Grainlady makes a good point in that you may get a bigger bang for your buck by looking at other areas where your savings might be more significant. For me, as well as many others who contribute faithfully to this forum, frugality is a way of life. I have certain "friends" who laugh at my efforts, and my grown children accept them as part of my personality but they seem to be grateful that it is not part of theirs, for some reason. So be it. I'm the one who has no debts, and where my kids are concerned, the one they always turn to (sometimes successfully, but most of the time not) when they have gotten themselves in a financial mess. They don't want my advice and I keep waiting for them to get a clue. So far I wait in vain, although I'm seeing a glimmer of hope in my one daughter, finally. There are so, so many ways to cut down on costs. Start by making a list of everything you spend your money on and examine each one for potential savings. Usually, when you are frugal about the things you buy and the way you live your life, you will find you are also decreasing what they are now calling "your footprint". One nice thing about DD is that she buys a lot of the same things that I do. It is not uncommon for one of us to say to the other, "I'm making out an order to _____. Anything you need?" Then we share shipping. When I first started visiting this forum, I went all the way back to the first post and read each one. It took several days, but it allowed me to get to know people and to see what they were all doing. I'd recommend that as a first step for anyone new to this forum. It is very educational. My parents started out as farmers in Kansas. Because they did not have the financial expertise to run the farm at a profit, my dad started working as a driller on an oil rig. This set the wheels in motion, as my mother could not run the farm alone and he struggled to come home from a gruelling day's work on the rig and then work on the farm. Eventually the rig owner moved his operations to Oklahoma and we followed, selling the farm, moving into a small house with a good-sized yard in a small town. We were not poor but we were not well off, either. My mother was frugal in some ways, but in other ways not. For instance, every summer she would buy printed cotton fabric that was sold 4 yards for $1. (this was between the years of 1954 and 1965) From this, all her daughters would make their school clothes, and she would make dresses for herself and shirts for Dad. When double-knit was first marketed, my mother was in hog heaven. She bought so much double-knit that she wore it until she got too old to sew. And she recycled any plastic bag, whether it was a bread wrapper or a zip-lock bag that one of her "wasteful" daughters brought something in. BUT, my mother was not frugal when it came to buying a car. Because her father had been a horse-trader and she witnessed him haggling for the best possible price, feeling embarrassed about it, she would never, and would never allow Dad to, haggle over the price of the car. Car dealers loved to see Mom and Dad walking onto their lot. They always bought brand new and paid the price on the sticker. They usually kept the car for ten years so there was some recovery in that, at least. Mom loved to play the piano, and after she tried out her sister's electric organ, she had to have one. She went to the most expensive music store, and as usual, bought without haggling. Clearly, my mother had issues with money. And it seems a lot of people do, as if their worth as a human being is measured in dollars. I have a lot more respect for someone who lives comfortably on very little than I do for someone who brings down a huge salary but lives from payday to payday. When the job is lost, who's homeless?

Stuart, wow, that's quite a story!!! My goodness - I haven't been on here much lately. Just skimmed over all the replies, but I would urge you to take your time in getting the kitchen together - it sounds like you would like to do this once and be done for quite some time. It sounds like you have a good option to live in the basement area while getting everything else completed? I didn't read, are you planning on that becoming a rental unit for someone? People on this site are amazing - if you are able to keep an open mind on what you want to do with that space, you can wind up with an amazingly functional kitchen that will be beautiful too. I see that the current issue is outside venting. If you ever intend for anything more than mac 'n cheese to be cooked in the house, you really need to vent to the outside. I don't understand why people even do non-vented - it's worthless...you wind up with smells from cooking and worse still, airborne micro-particles of oil/grease floating through the air and sticking everywhere. Actually, the fan portion of a non-vented hood serves to toss the grease out further. Trust me...I've inherited a kitchen where we have that issue...it's not pretty. You almost definitely CAN vent, the issue is that it might take a little extra ductwork and general work to make it happen which of course, increases the overall cost. Honestly, no matter how much it would increase the cost, to me, outside venting is a must. Also, it's worth noting that most GC (and unfortunately) many kitchen designers know NOTHING or next to about using a kitchen to cook efficiently. And, in my experience, they will challenge you as to why you want something the way you do because it's easier for them to do it a different way/the way they always do it...even if it's not the best possible outcome for someone to cook. Trust in the overall wisdom here - a tremendous number of people on here have extensive knowledge of laying out a kitchen AND also use the kitchen frequently...they will help guide you. Take your time - there's no sense in rushing this. If you need a temporary kitchen where you can cook, get a decent sized fridge off of Craigslist. Get a microwave. And maybe look into one of the Breville Smart Ovens - they are more than just a toaster oven and can be easily made a part of the new kitchen...they actually function as a true 2nd oven for many people who have them. Also, the suggestion about IKEA cabinets if you are on a more moderate budget is a sound one. There are companies that will do custom doors for the IKEA cabinets that might be an option for you since you mentioned wanting a certain type of wood. Good luck!

Get Bar Keepers Friend powder. You will need it to clean the stainless backsplash because most of the ranges you will notice a brown/black heat stain behind the right rear burner. Dump a small pile on your counter and mix in some water to make a paste, than scrub away. I also use Astonish cleaner with similar success. I use oven cleaner inside. I found nothing else works to get it shiny new clean, especially the glass. I am not sure how soap and water would ever work? You will need to learn how to disassemble this thing. From separating the door to clean the inside of the glass and removing the entire top grate assembly. You will notice grease gets between the door and fouls up the glass. I find my range gets gunked up pretty quick. I spend at least several hours each month cleaning the range.

There are a number of causes for blossom drop. The most common cause is lack of fertilization. Another is too much N can cause the plant to stay in a vegetative growth stage instead of a fruiting/flowering stage. Don't get discouraged though, most of us had to go through a learning curve of one sort or another. I tend to prepare my soil well in the off season, then fertilize a little at planting. Depending on how the plant looks will tell me if it might need something more. When you get a stable location, get a soil test and you'll have a better idea of what would make for a good fertilization schedule.