Last year I caught a bit of an interview with Freegans - people that live from dumpsters. Two doctors (MD, not PhD) go dumpster diving several times a week. It was incredible to watch them pull out enough food to make dinner. "Thats nice," I thought, "But not for me." Well, now that Im serious about expanding the garden, I needed more compost materials and asked my florist if she would save her scraps if I provided heavy duty bags. She obliged but as the weeks go by, she complains about being too busy to separate it (even though I told her she didnt have to.) Every week, she gives me fewere and ferw bags, so I started going through her dumpster. I cant believe the stuff she tosses. I make little bouquets for around the house. She tossed out four unused 75-foot white pine ropes. I made wreathes out of them and the spruce from Christmas trees on the curb. Ive started rummaging through the dumpster at Starbucks where Ive pulled many milk cartons that now have winter sown seeds in them. My husband is concerned about my safety so I usually go around 6am when there are other people around, though I noticed that dumpster diving is best at night, after the businesses close but before the garbage trucks arrive. When I was a kid, I was embarrassed by my Dad who was a garbage picker. Though, he sometimes came home with nice stuff that only needed a small bit of refurbishing - bicycles, a very nice lawn swing. Now hes my compost buddy. "Dad, if you see a Christmas tree on the curb, GRAB IT!" Hes brought home countless bags of leaves that will be great mulch this summer. I guess Ive reached an age that I just dont care what people think of me going through the trash. Its a fun adventure too though I have a feeling it will be too funky for me to tolerate come warm weather.

Jules, finally I am here. Thank you again for the wonderful gifts! She sent: Plants- Salvia "Snow Hill"-I did not have this! Lavender "Provence"-Didn't have this either!! Smells delicious. Columbine "Cameo Blue and White" Nor did I have this!!! Happy times. Bulbs- Dahlia "Bill McKnight" Nope, didn't have this one. Brodiaea "Queen Fabiola" WooHoo Anemone "Mr. FoKKer" New to me Puschkina "Libanotica" Another new to me Glad "Comet" Don't have this one either!!! Also: A kneeling cushion 2 packages of metal plant markers-I love these! 3 plant stakes- a frog an apple a globe with a pen, and quill and glasses at the bottom-VERY cool Jules, Thanks and thanks over and over. You are the best!!! Hugs, Mary Ellen

Thanks, you're probably right about not giving them drink bottles...I was just trying to think of a way to encourage them... I have deliberately not been on site much lately b/c the foreman has been so rude. He can be very nice but when he's in a temper - as he can be unpredictably - I don't have the patience to deal with him. Dh goes out and talks to him after work, and our other subs are out there often, looking out for us. If we see *any* more signs of drinking (pop, not beer, lol!), on the job, you can bet I'll be out there every day, all the time, watching them!!! We have found finishings for our house that are fun and unique - lights from at least 5 different sources for instance. Light fixtures made from old time drop lights for our shop area, huge snowshoe wall sconces for the great room for instance (yes, they all meet electrical code). We live 4 miles from our house (we're renting while building), so sometimes I've gone out there 4 times a day. Or I've driven 100 miles in a day, chasing down permits, supplies, etc. This is what I've done as GC, probably more effectively and efficiently than any "pro" could have done. I don't think we could've GC'd if we'd both been working outside the home. It's been a full time job for me, part time for dh. Plus we've done some of the finishing work ourselves (we're finishing the fir floors next weekend; dh is putting in the shop floor right now). Yes, we've had a few questions along the way, but probably no more than if we'd hired a GC. Different questions, maybe. We have always been very involved in home projects, in everything. Some of the crews/vendors have been surprised to come out and find that the woman caulking the logs/house is one of the home owners! Hee hee! GCing your own home is wonderful for many people, and I think the "professionals" need to chill out and be supportive. I doubt that they're going to lose that much business because of us. Or maybe they could offer their services as a consultant/hybrid GC of sorts, and encourage the homeowner to be more involved.

Thanks anj_pfor the help a lot! > They will still block the window a bit but at least they won't look like a mistake. Ah I see what you're saying. The window dimension is mostly accurate but the window is actually a fixed window that can't open XD so I think we should be good here. > Your kitchen is perfectly set up for a cleanup zone under the window with a cleanup sink/DW and a prep zone on the island with a prep sink. However that would kind of mean you'd forgo the workstation sink as it's not really necessary for such a large prep space. But it sounds like that is important to you? Is that something you have now? Yeah I do realize that. I don't have a workstation sink right now, but I guess I am just really liking the features marketed by the workstation sink? I like the ideas that I can chop on the sink so that the juice doesn't make my countertop and island dirty. I also like the drying rack thing because we hand wash dishes multiple times a week so that would be pretty handy. I thought about having the prep sink to be a smaller workstation sink, and the cleanup sink to be a regular sink, but then since the workstation sink will come with those handy accessories, I might find myself willing to wash dishes in the prep sink rather than in the cleanup sink lol. Then I might want two workstation sinks so that it's "balanced"? But seems to not worth the money here since like I mentioned, I am pretty much always solo cooking stuffs, and even if my wife helps me, she will just be doing some lightweight work like peeling potatos. I tried drawing out the 2 sink layout and it does look good, but I feel like it's a bit overkill to me. > Make sure you plan your island for the slab you want. At that size it will likely require a seam. Yup I think I do need a seam. It's currently around 12 feet. I am thinking to cut maybe 2 feet so that they can be in one slab, so killing one of the drawers on the island. I am still thinking about it. > Sizes, fillers, clearance, etc. Understood. My designer measured everything so I think that should be good. This is just me wanting to play around different designs visually so the drawing is a bit rough lol. Once I finalize what I want I'll send it to them and have them to do the more accurate layout. > With the sink/DW placement at the end of the island, combine your island drawer stacks into one large stack, or possibly a skinny cupboard for cutting boards/sheet pans and a 3' stack for prep tools. That sounds like a great idea! > I would recommend against using the vertical pullouts adjacent to the range as someone recommended below. Haha yeah I was kinda debating about that actually. This is helpful and I would probably just go with regular drawers and put the dividers like yours. I really like your spice divider!! > I would put dish storage and glassware storage in drawers, so instead of that tall skinny cabinet, make that as many drawers as you can, maybe with a cabinet that goes to the counter above that. If you want a full height cabinet, I might consider moving the ice maker/beverage fridge to the end of that run instead - right now it looks a bit cramped in between the two tall cabinets. Where is your pantry? Yup I more drawers will definitely be helpful. Those two tall things are actually pantries, but just that I can make them have drawers below and shelfs on top. Not sure what is a full height cabinet..? The space does look a bit cramped indeed. I am not actually not sure if it's because height of the cabinet isn't that accurate. I'll need to take it to my designer who will have a 3D rendering to say for sure, and if it still looks cramped, then yeah I can probably just move the ice maker and the small fridge to the end like you mention.