"Posted by ann_t ------Too bad the storm interfered with your party. Sounds like you were the big winner though. Congrats!!! Ann" Thanks Ann. It appears that whenever I plan a party, something happens. There was a four day blackout one time I planned two big parties. Good thing I have a generator. "Posted by caliloo -------Corn should never be photographed on a mushy brown puddle. Alexa" Haha! Sometimes my photos can get crony. I got some extra corn leftover from making the black bean corn dip. Didnt want to throw them away. "Posted by foodonastump -------OMG LLOL, Alexa! (The second L for "literally") I'll take that plate of shrimp and scallops though... " Those went quickly. I was able to make a second batch right after. "Posted by therustyone -------It all looks good to me! Didn't know we had 'photo police' here. :>) Did you 'do' your fruit plates, too? Glad you won! Those Saints are something, aren't they! 'Specially Drew Brees. Rusty " Thanks, Rusty. Yes, I make a big platter of fruits and fruit sorbet. One couple was from New Orleans, we were all happy that the Saints won. "Posted by annie1992 --------Nope, no photo police, a lot of photos have been commented on here, both positive and negative. Actually, I was just thinking "SuperBowl", "football", "injuries", was that Peyton Manning who bled all over the shrimp? Sorry, couldn't help it. (grin) Annie" Annie, you are bloody funny! LOL "Posted by caliloo -----Jeez - and I thought I had shown restraint by NOT saying the beans needed a swirl of salsa to make it look bloody! LOLOLOL! Alexa " I did plan to make salsa with the beans, corn, and avocados. Unfortunately the avocados were not ripe enough. "Posted by jojoco -----I also had a knee jerk reaction to the first picture. Probably has something to do with the fact that my son was just diagnosed over the weekend with ulcerative colitis. Just hits too close to home this week, I guess. Jo" Want a second opinion? Your son will be doing better soon. :-) "Posted by beverlyal ------Oh Jo did you have to? LOL More food porn! Congratulations on the win." Thanks. Almost enough money to take a trip to New Orleans for the parade. "Posted by -----You are all too funny!! Are those tin foil mushrooms? Really? Glad you won some $$. Great game. AM" Thanks. One guest brought some wings in aluminum foil. So I did some impromptu origami with the foil. "Posted by annie1992 ---------Sorry, dcarch, I couldn't help myself, I got all "football excited", you know, and I was seriously cheering for the Saints, so I'm happy! Actually, the scallops look good, I love 'em and don't make them often, they're darned expensive here. Is that sweet and sour sauce? I like sweet and sour with calimari, so I'd probably like it with scallops too. Annie" Sorry for what? I was LOL. The sauce was made with a lot of stuff, but the main ingredient was Sriracha and leftover cranberry sauce from the freezer. dcarch

The usual practice is to install the second floor furnace in either the attic the basement. I have not seen a furnace installed in the living space of a second floor. An attic installation in a climate with freezing temperatures becomes a problem for furnaces for a furnace with efficicency above 90%. High efficiency furnace need be vented with PVC piping out through a side wall. The exhaust has condensation which could freeze in the attic. In order to avoid this contractors will normally install 80% efficiency furnaces in attics. I have both of my furnaces in the basement. There is nothing wrong with this installation providing the duct work up to the second floor is done correctly. The chase in the middle of the house can be used to install the second floor return.

I think the prices your friend has asked for are reasonable - even a good buy for the sink. I bought a floor model after the sink was discontinued for $580. At the time (almost a year ago) the best online price I could find was $676. Those deep sinks are expensive! I paid $38.50 for my sink grid on eBay but typical online price was $95. I haven't checked lately, but I think that grid is still available. My dishwasher is to the right of the sink, perpendicular to the sink counter, closest to the small sink with the disposer. My faucet is Blanco Anu. I love the high arc but find the pullout style awkward. Once pulled out, it is hard to aim the water spray where it is needed. I would suggest looking for a pulldown style, instead. (There's an active thread about pullout versus pulldown faucets that you may want to view, too.) I don't notice much splashing from the small sink. Rather, the tall faucet seems to splash more in the large sink and on the divide between the sinks. I don't find that a major problem - just a quick wipe with the sponge and all is neat again. The stainless does seem to show water spots easily. I've tried a couple of stainless cleaners and the Weimar polish seems to do the best job of preventing water spots. You do need to wipe off the water, though, when you are through using the sink. And our water is very hard.

I have this same problem. The kitchen has a walkpath adjacent to it which leads to garage and front lobby and basement stairs. We call it the "kitchen hall." DH does auto restoration and both of us are gardeners. Auto garage substances, garden dirt, and Labrador paws all create mess inside the house here and it needs to be stopped before we enter kitchen hall or balance of house. Deep into the project, I wanted the entire walkpath alongside kitchen to be tile and only the inside of the kitchen addition to be wood. This would have put stools at peninsula on a tile floor too--no fear of scratches! But...we ended up putting tile into the kitchen hall only as far as the desk unit which faces the basement stair area. Beyond this is the peninsula stool area, floor done in oak. We cut off the tiles in a line across the walkpath and put a horizontal piece of oak along the straight edge of the cut tiles perpendicular to the walkpath and then the new oak flooring runs parallel to the peninsula and walkpath and perpendicular to the oak divider. We wanted to downplay the transition so the oak board is not decorative. We did same at junction between tile and other floors, which are oak--a perpendicular piece of gorgeous oak that runs across side to side now fills a former outside door threshold. Same for top of stairway and entrance to dining room. Good looking but no ta-dah to call attention to itself. I have put Ikea stick-on felt bumpers at bottom of all table legs and stool legs which sit on the oak floor and so far it's worked (11 months) but I have to be diligent in knocking sand and such out of the felt when it accumulates there. Despite 3 rugs which lie between the front door and the working kitchen, there is a trail of dirt within the kitchen right now--I've been gardening. Gotta reassure myself that this is not a sign of anything bad, it's just how life will be when there's no formal front door and when real people and a dog live here. We shake rugs frequently and I sweep frequently but life goes on. The working kitchen part of the floor is oak--easier on feet than tile is and there is no ht or texture difference in threshold at the junction of kitchen hall and dining room with another oak floor--better for when I carry plates and trays past the peninsula and into the dining room than if the floor change were there. Sorry I don't have photos. Here's the desk area...imagine the junction just to right of desk. Photographer is standing by basement stairwell. Stools are to the right. Oak floor begins just where the peninsula Formica begins on right. Putting tile on an angle made the front hall a little more interesting. This tile camouflages dog hair--a benefit! [speculative mode on] This report is from 11 month vantage. Hope I continue to like the oak floor in kitchen. I started out with vinyl, excuse me, "resilient flooring" throughout the kitchen, halls, and lobby in my plan and once in a while I still wonder if I would have found it better in the long run. And...I could have called the installers and had it done in short order; this took us weeks of DIY and as I said, eternal vigilance is the price of oak floor.