I have another suggestion - remind everyone to mark the plants they bring with some sort of label, even a piece of tape would be fine, if possible. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it would help a lot. It might have been just me, but I ended up with some plants with no names. For instance, there was a table that had a plant name sign on it, but the individual plants were not marked, and I soon forgot what they were. I know it is not always possible, because people are digging and bringing extra plants at the last minute :-) just a thought...

Had an opportunity to use the hand blender last night. I had mixed up some mustard powder and also a jar or prepared mustard, and when it was added to vinegar it left a lot of clumps floating. I took that hand blender and placed it in the hot pot of vinegar and was able to easily get all those floating globs to mix and break down very fast. It has two speeds and, once placed on the bottom, has a sort of 'suction' action going on. Its almost difficult to pull out of the liquid once its running. Thats a good thing though, as you would not want to have that blade throw stuff all over your kitchen. The mustard pickle sauce came out nice and smooth.

This variety grows anywhere from 20-25 feet tall and about 10 feet in width, so a relative dwarf among M. grandiflora varieties but the space is absurdly small. I am not sure you realize how exuberantly a heathy M. grandifora grows if happy. Growth is also frequently, very low branching (as in down to the ground). They are also strongly surface rooting, and I don't see how the roots are going to grow without destroying your pavers. I definitely would transplant ASAP, this is a small one. small ones transplant quite well but larger ones resent being moved as may be damaged or killed in the process. I have had them pop up from cones on my property and have removed the small ones to containers for future planting, so it can definitely be done successfully. I have several cultivars of M. grandiflora; Edith Bogue, Victoria, Majestic Beauty, and Little Gem. Little Gem is probably the most dwarf but still too big for this strip, and it's also the LEAST cold hardy. This is Edith Bogue obscuring a three story home. I planted it from a two feet tree about 15 years ago.

Wow! Great info. I know that I can't go treasure hunting for too much for the build given that we now live in Houston, but I'd love to hit an architectural salavage place to find some door knobs, hinges for French doors and old tiles for the fireplace. I'd be happy of I could just have some old door knobs & not just reproductions. Of course, they may not match up with the way the modern doors are drilled, so it may be a pipe dream for a new house. I think y'all are convincing me to hold off on doing conventional built-ins by the fireplace and hope I can find some unique pieces to be fitted in, later. Eastern European really piqued my interest because I have a collection of Matryoshka dolls, lacquerd boxes and "laser" crystal pieces that I picked up on my trips to Moscow (in a famous flea market on the outskirts) which I would like to display. Have any of you used soapstone & where did you find it? The websites for Slabco, Classic Granite & G&L Marble show pretty slim pickings. I know there is a place up in VA where some is still mined & they have imports. Is there anywhere closer than that? I forgot about the rock slide, but it should be cleared by the time we would do any serious hunting for items. If anyone thinks of a neat place I should look at, just pop it on the thread. Ummm, I looked at Mapquest & Knoxville is only about 150 miles from TR, so that is a fairly easy daytrip (plus, traveling through the mountains should be lovely.) We're only finishing the main level and my sewing/crafts room on the lower level for now. Once we get there, I can take my time to find stuff for the rest of the lower level. Good to know that one can buy furniture at High Point and not have to take immediate delivery. Years ago, DH & I took a little day trip down there when we were up to Raleigh for Thanksgiving. DH grew up in Wadesboro, NC & went to school at NC State. Mom lived in Raleigh before she passed in 2006. We've been to Winston-Salem a few times to visit Reynolda House and to go hiking in the general area. As a matter of fact, several of the daughters of my 6 times great grandfather moved with their families from PA to NC to help found the Moravian settlement in Wachovia, so I must have distant kin in the Carolinas. OK, its late & I'm rambling. We talk to two more builders tomorrow to go over their preliminary bids. Its finally starting to seem real & we could be in our "forever" home by the end of the summer.