Now is your dog posing like Vanna to draw our attention to the potting bench? he-he I think it is cute that the dog is sitting so nicely on the stepping stone. Love the bench! It looks especially gorgeous with your soda can flowers and the watermelon. The greenhouse looks fantastic! What a lovely area you and your DH created with "junk."

I stated no one has to send in 100, that is the limit of how many can be sent in. I think people are waiting to see what comes back this year before they join. I am gonna start color coded my post so people can pick them out and make SURE they read them. OK here is the plan. You can now post your list of plants you are mailing in, PLANT LIST CAN BE POSTED UNTIL: THIS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ONCE I HEAR FROM NICHOL, you can choose what you would like to recieve from these list. Nichol will keep track of the posted list and on the last day before mailing plants out will email the final list to all the members. From this list you pick your top list of what you would like to receive back. NO GAURANTEES WILL BE MADE THAT YOU WILL GET ALL YOUR WISHES FILLED IT DEPENDS ON HOW MANY REQUEST ARE MADE FOR THAT PLANT. YOU MUST SEND IN A LIST TO ME OF WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU ARE SENDING IN. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO PRINT OUT A LIST OR HAND PRINT ONE YOU CAN SEND ME .30 EXTRA FOR ME TO PRINT A LIST FOR YOU. THIS WILL BE TO COVER MY PAPER AND INK which is not cheap, either way I HAVE to have a hard copy to look at while I am filling boxes. Nichol can you get the compiled list emailed to everyone in time? THE MAIL DATES MAY BE CHANGED, IF SO I WILL POST A WHOLE NEW POST WITH ALL THE NEW INFO INCLUDED AT THIS TIME. NICHOL, IF I CHANGE THE MAIL IN DATE the day you have to EMAIL THE COMPILED LIST WILL BE MAY 24th it is a SUNDAY are you ok with this? OK, I am tired and I will change whatever tomorrow after I hear from Nichol. :) Fran

Sounds like a big dusty, sweaty job. I have four options, still not sure which one to pick. 1. Have the tiles laid with a gradual slope down toward the room with the wood floor; the floor won't be level, spilled water in the kitchen will head straight toward the wood floor, kitchen island will need to be shimmed to make it level. 2. or hire someone to grind down the slab region that is higher; big expensive messy job. 3. or tear out all of the wood floor and bring the other slab higher; very expensive re-flooring of almost the whole house. 4. or create a floor transition between tile and wood that has a step-down to the lower wood floor. The divide between the tile and wood floor is an opening between two rooms that has an arch (like an entire wall that is open, with just an arch at the top).

I agree with adding the column. What is the overall style of your home? In our neighborhood, there are many "vintage open floor plans," circa 1900-1930, and all have columns between the living and dining rooms. I love the combination of connectedness and distinction between the spaces. The square column pictured is in the style of our area homes. But if you have a more modern aesthetic or neighborhood, perhaps do a search on Houzz to see examples of simple and more creative columns. Personally, I really dislike pony walls. They're elbow-catchers, clutter-catchers, etc. I agree they look unfinished, and they are structurally suspect. We have one in my organization's recently-renovated open workspace, and people are forever running into it. The contractor tried to talk our management out of it -- said that it always leads to dissatisfaction because they inevitably get knocked loose (this one's stand-alone, not anchored to a wall). It's not wobbly per se, but it does not inspire architectural confidence. Plus, all us office drones end up leaving piles of files and coffee mugs on it (it's a little higher than bar height, perfect for leaning and chatting and leaving things behind). Good luck and have fun!