Oh my. What is a passionate rose lover like you doing in that glacial hell hole? Reading about your endeavors has exhausted me and I haven't even lifted a shovel. I admire your grit and determination, but would love to see you rewarded with thousands of blooms on your rose bushes for all your hard work. I bet they could use engineers in zones 7 to 10!

Hi All, I appreciate your wisdom. :-) Even though I may have sounded nuts (and I was!), I realize "Rome wasn't built in a day." I'm glad I've gotten to the plantings this year and think they will help a bit in time. Heaven knows that's the truth for the house--there was *nothing* here when I bought 4 years ago. So, it's come a *long* way. But, I'm a school teacher and during Aug-May I have *no* time. Honestly-none. So, I do what I can in the summer (although we have work on prep and admin. now). While I enjoy the product of gardening/interior design, I enjoy process less--esp in the garden where it is physically hard for me to work (due to an injury that makes walking/digging painful). Soooo...I'll admit I'm looking for something that works the first time, if possible. That said, I'm not beyond moving things if I have to and next year will move 2 laurels--somewhere--as they don't work where they are. And, I do enjoy it at its core. All this reminds me of the "what I learned from gardening" thread. I do need to learn patience and to enjoy the modest things that the garden brings. :-) So, resalesally--you are right that I should just "go" and stop obsessing. HA! :-) Nell- Thanks for your comments, too. It is a great door that they have. (Wonder if I might be too lazy to clean those panes?? Hmmm....) Memo- Thanks for the awning suggestion. Trouble is, I just don't like awnings. I know I'm getting away from the authenticity of the house a bit...but based on my completely crude "paint" experiments in WORD, thing something raised a bit will help give me what I'm looking for. But...you might be right about the awning being so tiny compared to the stoop. (Man, I have *got* to learn photoshop to test your theory out.) As for the lattice...so you're saying to post it in the ground *perpendicular* to the stoop? Is that right? Hmmm...possibly. Hadn't thought of that. What do you think about covering the concrete w/ wood and a railing and giving the house a more "cottage" feel? EVERYONE - Paint trim vote for the bottom of the house?? Thanks, ya'll! Keep those ideas coming.

I had a couple of pink flamingos in my yard for awhile. I named them 'Tongue' and 'Cheek'. They finally died. I think of,embarrassment.

Thanks for the re-welcoming responses everyone! :) Skip the individual replies below and go to the next post to read more about kitchen details... Julie - the crossing of your body parts is WORKING! Dianalo - thanks for the fingers crossing - it's totally working - and yes I agree there has been too much drama! Johnliu - thank you! That's a major super kind compliment - especially considering how many pictures you see on this forum! :) I really appreciate it and thanks for thinking of me. It's going better now, at least re. the kitchen! Aliris19 - I KNOW! Crazy weird. I don't get it - the best I can come up with is that I somehow acquired some bad karma! Kathe - thank you. It's finally working out - yay! More details below, about the kitchen. Re. my husband, I'd love to give you some better news but yesterday we went to the doc after he had a second echocardiogram (sp?) and much to our surprise (since he's feeling and looking better and has adjusted well to the meds) they said he wasn't doing as well as they'd hoped - especially for his relatively younger age and relative health. His heart hasn't decreased in size and his EF% did get to a safer/higher number (between 30-35 as opposed to the 20-25 it was before) but it has to be 40 or above to be able to prevent getting a pacemaker put in. :( So now he's facing that and he's incredibly discouraged after how well he was feeling. Also, some of his heart is apparently dead now (?) - forget the terminology - so a second advantage of the pacemaker is that a third wire can be put in which will help sort of stimulate that area, if I'm understanding correctly. The doc says the way my husband's heart is now, he has a 5-10% chance of dying which is of course high, though he thinks on the low end cause of his general health. But still that's high!!! I forgot what the number is after the pacemaker though. He said he recommends doing it soon but he said an alternative would be up the meds (which is happening either way/regardless) and then wait 6 weeks to see if his EF# gets up to 40 but he said that's very unlikely and that postponing things is a risk, especially since we have 3 kids (and no life insurance, thank you very much...or you can thank my husband very much...we fought about this so many times prior to his diagnosis - it kills me to think about!). My husband wants to wait the 6 weeks, which is a pretty big concern - I'm pretty worried about this. I mean if you look at this as "how much luck is this couple having lately" - it points to HAVE THE SURGERY DONE NOW. Doesn't it?! Thanks for inquiring, and sorry to have such a long reply! Marcolo - thank you! You can see the details about the hubby in the above post - and thanks for thinking of him! As for the Jaclo faucet, here's what I have to say about it TODAY anyway: I love so much about it, but the particular one I ordered has had some issues which appear to be a major fluke based on everything I've read and heard about them. The company has been very good about responding appropriately and they're about to send me a brand spanking new one. They've send some individual replacement parts which have worked out relatively well but not well enough for the amount the faucet costs! In other words for the price, this thing needs to be tight and working beautifully in every way, IMO! The man who's helping me said that the moment the order comes in from my local store (I won't be charged) he's going to take it off the shelf himself and make sure there's no jiggling in the neck and that everything else looks and works perfectly. I've been wanting to talk about the faucet on here but have been waiting to see if the issues could get resolved first so that I can give a thorough and fair review. I do love the faucet though, even with the issues. I just love how funky and different it is while also appearing period-appropriate...I love the hidden sprayer that doesn't require putting holes in your countertop, I love the choice of very high-end levers/colors or the stainless wheels option and I love love love the gorgeous polished solid stainless body that isn't as cold as chrome - it's much more like polished nickel warmth-wise but more durable. Also, because my countertop is stainless, it's a perfect match. Not blue as chrome or yellow as nickel. :) Fori - thank you! Flwrs n co - your positive juju is working! I'm going to be able to show pics soon it appears. The paint on the upper original cabs and crappy old windows (lead paint, mind you) is another matter. Not sure how to afford that but it looks terrible compared to all the other nice work. But you'll just have to look past that! :) Thank you for the well-wishes. We'll take any and all that we (he) can get right now. Honorbiltkit - I can picture this dance in my mind, perfectly. Why do I have a feeling you're a writer? Cluelessincolorado - it's good to know if I'm gone too long, you'll head up the search party! ;) #3 is making me so happy. Read below to hear all about it. Thank you for the well-wishes, including for my badly-needed sanity...you have NO IDEA, honestly (they're talking about sending me away for a week so I can get some respite - but that's mostly cause the kids are making me crazy. I think I'm developing a tick!!)!!!! Details about kitchen in the next post below...