Gee, thanks everyone for all the kind words. Designing the room and the farmers porch was a lot of fun with the software. My contractor even had me print out copies to use for the permits. cady, you are right; I am sure I will actually save money on heating with the addition, because it is better insulated than the old house (even though there is blown-in insulation in all the old walls) and because those two, drafty plank doors are gone. They looked cool, but they were terribly inefficient and were not even used as entrances. As for a house tour, Id love to host anyone willing to drive all the way up here. With my travel schedule and location Im never able to attend all the great functions everyone coordinates on this forum (sniff). There are five bedrooms (and two barns), so plenty of crash space. August is the best garden show time up here, because all the big players e.g. phlox, rudbeckia, echinacea, heliopsis, etc, are in bloom. Unless everyone likes snowshoeing in the winter. claire, pokeberries I have in abundance. I should take some pics of them before they die back. Now, regarding cadys ideabeing a bachelor, I am intrigued by the idea of having a tarted-up hussy at the house, at least for a while. Is it possible to rent a variegated Artemisia? White wood asters sound nice. I have something that looks kind of like a faerie garden. There is a path off of the lawn through a copse of evergreen trees down to the pond. It is not very large, but it is kind of cool, with almost an enchanted feel. There is not much under the trees except for ferns and a few struggling brambles. Id love to add some woodland plants that could provide some interest and color. Any ideas? diggerdee, we dont have termites up here, but do have carpenter ants. The wood pile is now up on pressure-treated posts, so it is probably safer than it was when it sat right on the ground. But, I do spray around the house perimeter as a precaution. When we tore into the old walls, we found some evidence of carpenter ant activity, but it was not recent and didnt affect the integrity of the walls, fortunately. As for repair of an old house vs. a 1950s cape, Id have to say that they dont make them like this anymore. The house is pretty much built like a tank. Except for the fact that it is irregular in its measurements and has the original horsehair plaster on most walls, it is great to work on it. martinetct, your husband is totally spot on. One of the exterior walls (on the el that houses the kitchen and garage) was/is 2 ½ inches wider at the base than at the top. Try lining up trim against that. And, the floor in the kitchen slopes such that the new room is level through the French doors into the kitchen, but there is a 3 ½ in step up into the dining room (yet you dont notice it in the kitchen). The wall behind the farmers porch weaves like a drunken sailor, which made it fun to line up. And, of course, nothing is level and nothing is square. But, thats part of the fun and certainly part of the charm of an old house. As for the windows, they are Harvey replacements with the grill between the panes. Not practical to try to match the existing windows. When I bought the place all the storm windows were shot and all the main windows needed to be reglazed. I had the option of having the work done or just replacing the windows for the same price. I wanted to keep the look, so opted to have the old windows redone. But, even with the new storms, they are not very efficient. And, they are a royal pain to clean, they stick in the summer, some are missing hardware so dont stay open, and in general they are not fun. Now that weve put in these matching vinyl replacement windows that have a snug seal and that tilt in for cleaning with no grills to get in the way, I see how much easier they are to use and to maintain. Despite the cost, I think that, once I redo the kitchen (this winters project) I will bite the bullet and have all the windows replaced. True, they are real 12 over 12, but they are not original to the house (they are the kind that have the two metal buttons on the sides you push in to open and that lock into slots in the frame at two locations). There is only one place where there is original glass over the front door. The door is original and even has the bar across it to fend off attackers (as in "Katie bar the door") as well as the original skeleton key still in the lock. Over it are six small panes of glass. They are wavy and bubbly, and I believe have been there from the beginning. As for the original family being upstanding, yeah I think they had some money. The rooms are really big for a true colonial with the all the front rooms on both original levels being approx.15.5 x 14 feet and wainscoting pretty much everywhere. There are closets in almost every room, and if you remember that the British taxed houses based on the number of rooms and considered closets to be rooms, the owners either had a lot of money to spend, or, being in northern New England, just thumbed their noses at the British and figured no one would ever collect the tax from them. I prefer to believe the latter. I'll pass on your congrats to my contractor. I may come up with the ideas, but he does all the work. He was my house inspector, a carpenter, and it turned out he liked to work on old houses. We hit it off, and he has done all the improvements (or GC'd them) over the past few years. Another project I did not mention was one we did the first year I bought the place. It is a tradition that my entire family comes up for Thanksgiving two parents, sister, brother-in-law, six kidlings and a dog. It is an invasion on the scale of the Allied landing in Normandy with similar, if not greater, logistical requirements. Anyway, I needed places to put everyone and the house only had three bedrooms on the second floor (one space was converted years ago into a master bathroom, a guest bathroom and a laundry room). So, I talked it over with my contractor and we took that attic and converted it into a finished third floor. There are two bedrooms and a full bath with tub up there. It hardly ever gets used, except when my sister visits and we throw all the kidlings up there. We kept the massive roof beams exposed and used V pine for the ceiling. It looks pretty neat. We did get rid of the trap door to the roof, since it was covered anyway by the metal roof, and we also eliminated the musket holder in one of the windows that was there to steady the gun for plunking Indians or British, I assume. People have asked me if the house is haunted, especially since I live alone (not counting Cord, The Wonder Chow). I figure I am at least the 12th generation to live in it, so there is some history in the place. But, I have never been bothered by anyone or anything. Before I bought the place, it was in a state of semi-disrepair and no one had lived in it for a number of years. I figure that, when my whole family, from three to eighty two, is gathered around the dining room table for Thanksgiving laughing and talking, the house is happy. Anthropomorphic and stupid, I know. But, I feel like a steward and hope to eventually pass on the house in better condition than when I bought it and ready for another 200+ years. Of course, if one day I suddenly stop posting to the forum, youll know that the house got me. narcnh

