Thank you Cindy! In my area, that's all you've got if you want a hosta... The big box stores. But, I've been very happy with all of my purchases so far. My Albomarginata I got at Walmart 3 years ago which started this obsession. It's from the same grower of my Dream Queen, so I am sure I will be happy with her for many years to come, too! My Wheee! is a Proven Winner from Lowe's, so far very satisfied with her, as well. My only ones from a greenhouse, I had to travel for as there aren't any good greenhouses here really. But though they were expensive and especially if you count the gas spent, they are beautiful, too. But, I've never had a problem with the big stores. Just yesterday, I was in Walmart picking up a planter for my Dream Queen and I saw a lady get 5 hostas, though they are "unlabeled" they look to be very healthy plants. Chris, I keep them in pots because the ground is so hard here and full of little critters and creepers that love hostas. The neighbors that plant them in the ground have very little luck with anything! ;) Here's my Dream Queen in her pot!

We moved in two days ago Kim :) It's taken this long to get the internet working (and it only works on the back side of the house LOL) More work to do I guess. Thank you :) We do love the house and grounds, although the sheer size is intimidating as you think about cleaning it LOL More so as we've moved in somewhat. Probably more so after we have 20 overnight guests next weekend. It was the oldest B&B in the pacific northwest, (35 years) prior it was an apartment building and prior to that a hospital, and then the original owners had it until their deaths. (early 20's) We are lucky that the folks who did the big restoration in the 60's and 70's didn't follow current fashion (painting all of the wood for instance) and they were sensative to the home. In addition, when the bathrooms were added in the last 20 years (another owner who was also sensative to the house) it was done incredibly well, taking a few feet of space from each room, but integrating them well (some B&B's cheap out and put the tubs and sinks in the rooms). They will be easy to upgrade to more victorian features (is that an upgrade backgrade?) There are three buildings on site. One is considered the carriage house (but really is the base of a 3 1/2 story water tower we will eventually rebuild). The other is the original gardners cottage. They take up one lot and the gardens take up the other. Talk about intimidating...too much garden LOL And on top of too much garden...I have 400 house plants (maybe not that but five or six per room). The poor things are doomed in my care. I'm thinking of a sidewalk give away very very soon to save their lives! Poor dears...even my husband feels sorry for them. I tried to convince my mother that they are guest gifts and that guests (her) must take one each time they visit but she hasn't gone for it yet (I sometimes think if she were senile my life would be much easier...) Today we turn the old office off the kitchen (our future family dining room after we remodel the kitchen, but that's a few years off) into a play room for DS. I hope this grand old home likes thomas the train LOL Oh here's a funny....we get about a dozen visits a day asking if we have a vacancy! It was funny but is getting annoying LOL They want tours and won't always take "private home" for an answer LMAO. "Oh dear...no rooms? Well can we just see it?" No go knock on the neighbors house and ask for a tour heh heh Oh let's see...nope not a B&B (I'm not nice enough since DS was born and keeps me up all night) :) And how many bathrooms? Sigh...12 Do you think the B&B potential guests might think that the tour includes a once in a lifetime opportunity to clean a victorian bathroom? I might let them in....

I like an "L" shaped work area - one area for active work and one for letting things set, dry, or just sit. I'd love an area high enough to stand at, but that'll have to wait until my son moves out and I take over his room as my own. LOTS of light! I like lights that I can move around - like on swing arms. I have one on each end of my work space and one in the middle that I can swing from side to side. I work in the basement so I have no natural light available. I also like wall storage. I have things hung up all over above my seated eye level. That way when I put tools/supplies away I can't see them when I'm working and they are out of my way. I have lots of shelving for bins of glass and an old sweater cubby turned upright to store sheets of glass and larger pieces.

I might have gone down the rabbit hole with the following plan, but I was thinking--how cool would it be to have the clean-up zone on the peninsula, m/l as originally drawn, so that dirty dishes could be handed directly from the table in the smaller DR, to the counter? The DR is small--but when the kids have grown enough to need more dining space, the porch can be converted, and everything will still be convenient to the new DR. And nothing will need to be done to the kitchen, except removing the current sliding door and sliding window, and casing the openings. The smaller DR could then become a study area for the kids, sitting area for you, a breakfast area with a smaller table for you and your DH when the kids are grown and gone, or the older kids' table for extended family dinners. (A few years ago we added a 24'x12' room off the kitchen, which is used daily as a play room, but doubles as a dining room when we have the whole family over--with up to 20 seated at three 6' tables placed end-to-end, and up to 6 older kids at the regular DR table. Once in a while we have to add a drop-leaf table to the LR (visible from the play room), to seat 4 more. You could extend the porch to accommodate your kids and their future families in much the same way. I'm imagining a dessert buffet and coffee service set up on the counter under the big sliding window.) In the meantime, a parent can sit in the seat on the end, convenient for retrieving forgotten items, and the other parent can sit beside the baby. The dish pantry is full height, and can house pantry items in the lower and upper shelves, with dishes on a level that's easy for the kids to reach, and it's completely separate from the prep and cooking zones. The clean-up zone could also be used for extra prep, and with a cutting board that covers the sink, can be used for counter space/buffet serving. I drew a short backsplash (3-4"?), to help contain drips and splashes--if you're using stone or solid surface material, the back side of the backsplash strip can be polished, and the edge finished, to match the front. That leaves a wider prep zone between the other sink and the cooktop--the larger sink can still be used for hand wash items, especially mixing bowls and pots and pans, which will be generated in the prep/cooking zones anyway. I drew a blind corner with a 16" cabinet (not counting the corner cavity), and a door that swings left-to-right--the width of the door can be adjusted to make sure it clears the oven handle. The corner cavity can be voided (or partially voided), but I'd include it and store seldom used items there--send a kid in after them. Ana White--Build a blind corner cabinet. The cooktop is not as protected as it would be in the original plan, but since the dividing wall extends past the point where the cook will be standing, and there is plenty of space to pass behind, I think it's safe. (Unless the kids all head for the porch/DR en masse, like a herd of cattle. ;) There are compromises in both of these last two plans, and I guessed at the size and exact location of the large window on the left, so neither plan might be possible without altering the window. I seem to be verbose today (I'm goofing off, and putting off transplanting strawberry runners--I spent most of yesterday afternoon transplanting, too), but one thing I was thinking as I described the seating arrangements for our family dinners is this--I wish we'd added that room when my kids were small, even if we'd had to use a HELOC to finance it. The ability to gather the whole family, with minimum hassle and upheaval, has been a blessing--not buying/doing anything that wasn't essential while the remodel was in progress (including vacations, clothes, shoes, etc.,--a promise I made to myself), was worth every sacrifice. To have four generations of both sides of our family present is very special--for my kids, and for me.