Thank you Mr.Impatiens! I was hopeing to hear from you! The Brunos this year have been a bit funny. The bed they are in is literally 1/2 sun 1/2 shade-as in the back half is all shade, front half is all sun, and this bed is only 3 feet deep!. At first, the best looking plants, and best flowers were in the back (in the shade). It took a really long time for the front flowers (in the sun) to really take off. I mean, there were weeks where the front plants seem to suffer dearly in the full sun, were barely growing, and the back half was as very lush and a good 6 inches taller than the sunny ones. Two months later, the shaded ones have stopped blooming and the sunny ones are just a solid bed of color. The sunny impatiens are extremely floriferous, and the shaded ones have stopped blooming. The shaded ones have also grown much taller and leggy compared to the front ones. I am certain there are other factors contributing to this, for one thing I have the plants way way too close together (I had done this on purpose as an experiment). I am sure another factor could be needing pinching; until I had read this forum I never realized impatiens needed pinching, they always were self cleaning in my experience, although I am sure pinching helps everything. Another factor could be from when I grew them as seedlings. Some of my Brunos got pinched, some of them didnt. The reason why is because I had noticed that other impatiens I had grown took a real real long time to branch out and flower after having been pinched as seedlings. So I did this experiement to analyze this. As a result, all of the Brunos (pinched or not) flowered at the same time! This surprised me, I had thought the unpinched ones would flower much much sooner. Bruons have very large flowers, as do all impatiens I have grown. In fact, I have never grown the tiny flowered standards that you get at the nurseries, either that or I am doing something wrong, because all impatiens I have ever seeded ended up with large flowers. I am certain this is a variety issue. Anyone else have experiences with Brunos? Do you have a better suggestion for this bed, as far as varieties?

Colleen: Throughout a good portion of the country, the configuration you ask about is quite common. In the Upper Midwest, for example, it's actually somewhat unusual to encounter a home without a basement of some sort. If they're built correctly, with proper attention to water management and insulation, basements can be finished out into nice living spaces. The additional cost isn't that great, either, unless your alternative is a pure slab house. The cost becomes even more attractive when you consider the cost of building an equivalent amount of space above grade. If your alternative is a 3-foot crawlspace, another 6' of wall isn't *that* much more. I'm no expert, but I can tell you that with heavy clay like you probably have in NC, drainage/water control and exterior waterproofing is going to be key. Things to consider: 1) Drain tile (a 4" corrugated black pipe) should be placed around the foundation perimeter footings. It should either be run down a proper slope to daylight to drain, or (more likely) sent to a sump pit in the basement to then be pumped out away from the house. 2) Proper backfilling of the trench around the foundation. This will not only help the water drain to the drain tile (backfill is generally gravel, placed 18" at a time and compacted), but also help keep the natural soil movement from wrecking your lovely foundation, and; 3) Proper grading, which will keep the water away from the foundation in the first place. 4) No block. NO BLOCK. Poured, reinforced concrete only. Block foundations are rather more prone to damage and leaks. 5)Wide overhangs can also be helpful in keeping water away from the foundation. In addition to picking the brains of the fine folks here at GW, you should head over to the Breaktime forum at Fine Homebuilding Magazine's website. You have to register to read/participate, and make sure to fill in the profile info. The site is populated largely by builders from all sorts of trades from all over the country. They'll be able to tell you what's what, and how to build a basement that will stand up to that nasty red clay. : ) Here is a link that might be useful: Fine Homebuilding - Breaktime Forum

My older sister lives in an 1850s farmhouse which has a bath off the large kitchen. The door faces the basement entrance in a very small hallway which leads to a bedroom. It is full sized, but only about 8x10. Spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with them, and it really wasn't a problem. The other half of the kitchen serves as a dining room. If you want weird--my own house was built in 1907, with a pantry and small back porch--neither of which was converted to a bathroom. However, there is a full bath upstairs with original fixtures, and a half bath (well, a sink with a wooden counter, and a toilet enclosed with beadboard planks under the stairs), but the strangest of all--the only closet on the first floor--an alcove in the hall next to the kitchen, and facing the basement stairs and side door--had a toilet installed for the convenience of a previous elderly owner! No door either, just a curtain rod which had a shower curtain on it when I bought the place. My very first task: to remove the carpet from the hall floor, then remove that toilet and make it a closet again! Despite this being done 21 years ago, I still have the 6" drain hole in the floor, because my cats love to stick their heads through it to watch me do laundry in the basement! :)

UM... Lemme see.... female 30-40 (ok 35-45 I give) God/higher power Otherwise, what's the point of being here? Without God my life has no direction. The hardships are just hard not a learning experience. The joys are just momentary joy not the celebration of something bigger. PJ