You're welcome "girl" for not thinking I got TOO detailed. I tend to do that alot..lol. For #1 - the color in pics is very true (well, depending on your monitor, I guess). I'd defintely say more purple than blue. Paler, like Lavender color, I guess (dont have lavender but have seen it) but even then, more intense or deeper in color (bear in mind...that's my soil, my zone, etc). #2 - Because I leave most everything alone until spring (unless it requires fall pruning)...I'm partial to leaving all dead stuff for birds, etc. So not sure if my taste is like yours. Past two falls/winters I left it alone since it lived for so long yet kept the same shape. We have very mild winters but did have a couple freezes and yet, nothing got brittle and only lost about half the flowers. Of course it turned brown (lol) but basically looked like the same plant, only dead. Don't know if that's what you're looking for...but if you're looking for something to fill up space during winter, he definitely did the job. And I'd say it's the perfect plant to leave alone until you mow it down before bulbs come up. BTW, just for zone comparison -- I'm couple blocks from beach but not sandy soil. Have 6-8" good soil before clay, summers are humid as hell, over 100 some days, and often no rain for weeks (I do water during those times). Let me know what you figure out !! Bonnie (aka Brit)

Thanks for your comments. I also like #'s 2 and 4 the best. Number 2 is my absolute favorite of any that I took in that session. It is cropped from a much larger photo which you can see more of in shot #1 which is also cropped from the original. 10.1 MP gives you some room to play with when cropping. By the way, the camera is a Cannon EOS Rebel XS with a 75 to 300 MM lens. Susan, here is the beach sitter photo reduced in size but I'm afraid its quality isn't as good as the original crop. Here is the original shot - reduced in size but it gives you an idea of where the cropping was done. I have variations in one form or another that have all figures represented but the Beach Sitter was by far the best. While the b&w worked on pics 1 and 2 I think now that the waves probably present better in color. I'm going to go back and play with some of them again.

Mona: That is a good idea for the sink area. However, my husband currently does not use the sink. He is able to brush his teeth but does that sitting in his shower chair with a great deal of assistance from me for rinsing, etc. He has a beard which I trim every few weeks. He is not able to comb his hair or any other duties which would normally be done at the sink or in front of the mirror. He requires total assistance for all activities of daily living. We anticipate this will be our "forever" home and then, hopefully, will be kept in the family as a vacation home for our children and grandchildren. mclarke: you are right about the lip into the shower. We will not have one and the floor will be slightly sloped to the drain.

Westsider, Thanks for jumping in here !! Your place sounds great. I sure wish I was on your family list. ;) I also appreciate all of your comments. You have given me a lot to think about. More below to you (and anyone else who wants to comment)... I really appreciate everyone who is helping me with all of these ideas. Our builder said last week "That new layout looks good, sometimes it takes another set of eyes to see something, especially after you look at something for so long". That's what you guys are doing for me ... being my extra set of eyes and helping me think what is important to different groups of people. Good news from the builder ... he said yes to the bumpout behind the lower cabinets over the stairs ! That makes design #05 (a few posts up) officially ok from the builder. 1. have 2 or 3 outside beach showers ... do you mean hot & cold showers or just cold for rinsing sand off from beach ? We have planned 1 cold on the walk over the dunes and 1 hot & cold enclosed shower. 2, 3, 4. do you have some ideas for layout in these areas ? Would love to see what you are thinking. 5. weddings are probably not too frequent 6. Grilling - this is an issue. We will not be able to control if people ignore with portable grill, but rules will not allow a built in grill or homeowner provided grill on the deck. We have plans for the ground floor grilling area to be a fun gathering place though with a tiki bar, picnic tables, pingpong and foosball, horseshoes, in addition to the grills. Two grills is great idea !! Good idea also to plan storage for grill tools and mitts near the grills. 9. Will review to make sure stuff stored on high shelves is rarely used stuff. Looking like some of the high shelves will even be empty. Who knows - once it is unpacked, stuff has a way of filling the available space. LOL !! 10. Lot is 50 x 150 ocean front. With 7 foot setbacks for each side of lot, neighbor houses are 14 feet away from each other. 11. two washers & dryers - yep ! 12. elevators - will ask about property insurance - a neighbor has an automatic gate operator (which cost a lot extra) and had problems with renters messing up his door and lots of service calls, so he eventually disconnected his auto opener. We know now to not spend extra for the auto opener. 13. your property taxes are outrageous !! Luckily, we are on flat rate here ... approx 1% of home value. lakehouse, leaving now to go meet a friend for movie, but will check out your plans later. Looks like you are remodeling kitchen for a lakehouse you already own ? Thanks !! Keep the comments coming on all areas of the home !