I love symmetry for the large pieces, then asymmetry for smaller pieces and art work. BUT... I love Annie's idea, too. Her arrangement would make better use of the open space to the kitchen (since the chairs are angled) Wouldn't be hard to rearrange it and shoot a pic from above for us all to see? (*wink*) I have cellular shades as well, but as you've seen in my other thread, I didn't cover the arches. I matched the blinds to my trim (white) because I like the way light is diffused through white, and I wasn't interested in darkening the room. As for echo, they helped tremendously. If you're doing drapes, I'd cover the bottom two windows and leave the uppers open, only because of the window over the fireplace. If you pull the couches as far forward as you're intending, I think the stools will appear to be "end tables" if they're under the windows. Either leave the couches further back (which allows for two round tables instead of a coffee table, which I LOVE), or put the stools somewhere else. Depending on the round tables, they might tuck under? Bonus: 2 footstools AND 2 "coffee tables." I want to seem some plants in there. Taller trees and smaller potted plants.

Hello ishop19, We've successfully installed the Van Gogh line in many homes, and have never come across the point of the "texture" looking like smudges. I do see what you're referring to in your photos, and I'd have to say that it must part of the top layers' added "texture." It's definitely not a mallet mark. Mallet marks do make distinct marks, (and not generally needed for LVT installation, we time the adhesive to optimal tack, and use weighted rollers) but can easily be removed from vinyl. I would agree with picking up one box, and staggering the seams in an area of your home, just to lay it out a bit ( so you can see how the light hits the flooring on a larger scale). If you still see the "smudges" that you're referring to, and wiping it down with windex doesn't remove them, than I'd say that it's, without a doubt, part of the graining texture pattern. Remember, you did bring home a floor sample, so who knows what those planks have been through. Karndean makes some really beautiful products, and I'm sure that if this particular color will "drive you nuts," you'll be able to find a nice alternative. Good Luck The Flooring Blog

PW - Thanks for the kind words! also PPE - I received your recent message. I've been very busy with spring pruning/ repotting, which is why I haven't yet expressed my gratitude, but I will. Thank you - I was moved! Is there any downside to starting the layer via ringing method up to a year before I plan to prune + pot the propagule? There is no question things will move along much faster if the layering takes place with the plant outdoors, but you can start the layer a month or so before you expect to move it outdoors, which can be done A) when nights are reliably above 55*F, or B) by moving the plant in and out as temperatures allow (should be above 55*). Is it okay to keep it on over the winter? It depends on where the layer is located on the plant. Since you'll be cutting through the phloem tissue, you'll be cutting off flow of photosynthate from all foliage distal to the layer to roots. So, if the layer is on the main stem proximal to all foliage, there is a very good chance that the plant's root system could die; however, if you are layering the main stem distal to other branches on the stem, it wouldn't be a problem. It's best to start preparing for the layer in early to mid-spring and plan on separating the layer in mid to late summer. Faster is better because it decreases the probability of a fungal pathogen gumming up the plumbing before new roots have an opportunity to form a connection to the propagule's existing vasculature. Does layering on the main stem of a plant have any effect on the growth rate above? Yes. How much, depends on what fraction of the flow of photosynthate (food) is being cut off by the layer. If you have 10 branches below the layer on a main stem, it won't have much impact on growth rate. If you are air layering the main stem at a point proximal to all, the effect on growth rate would be greater. In any case, the reduction in growth rate should be temporal; this, because the layer also blocks the polar flow of auxin (it moves from shoots to roots only). With the flow of auxin reduced to almost nil, auxin's inhibitory effect on new lateral branching will be almost entirely eliminated (in apically dominant plants), so foliage on the new branches will start to provide a net return on energy outlay when the first of the new leaves are about 75% mature. Al