Dry all last year and the beginning of this year (except for a 2ft snowstorm in Feb) until the last week of May when we got a month's worth of rain in 1 week. Alternating cold(30's) then hot (90) then cold (40's) temps in May and June, finally got tomatoes out the beginning of June and MORE rain! Poured for about 20 minutes at dinner last night, weather.com is showing 0 inches but I'm guessing 1/4". More gentle rain overnight, clear this morning and then this afternoon another T-storm. So I'm saying 7.5 -8" this month plus the 3.5" last week of May. Tomatoes are looking sad - I started replacing some yesterday and also planted 6 I'd been holding back. Haven't checked today to see how they've held up in the driving rain (had a couple broken last week). Peppers are still in 6-packs, I guess I can say they're hardened off though they may sunburn when I can get them out, 1 is blooming. Squash looks like it's loving this weather, cukes OK (seeded before squash and they're smaller), spinach is bolting and the kale and Asian greens are just OK. I guess I'll try to harvest mustard greens, tatsoi and bok choy for stirfry mix rather than salad greens since lettuce is so far behind. Carrots are disappearing, lettuce is barely coming in after seeding twice (every time I seed we have a downpour) but the arugula in the mix is getting tall (not bolting yet). Radish bulbs are finally starting to show above the ground 3 weeks after seeding and I don't know what's happened to my chard and beets that I've seeded twice. Beans are doing OK, but I lost 2/3 of my edamame. The only thing I'm harvesting right now that is doing really well is strawberries and they're coming to an end just as market season is beginning. Blueberries and brambles are coming along though.

Have had mint, monarda, obedient plant with little to no problems. Campanula punctata reseeds but cute so I remove most of it in spring and leave few clumps. Macleya cordata reseeds, easy to pull. Bishop weed was planted because of my own stupidity- still trying to get rid of it but the bed full of bulbs and perennials so it is pretty hard to remove it completely. Chameleon plant died on me- I wanted it to grow. Petasites japonicus was speading last year with alarming speed- well, got killed this year during recent cold snap- barely found couple survivors and potted them up. Got some running bamboo last year- it is marginally hardy for me...

Woohoo, I finally got some good rain! At least 1.5 inches of nice slow steady rain thanks to Andrea. We were on the edge and got just the right amount of rain with no wind. :) My dahlias are lovin' it! They are going to grow like crazy this coming week with the fully saturated soil and nice moderate temps in the mid 70s. HighlanderNorth, here's what I did to overwinter one 4x16 foot bed of dahlias last winter. The bed is a raised bed constructed two concrete blocks high, 16 inches. (See the picture.) So the dahlia tubers are all above grade and will not sit in saturated ground over winter no matter how much it rains or snows. I mulched the bed in late November with about 8-10 inches of dry leaves. Lastly I covered the whole bed with a 4x16 foot sheet of clear 4mil sheet plastic and weighted it down with bricks all around the edges so it wouldn't blow away on a windy day. The plastic sheds water which keeps the soil from becoming saturated and keeps the leaves dry which maintains their insulating value. I used clear plastic because that allow some sun to penetrate and helps warm the leaves and soil on sunny winter days. Along about early April I simply removed the plastic and part of the leaves and let the dahlias do their thing. All of the dahlias survived and most of the plants are huge already but a few looked weak and one i replaced. I don't know what was different about those that weren't strong right out of the gate. It worked so well that I'm going to do the same thing with the other 3 raised beds that I planted with dahlias this spring. I will leave the clumps I overwintered this past winter for a 2nd winter. I'm curious to see how much bigger the clumps get in their 3rd season (2014.) I'm hoping they don't get much bigger but instead stabalize at what would be their natural maximum size as a tropical perennial. I think one could accomplish the same thing, keeping the tuber clump above grade, with mounded raised beds. The thing I don't like about mounded raised beds is that they tend to become rounded instead of flat on top and shed much needed water during summer thunderstorms. You could also use a simpler construction method and build simple raised bed walls using treated 2x12s filled with good well draining soil. HighlanderNorth, you should give this a try next winter i think it would work well for you too.

I love the Fred Miller kitchen with several colors (Ithink I counted 4 wood finishes plus a contrasting color range in that one photo just above the gallery sign). Notice how they use different counter heights and cabinet depths to give an unfitted feeling. Notice htat all the yellow pieces have wood trim elements and each color has different molding details, yet they all work together. And the ailses are wide enough to accomodate the changing depths without feeling cramped. Details like that ad the crown changes are what can make the difference betnween pulled together and interesting or just chopped up. You don't have to do all those different things, but you have to consider how the details fit together. My crown is white, but the only section of cabinets with it that isn't white is my blue wall, and I like the way it looks there. The same crown continues around the adjoing rooms as well, so it all flows. I don't think I'd like it if one were painted and the other was stained wood. You may be able to deal with that with the different cabinet heights. I think dark bases and lighter uppers is done more often, but I think I have seen it reversed. I can't think of any to search for to show you though. I like a contrasting island, but as some have pointed out, it has become a big trend lately and may look dated in years to come. If you do the island in a different color, change some of the details -- furniture end panels, feet, open shelves, door details, even your hardware. Mine has raised door panels while my cabinets are all recessed, and the molding has a little more detail. The wood is knotty and glazed while the cabinets are smooth paint with no glaze. The hardware is an old black finish, simple style that a balcksmith could have made while the cabinets have s brushed silver (not sure what it's supposed to be, but it looks softly weathered) in another style with some flourishing details. If your KD is good, they should be able to help you pull these details together. Have you seen photos of mixed finish kithens he has done? That might help you see how he puts things together and whether you like that. If not, search for more photos here and figure out what makes the differences you like. It's YOUR kitchen. Take the time to make it what you love. There is no one size fits all.