Jan - I grew up with an applehead Siamese, named Sultan, and he was a great cat. He loved to play; even as he got older he was always ready for the game of "peek around the corner and I will come jumping sideways at you". He was very friendly with anyone who came to visit; he was very talkative, and he loved to be petted, although I wouldn't call him cuddly. One day my mother called my father and me to come into the back bathroom; she was slightly annoyed. We went and found her looking into the toilet, which had been left uncovered, and in it were two small poops. "Did either of you forget to flush?" she asked, and we both pointed out that our poops were certainly larger than what was floating in the bowl. "Can it be?" Surely not!" But yes, this was the work of Sultan. We left the toilet open and some days later another discreet poop appeared in it. I was henceforth assigned the task of toilet inspection along with cleaning the seat if the bowl had been used. When the toilet lid was down, Sultan always used his litterbox - he was such a gentleman, and very smart. And for the rest of his days he pooped in the toilet whenever possible. Just saying - Siamese cats deserve their reputation for intelligence! I have had many cats and kittens throughout my life and I totally agree with you that you should get TWO kittens. Few things compare to the absolute delight of watching two young ones grow and play and bond together. Furthermore, two will take out their need to play-fight on each other; all that clawing and nipping and hind-leg raking that they need to do to learn how to hunt and catch prey will occur between them and not with their human family. They wlll save their cuddliness and purring for their people - in this case, for your son! Ten years ago we adopted two ten-week old kittens from our SPCA; it was the first time I'd ever adopted two at a time. And we had a decade of joy with them, from their hilarious kittenhood to the pleasure of their purry cuddling with us (and with each other). Sadly, we had to have the male put to sleep two weeks ago, and it was a terrible grief. So I know what you are facing. I wonder if you would consider getting the kittens before your granny cat passes. We adopted our two kittens about six weeks before our then 17-year old granny cat passed away. We mostly kept them separate from her and it worked out well. From long experience I can tell you that it really does help to have another animal in the house, if the older cat can tolerate it (ours did). But I guess it would also depend on your son and his personality and how he would handle losing a cat he loves, plus the excitement of new kittens. Only you know him and whether or not he needs a complete experience with one animal before going on to others. BTW, the male kitty that we just lost was BY FAR the most cuddly and purry cat that I have ever had, and he was a DSH black and white tuxedo, of dubious parentage and born in the SPCA. I don't think that we can predict just how physically loving a cat will be. Some of that is in the individual nature of the animal. But there's no doubt that Siamese/Burmese/Birmans/etc. are beautiful, intelligent and special creatures! Could you please keep us posted? I would love to see your story have a happy ending, especially for your son. And forgive me for the length of this post!

Ahahaha, my house is more than "a bit" weird. The house was first an Earth Home Shelter, ie, an octagonal "bunker" under the ground. Then, the original owner/builder added a main floor over the lower level with crawl space in-between. The central octagon shape, with three-story tower, spiral stair and skylights, is still the center of the house. The other rooms radiate from the center. Octagon equals oddly shaped, angled rooms. There is only one rectangular room in the entire house (the great room with windows on three sides and stone fireplace). The house is done in wood paneling, including beautiful ceilings, with wood and tile floor and local stone accents (walls and hearth). There is a covered deck wrapped around the entire main floor. We have instructions for other realtors to call my husband before showing so that he can explain the house and its quirks before they view the 20-acre property. As one realtor said, "It is weird enough that it is extremely appealing." The acreage and the unusual house definitely put this property in a specialty market. We expect to have fewer showings than "normal," however, they should be active buyers. So far, we've been surprised (positively) with the number of showings. BTW, my husband had a call from another realtor just hours after reducing the price, and someone will be viewing the property tomorrow. They knew of the property before the reduction and called BECAUSE of the price change. Is that weird enough for you? Originally, When I thought about marketing the house, I considered the headline, "Not for Everyone." Of course, it IS for SOMEONE out there...

To answer lazy_gardens question: we keep all our meat 'hardware' separate: utensils, glassware, plates, dishes, pots/pans, etc, sink and range. We share space for dry goods storage and in the refrigerator where our meat things take up only a half a shelf and only part of the time. Functionally the space to be reconfigured must function as pantry (including fridge) and a tiny kitchen. To answer Carrie B's question: in the overall floorplan image the top and bottom are the edges of the house. The right side (aka North Wall) is the garage, with a door from our dairy kitchen in the lower right corner. The doorway in the lower left corner leads to the dining room. The empty rectangle area in the upper left includes a stairway to the basement, which is accessed through the meat kitchen, and a recently redone bathroom which is accessed through another part of the house.

Gaya, I understand having difficulty choosing which way to go, what to choose. I'm not you, so I can only make suggestions: I love copper/orange with browns : ) Yes, in the pic above it's Colonial Cream, but yours has more color, and is quite a bit more attractive in my opinion! I also think I prefer the projection in the middle for cabinets (not sure what that style is called, still learning) but I'm leaning toward something more along the lines of what you've got now as I do intend to use more color, more texture. Here is the same photo as above badly photoshopped to make the island the same (not white, it's creamier): As you can see, this lightens up the whole look, so if you prefer to stay on the less busy side, something along those lines would look very nice, I think. However... ; - ) Too busy? Too much? Not in my opinion since your island is not stained dark. However, with copper (or bronze) as a backsplash, especially behind your cooktop, I'd think you might want it treated with lacquer or something similar (not familiar with copper backsplash protection) for ease of cleaning, or let it go and allow it to patina naturally - depends on your style. You could take a piece of your countertop and see what looks best. Me? I'd buy samples of copper tiles, antiqued copper tiles, and the tile backsplash and live with it a while. I love your idea of copper cookware as a useful accent. Regarding the pulls, you could go with an antiqued copper or bronze, or something along these lines (style is up to you)... This way you wouldn't have copper overload, but you'd have copper highlights corresponding with your backsplash. OTOH, you could always go with a creamier tile with the dark accents as in the above photoshopped pic, and still use the antiqued copper or bronze pulls. I like your idea of making the area off your kitchen a card/gaming room, and a bar/sitting area - the two go together well and would be an inviting place to gravitate from the kitchen. There are so many attractive gaming tables. We've got one that's a bit on the heavy side (more Old World) closed against a wall open, ready to use. We rarely use it these days as we're too busy, but it makes a nice accent in my office. You've got the 'bones' in your kitchen to make it what you want, it's just a matter of the finishing touches!