It's wise to plant with lots of space. The first few years, mine looked nice. But yikes! I can see I'm going to have some problems next year, especially if I don't remove a few which did the "leap" thing in a big way this year. You can always plant impatiens or whatever else you like until the hostas fill in. I don't have room for impatiens in some of my beds now. Everything is touching or almost touching.

Susie - I am also happy to hear tha Acme settled. It had to be unnerving to think what all the possible outcomes may have been. AND good luck with the packing! It will all be worth it in the end, just keep your eye on the prize! Annie - happy farming! Maybe it is time to teach Elery how to fix fences, muck stalls, etc. If all else fails, teach him to can! LOL! Melissa - more power to you. I am NOT a camper so I shudder to think of taking a 2 year old camping. Hope you enjoy your outdoorsy time with your sister though! Linda I am still sending healing thoughts your way - hope Frank is back to his old self soon. Dedtired - have a blast at George's! You have to let me know how it is (well, I know it will be FAB, but tell me what everyone ordered LOL) And good luck with the carpeting - maybe you opted for the eggplant or chartreuse instead and it will be a huge surprise! We are laying low tonight. It was supposed to be "Dive In" Movie night at our pool, but it is raining, so I think it will be cancelled. That means the boys have a Spongebob Marathon in the works and DH and I will watch a non-kid appropriate movie in peace (I think he got Role Models, but I'm not sure). Tomorrow we aer going to MD to see my mom for her birthday. Sunday I am camping out on the computer to buy Brewfest Tix as soon as they go on sale - it sold out really fast last year (less than 24 hours) and promises to sell out just as fast this year. THen it is of to the car show (classic Corvettes, oh yippee) and hopefully getting the last of the moulding cut to finish the trim in the batroom. I won't bore you with the whole story here, but since last Sat, my entire bathroom was unexpectedly gutted and rebuilt. I ended up drywalling, spackling, sanding and painting into the wee hours several days this past week. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend! Alexa

Hi Azalia! I don't know anything about chalk paint, but sumersetlass has been here a lot longer than I have--I would take her word for it. I like the blue, though. One thing I've learned in my four months or so on the gw forums, is that you will want to be very mindful about how you implement everything--especially if, like me, you're on a budget at the moment. So before you break out the blue paint, or the appliance paint, or really anything, I would advise you and your DH to sit down and plan. First, what are your goals for your kitchen? For example, do you want to move stuff (big stuff) around? Do you want a range or wall oven(s) and a cook top(s)? What is your dream refrigerator? What kind of lighting do you want? Do you want to enlarge or add any windows? Etc. Etc. Over what period of time do you want to accomplish your goals? Mine will take a few years--I have a couple of projects that are more pressing to do first in my new (1979) home. Most importantly, in my opinion, is to set a budget. A realistic budget that you can reasonably accomplish and not starve in the process! :-) Then go shopping--window shopping--on the internet, and in person. Start collecting pictures of what you like, and sometimes even what you don't like. I've found these forums to be extremely helpful! A lot of the folks here have been through at least one kitchen remodel and have a ton of great information and wisdom. That's not to say you can't paint your appliances and the desk area! If your plan is to paint the appliances for now and later down the road buy appliances as you can afford them, there's nothing wrong with that! Just have some kind of plan thought out. You don't want to go to the work of painting your desk/office/home info center blue and then decide on a colour scheme for your kitchen that won't work with the blue--then you've got to go to the work and expense of painting it again. OTOH (on the other hand), as you mentioned on your OP, paint is the biggest bang for your kitchen buck--for relatively little money (as opposed to buying new stuff) you can paint things and radically change the look of your kitchen over a week's time or so. I'm just saying try to make choices in the short run that work for you (like the appliance paint or different window treatments or under counter lighting), but will hopefully also fit into the longer run picture. Anyway, those are some tips I've picked up from the kitchen forum, and I hope they are helpful for you as well. I imagine the only thing on your agenda for the next couple of weeks is actually getting moved in and unpacked! I'm 100% with somersetlass-- I hope to goodness this is my last move ever!! :-) Good luck!!!

PLU for Seville sour orange 3109. Check your peal for the sticker. It looks as ugli as mine did and mine had 49 seeds. Mine did not come with a PLU on it. Steve