I guess ya'll are making it seem more understandable, I did hide the alfalfa under the mulch and they haven't bothered it yet, although the last time I put out bone meal I saw where something dug a little hole, didn't see who it was in action, but they obviously didn't find what they were looking for because it was only done to a couple of the roses :)

Hello to everyone looking for why their moonflowers don't scent the yard with intoxicating perfume like other people describe... My moonflowers have finally bloomed in Zone 9b (seeds started March 20, 2023 - first bloom September 12, 2023) and I cannot really smell any of them. I can smell a faint plastic smell like lafleuriste described 14 years ago but was anticipating heady garden filling perfume! Other flowers smell strong to me - certain roses, osmanthus in bloom, olive blossoms, plum blossoms, bearded irises, freesias and daffodils, jasmine etc. I love passing by an unseen garden and getting walloped by a big cloud of flower perfume. Alas it seems that this might be like cilantro - some people experience one thing and others will have a completely different experience!

OK More experiences of 2/3 loft over lower floor. Just tossing these experiences out there. We had new carpet put in the whole house and when the guy was repairing the floors upstairs all the hammering brought down scads dust and grit from all the years seeping into the cracks. There was tongue and groove two by 6's or 8's for flooring. The lower floor did feel a bit closed in by the ceiling above. I believe the ceiling was a bit short of the norm. There were no side walls as ML suggested to give better ceiling height in loft. There was no way to hang pictures on the loft walls except the one end wall. They slanted too much. Since we did not have to worry about heating with the hot spring water available I have no idea on the added energy costs. A person could always hang a heavy draw curtain across the loft opening when not in use to control heat loss from below. Would have to be custom made but us sewers could figure out how to do it. I am terrified of heights but planes do not bother me other then now all the bother to board. I have pretty much given up flying. Not to mention the 90 mile drive each way to and from airport. The only place to fly to for me would be to see my Mom and it is also a 90 mile drive to airport and back on her end. I might as well drive the whole way. LOL I went through exactly what you are going through Sandy. I had some more limitations because once we chose the manufactured home that would fit our lot I had to work within that floor plan and only had the options of adding stretches and moving windows and the closet thing I explained before. then the master bath switching it up from glamor bath to half glamor bath. I really would have liked a larger laundry room. but this one works fine. I just fold laundry wherever it lands and I do use the line to dry the clothes most of the time so they come off the line and end up in master bedroom on bed to fold. We had another model house chosen at first in fact there were two other models and one I liked better but the added 20K put the bite in things. And there were issues with it in the living room arrangement. There just seems to be give and take. I think you have already written down all the things you want. I just do not think you can ever make it all perfect. What is pretty funny is the house we built took us one evening, a couple of hours, to draw up the plans. Was totally simple. We later decided if we had moved the master bedroom door over to the other end of the room it would have been so much better and still could have been done with out too much trouble. But we never bothered to do it. We were so happy in that house. Was a small house too. We built exactly what we drew up. That house would not work for me now. I am really happy with this house plan. We both are. It is a very comfortable house to live in for us. I do not remember what your SQ FT was going to be. Was it 1200? If so that was a little too small for me as we had it in the last house. Just the lay out here and the added 100 SQ FT helped to make this house work. AND at the last 1200 SQ FT house I had an added out side pantry of 8 by 6 and then my shed space of 10 by 16 and that would add up to more than we have here and it did not work. So it is not always the size that matters. I think it is the lay out. There used to be manufactured home sites on line with scads of floor plans. I looked at them for weeks taking things I liked and things I did not like. One place we chose we had to make so many changes to it it turned out we were better off not getting it at all. Add in we had a special roof snow load we had to adjust for. There were restrictions on how open we could go. I do not think you have that there. Here it is required 85 pound roof load. We have 120 on the house and 100 on the shop just so we do not have to shovel the roofs. You might want to back off just for a few days on this thought process. Like trying to balance the check book that is off 15 cents and you can not find it. Step away from it and when you come back a day or three later you see the mistake right away. Just a thought. You have my sympathy this is so stressful. Chris

sable, as you'll see I followed your suggestion about adding some books to the mantel. I also hung up the picture instead of just putting it on the mantel and now I'm not sure which version I like best. My husband, who has a good eye, has been hounded so much about the decor in the last few days that he told me he was no longer able to care. He's a man, a little of this stuff goes a long way, and he's been tested beyond his limits. The roses in the garden are from at least two years ago and are from early June, after we had some rain, I think. We did have 3 inches in the last storm but nothing since, although they promised us one storm after another. I think most of El Nino is going to happen in the more northern parts and up into south Oregon. I still hope for more; the rainy season isn't over yet. You might get more than I will here. That's a really nice area where you live. patty, I'm glad you like the flower picture back on the mantel, and I hope you'll also volunteer whether you like the picture better propped up or hung on the wall, and the area with or without books. These are important decisions! I'm with you about agonizing more about the little stuff, maybe because there are so many more ways to move small pieces around than large ones. I like your idea of a blue/cream theme, which would look very fresh and charming. Putting it all together, of course, would take some thought and work, but if it's something you're enthusiastic about it could also be a very creative, enjoyable process. If you collect blue and white porcelain that is European it is much cheaper than the Chinese stuff, which has gotten very pricey and you have to really know what's genuinely antique, because there are tons of fakes around nowadays. Mt. Helix is in west San Diego county whereas we're in northeast San Diego county, in a rather rural area, which we love. Mt. Helix is a very beautiful area to live in but I work nearby so this was the logical spot for us.