accordingly without critique, so I see the downfall. We did buy our bath vanity from them ( it fell in budget). There were a few bath drawings with all this extra cabinetry. My husband said from the start, her job is to sell cabinetry of course she is going to add additional pieces in. Hmm, never thought of that. Good point DH. I certainly thank you Main Line for the point that this could've been designed in a similar but more efficient and more inexpensive way. Perhaps I got a bum designer. That's a shame, I really like working with her. But, I wouldn't know, unless I went on a board like this. As I said, I like to have FRESH eyes. I'm trying to learn A LOT to be an educated consumer, in a short period of time. This board has been truly sanity saving in the amount of generous people willing to share. Some of the best features in our previous home, and this current home, have been due to our own design work. Now there are code and clearance issues, as seen in this kitchen example, that we aren't educated in. And I did have a professional KD. So I like to get more than one opinion. I have more to say on this, but I won't here. I am going to post some pics, which show our floorplan. Again, we hired a designer, but honestly I gave him our window dimensions, and I don't think he drew them correctly (even after a prelim revision). Whole point was to see how the big windows would look placed in the space. This was an expert recommended by a neighbor who used him on numerous home flips and had known him for years, and I had visited her home he designed. So I'm sorry Main Line, maybe I've had some bad luck, but when I base work off of recommendations and it doesn't work out, well there's problems. And I'm the one stuck, so I prefer more than one recommendation on design. Thanks to you all, pics in follow post.