Hi Brent... thank very much for your feedback! Always nice to hear some others' opinions. Sorry about all the pics... I knew there were lots so gave fair warning in the subject heading + resized them all! :) I, too, like evergreens... but what was the deciding factor for me was that the city planted 7+ spruce outside my fence in the park already (see pic #5). Just thought it may have been a bit much for my taste. Part of the reason for the paper birches was to give some different colours (white bark + turns nice yellow in the fall). They say that birches survive in poor soil conditions... but I still think they are a bit finicky. So we'll see how they do... When I have guests we usually sit up on the deck or are in the hot tub. People generally don't venture down into the lawn area. I guess not much to look at down there yet until stuff starts growing up and filling in. The river rock was actually an extension of the rock that I put in along the south side of the house last year... more for functionality than anything else. I just found that the south side of the house was frying the grass... no amount of watering would save it so cut it out and installed the decorative rock. I kind of like the effect of the rock and the bluestem... reminds me of the cottage. But of course different strokes for different folks. The kids factor could be an issue sometime down the road (gulp). I'm a single guy for now with no kids... but you never know that can always change...! Thanks again for your opinions... really like to hear what others think. Especially people who are into it enough to read up landscaping stuff on the forums. Cheers!

Your crapes definitely had a southern advantage then! My crapes fill out in late April usually, but it's a late bloomer so while other crapes in my area are beginning to bloom, mine is still in leaf growth mode. Too bad that it takes so long for crinum bulbs to bloom. I'm willing to wait though, the blooms are very nice! I heard the same thing about Agapanthus needing to be potbound, its one of the reasons why I kept it in a pot. But all the ones around the area are blooming and mine is in a pot and it isnt! Or at least it isnt yet, hopefully soon! -Alex

Your kind comments are making it all worthwhile! Thank you!! mtnfever - thank you for the link to soft close - I almost wish I didn't have it on the appliance depot drawer -then no one would know how nice it is! motodetroit - I inherited the piece on the side cabinet from DH's mother (I couldn't believe his sister didn't want it!). She got it in Norway in the '50s, and it's a great piece of vintage kitchen ware that sat on her counter for years and always makes me think of her. It has glass compartments (some are broken now) that I assume were used for sugar, flour, spices, etc. We fill it with M&Ms, almonds, popcorn kernals, tea bags and Emergen-C. Here's a better picture: Madeline616 - do you know how long I've tried to get my dog and cat to pose for pictures? Forget about it. And then they just wander into the photo shoot... I'm glad I got a picture of Zelda, our airedale. She's old now, and she doesn't like having her picture taken. taggie - comments like yours remind me that we did the right thing keeping the old cabinets. Two KDs I talked to, but didn't hire, immediately wanted to rip them out and I couldn't understand why, they were classic, worked fine (I realized later that both KDs work for cabinet makers; I don't know, maybe they all do). And keeping them saved me from making all those thorny layout decisions everyone struggles with here. I really had it easy, but thank you for your compliments. dilly ny - I wish I could take credit for the range hood, but it was the only one that would fit our specs. My ceilings are low and, if you notice, the ceiling above the cooktop is lowered even further (there is an upstairs bath above, but no one seems to know why the ceiling descends seven inches above the cooktop) - it narrowed our options in range hoods to this one - sorry, I should have ID'd it - Electrolux 36". dianalo - you are a better man than I. Actually, I know you aren't a man. I have followed many of your comments on the forum. You always have the best attitude. I have to say - cranky and demanding as I am - one of the things I love about reading GW commenters is how MELLOW you all are. In the midst of hair-curling disasters! How do you do it? I want what you're having! westsider40 - "Something's Gotta Give" was on TV in our area today! I ran in and said to DH (who loves that movie) - there it is! What I've been telling you about! The OTK! I had to explain the whole thing to him. But honestly, that kitchen is so completely SWOON-worthy. The whole house. Diane Keaton's turtlenecks. I wish!!! At least we have our easy-care induction, right? liriodendron - here are some pictures of the built-in drawers. I don't think they're anything special, but I'm sure if I were replacing the the cabs, I would have had to pay quite a bit extra to have a set of drawers like these installed. Helped us decide to keep the cabs we had. We keep container lids in the first drawer, the matching containers in the second, napkins in the third and table cloths in the bottom. Great storage. Keeps everything nice and tidy.

Thank you so much, all, for the lovely compliments, I'm so glad you like it. We're pretty pleased, and the only thing we have that we simply could not fit in is a warming drawer, a Frigidaire scratch 'n dent special, so it wasn't expensive, but it's just sitting in the barn. Maybe I'll put it in CL, but I'm still delusionally holding out hope that I can find a way to use it. To answer your questions, the stuff hanging on the wall is mostly plastic (melamine, I think), the only exceptions are the fish on either side of the sink and one or two of the stuff on the wall over the slider door, they are hand painted ceramic. I know that TJ Maxx is routinely derided on this forum (for good reason), but most everything on the walls is from there, collected over a period of years, some of those pieces are over 15 years old. You can find good quality, unique pieces at the TJX company of stores, you just have to pick through and pounce when you see something you like. There are also several dollar store numbers up there, as well as a few vintage things. I am all about fun and colorful stuff, and while I try not to buy a lot of made in China stuff, I don't especially care about the retail provenance of things. Now to the questions. justgottabeme, below are a few more pics of our house, and I think I mis-typed, we're not almost done, I think that was wishful thinking, we're kinda, sorta almost done with the downstairs, we still have a whole bath and a lot of work in our 2 upstairs bedrooms... amysrq, thank you for the tip on the tile, I may look into it. We really wanted Marmoleum, but I damn near fell off my chair when we got the quote(of course, ahem, it was for a pattern with one of their cool edge treatments). The next day we were at an auction, this tile was there, I paid .25/foot, and we installed it. My first, and last, experience with tile outside of the bathroom, we detest it, it's too hard and cold for us. workinprogress08, I don't think the pears are pewter, they are some kind of milled metal (made in India), and they came from Marshall's (hem). I love pewter and brass and have a few vintage pieces of both, it's common to see them at my fav junque haunts, they aren't popular (at least in these parts), so the prices are excellent. I'm glad you liked the icefishing pic, it's funny, people fish all summer, but 10x as many fish in the winter. One of our dogs roams the ice looking for treats from friendly fishermen. She eats well out there. Here are some more pics of the main entrance and mud "area". We're too organizationally and house cleaningly challenged to have a mud room with a door, it would be a total disaster, so we created the mud area by our main entrance. The wall color is BM Med-evil Times (mixed in Aura matte), trim is BM Navajo Red (Aura semi-gloss) and the white is BM White Marigold (Aura matte). The stuff on the walls is mostly from our local junque shops. Looking from the kitchen: From kitchen, looking up the stairs (just fixed the nail pops, gotta touch the White Marigold, yikes!: Coat areas (yup, we have two), the shelving unit is part of a display, painted in BM Buttered Yam (Aura, semi-gloss): Bench (CL special): Looking down: Yes, that is laundry drying, we have 2 indoor lines set up: Message center (metal office thing, came from Kodak in Rochester, NY, free from my cuz): Entry way to kitchen: Cabs are BM Bainbridge Blue (Aura semi-gloss): My poor topless range, someday I'll get her a lid: What she really needs is a nice Modernaire, but mr. sandyponder won't let me sell the kid: More cabs: Bainbridge Blue outside and Med-Evil Times inside: OK, I think I have bored you all enough for one post. Of course the kitchen isn't done yet, but the entryway mostly is...one small victory. sandyponder