The bowl seal should be new and the bowl as well if there are signs of corrosion at the seal area. That being said, occasionally you will get one that won't prime.

Great Blooms!! And I'm jealous of all the space... Put in a few blanket flowers this year and they carried on like crazy and then they died completely back and then a few weeks later new growth started poking its head up through the mulch and their blooming again. Cosmos are awesome, I direct sow them just as the irises are starting to bloom so that by the time most of the daylilies have done their thing the cosmos start blooming and carry me thru till the first hard frost. What you've learned from Karol, I completely agree with her, breed from good stock and things can only get better from there.. which probably explains my psuedo obsession with knowing as much as I possibly can about a cultivars genetic background. Granted, most unwanted characteristics have been hopefully bred out... but it does help to know as much as possible about prospective parents so you're not as surprised when a cross of red X purple throws a few screaming yellow or orange seedlings. Again, totally jealous of the space you have to work with and what you've done so far looks awesome! ~Donald~

Hi, Susan I personally love chair rail and moldings a lot, but realize that kswl may have a good point and without actually being in the room, it's hard to tell. I've seen even small baths look great with wainscoting though. My comment is that IF you do try to put up chair rail yourself, you'll need a miter saw and a finish nailer or brad nailer probably since it's really hard to put up molding without a nailer--but maybe you know all this. The little brads that nailers use or finish nails have very small heads and almost disappear into the molding making the covering up of them much easier than if you try to nail them by hand. (Or at least my nailing by hand has been met with a lot of failure compared to using a nailer!) Hope I'm not sounding like I actually know what I'm doing since I'm a major amateur at this. Kimbo recently posted a link with pictures of hers and it is really motivating! I was really intriqued that she just painted the wall and molding below white (or light)and it gives the appearance of all being painted wood down below the chair rail. Here's the link to her post below. BTW, I agree with Oceanna about adding plants to your room and think the picture will look better lower and with the first console you posted down below it if there's room. While I love the other console cindywooloo posted, I'm not sure that style and finish fits your room. While the area rugs sound perfect, too, they may use up your budget faster right now than anything else would. Here is a link that might be useful: Kimbo's molding and DR--really pretty

Hi, There is so much to choose from when it comes to granite. I stumbled upon a neat tool in putting granite together with cabinets and the edging. Try it: http://capitalstone.com/conceptualize.php Of course, there is nothing like seeing it in person. Best of luck! Melanie