I did a major rip-out this spring in an effort to make room for new perennials. Lots of Iris, Daylilies, lamium, ajuga, non-performing roses (Champlain) and all duplicate perennials went. Ruthless thinning and reducing the size of things like Monarda, Heliopsis, Asters etc. Hauled many wheelbarrows away. Of course, I couldn't just throw them away so they got replanted in various places behind the barns! LOL. So... have very little to toss this fall. A few more daylilies and Amsonia tabernaemontana. Some reseeded phlox panniculata that invariably shows up as blah lavender. Moving Arisaemea triphyllum and Mitellas to the west woodlands by the bucket full. Way to much success with their reseeding over the years. Took out one whole row of Saskatoon Berry. Just can't put up with the mildew it gets anymore. Have yet to tackle three more shrub/hedge rows which would be better done with a backhoe but don't have one of those so I guess I will just have to rev up my engine. Couple of comments. I avoid Achillea millifolium at all costs. It is a vicious spreader in my sandy loam soil. Not a problem for people around here on clay. Myosotis also reseeds to the point of massive invasion so got rid of that years ago. Oenethera tetragona I have kept but each spring I severely prune the clump to keep it in bounds. Grows about 18-24" and is a nice long bloomer. No Tansy...it is on the noxious weed list here. Artemesia vulgaris 'Limelight' was well on its way to world domination (to quote Lori) so I moved it into the hollowed-out center of a Basswood stump. I smile every time I walk by it....imagining it is strangling itself to death in that confined space. Warms my heart! LOL Jan

"has to balance what's best for him and best for you. And sometimes they just aren't going to work. IMO, childs needs come first." See, this is interesting. I think what is so interesting and diverse about this forum (or even when talking to friends in RL) is that EVERYONE is going to have their own opinion; and that opinion is one we have formed based on our own experiences and perspectives. Nivea, you were treated in a really cruel and hurtful manner by your SM, correct? (or am I mixing you up with another poster?) I believe it was you. Anyway, naturally, you are more inclined to empathize and identify with the child (stepchild) and perhaps even project a bit of your own feelings; and that's normal, we ALL do that. Just as I am more likely to identify with someone like Ima or Lamom or Silver, someone who is a SM dealing with difficult situations. Anyway, I know what you mean about the child needing to come first; but I think you are saying this out of your own experiences, which included being emotionally hurt by your cruel and emotionally immature SM who insisted HER needs come first. Correct? That is awful that happened and it's sad that your father allowed you to be pushed aside. (And please correct me if I am mixing up your history with someone else.) Our situation is a little different in that DH had continually made the mistake of doing things to harm our marriage---all under the guise of "it's best for SS." But a lot of what he was doing wasn't even really best for SS. DH wanted me to smooth things over and be nice to BM, even after she attacked me in front of SS. Sure, it might be superficially easier for SS if everything seemed hunky-dory again. But in the long run, what lesson is that teaching him? That violence is acceptable? That it's okay for his mom to behave like that and I will just pretend that everything is okay? Those aren't lessons I want SS or DD learning. So sometimes what IS best for SS isn't necessarily what one might think at face value. Sure, it would be more *pleasant* for him in the short term, but in the long run, I think it does more harm than good. (I don't think this particular weekend issue is even really about anything being "best" for SS, though.) And one thing our marriage counselor has been helping both of us see is that sometimes what's best for the marriage has to come first. And I will say this with 100% conviction: it would NOT be in SS's best interest for DH and I to divorce. Not at all. That would be one of the worst things that could happen for both him and my DD. I may be "just a stepmother" to him but I have been a positive and caring person in his life for almost 7 years. He views my daughter as his sister. He genuinely loves our family and feels a TOTAL part of our family unit...because he is! We are not just some people he spends a few days a month with, he has two families and we are one of them! If that unit were to dissolve, it would honestly devastate SS. It would devastate my DD, as well, but I really think it would be worse on SS. He is very sensitive to these things, and he is the type of child that turns his upsets inward. I know if he were to lose his family, it would really impact him negatively in an emotional sense. So in marriage counseling, one thing DH is having to focus on is sorting out when SS's needs really DO come first, and when it's just BM manipulating "in the name of their son." Obviously, there are times that the child's needs have to come first---heck, that is 95% of parenting! But it is my belief that this is not one of those times. SS's mom is doing well and there is no reason he can't be with her.

Ashe 42, I love charcoal slate and these tiles are great. They are rectangular with variation in size of the rectangles, so sort of a more linear look than a lot of traditional square slate tiles. The tile is from Earthstone Gallery in Reno, NV but I don't actually know the brand (ordered them directly from the showroom based on the display). I now have 24 square feet of gently used tile, but it wasn't inexpensive - upward of $20/sq ft as I recall. Argh. Linelle, thanks for the words of support - greatly appreciated! Unfortunately there is some tangential family connection and it is a small community. I don't think they're bad people, it's just not a business model that lends itself to good customer service (we have to fight with them to get itemized cost lists, like for plumbing fixtures, and then consistently find errors - all of which labels us "bad clients"). This crew does good work, so I'm a lot better off than other stories I've heard in that I feel the house will hold up! All the subs live in fear of this builder and their designers, who will cut them off at the drop of a hat if they talk to their clients out of turn, etc. But that is the business model - controlling the clients to get them to agree to what is profitable, and controlling the subs to get them to do what they want, is the bottom line for the relatively low price/sq ft in a more assembly line "semi-custom home" approach. I do feel ambivalent about having made this choice, and honestly had no idea what I was getting into; nonetheless, it was our choice. The good news is that I really like the foreman and many of the subs, so the people who are actually doing the work are great (vs the owners, managers and avaricious designers).

We installed a similar vent-a-hood (48" with 900 cfm triple blower fan), and you will definitely need to do some work on your ceiling. We installed in a 1 story house, and we were using the vent-a-hood liner, not the stand-alone housing. They built a decorative plenum above the range (cathedral ceiling) and recessed the hood liner up into the plenum. The ducting then connected straight up to a vent through the attic and to the roof. I believe that the unit you picked is actually two 600 cfm dual fans that each require an 8 inch duct. You can then use a duct combiner (about 17" tall) to bring them together into a single 12" duct. The centerline of each 8" duct is about 11" away from the centerline of the hood. Do you plan to build any type of decorative plenum/trim above the hood to get the hood to the correct height over the range? If so, that could give you some working room for ducting options. The option I am considering is whether you could use two 8" ducts, but jog one over so you could run them between two adjacent floor joists or one above the other (hidden by a plenum). It still requires removing quite a bit of ceiling, but will fit well with typical joist spacing. The other choice is to run each 8" duct a different direction along the joist, but you will probably run into a load bearing wall in one of the directions. The other option is to look at the floor above to see if you could route the 12" duct (or two 8" ducts) vertically. If you could grab space from a closet or the corner of a room, you could run the duct(s) straight up and out the roof. The code requirement for make-up air when a fan moves more than 450 cfm is a relatively new requirement. If your city follows code, you will have an added expense for an automatic make-up air vent that opens when you run the exhaust. However, I installed a 600 cfm fan during renovation of my current house in 2014 and the inspector never even mentioned make-up air, so YMMV. Removing and replacing sheetrock ceilings is messy, and looks bad when its out, but its really very straightforward construction work that does not require a licensed professional. I would not get very concerned about how much ceiling has to come out. Bruce