The herd mentality is pretty instinctual - party goers want to congregate where the food is, where the drinks are, where the conversation is flowing - and not cull themselves out to a seemingly "distant" spot no matter how inviting the plantings (or fireplace furniture in the case of the teens) intended to lead them there might be. Not much help, and short of just telling people to hump down the 9' of stairs and sit in the yard, they will plant themselves where the action is.

Judy...Judy...Judy...(with a Carey Grant affectation) Congratulations future Grandma! What a wonderful gift from God Almighty!!! Now...your "botanic children"... You say you've been lurking on this forum for quite some time, so you must have a good grip on a growing strategy for your figlets. The E-bay, fig cuttings that you ordered last year, are probably small and you will want all this year's growth to be directed into making leaves and wood, and not fruit. Not yet anyway. If you can't resist, just let 2-3 figs grow, but not many. Get the treelets into larger containers, planted in Al's gritty mix, and sit back and watch them take off, letting them develop some structure. Then next spring you can prune away some branches and wood that doesn't conform to your designs. Keep in mind that the "bush" shape is harder to store than the "tree" shape, with a single stem, which can be stacked to save space. Picture four containers/pots making a square, and the fifth resting in the center, but on top of the four bottom pots, like a pyramid. With a single-stem tree, this is easier to do than with a spreading, multi-stem bush. I counted six fig varieties from the E-bay order, and then there are your rooted cuttings...storage space might be an issue. Yes, bury your pots into the ground, but I would lift the containers out every month and trim the roots that will grow out of the MANY DRAINAGE HOLES, or you'll be sorry you neglected this step. Fig trees are very dynamic growers, and they will try to root themselves wherever they are resting, in this case, into the ground. The Dyna-Gro "Foliage-Pro" and the "Pro-Tekt" formulas will work for all your plants, which will make life easier. "Pro-Tekt" and "Foliage-Pro" will have to be mixed with water separately, or the solutions will form clumps. Read Al's postings about fertilizing container grown plants for a scientific explanation. In ten years, you will need another truck to move your trees over state lines! :) Start a special, gift-tree for your Grandchild, and watch the tree grow along with the new baby. Fast-forward five years, and anticipate some good teaching sessions,... and the tree bears fruit easily, so the child-future-gardener will feel a sense of pride when tasting the fruit, AND... Grandma's a hero!!! Yes, the You-Tube videos of fig-growing/culture/training are very interesting. Skip the videos produced by the smarmy, degenerates at TY-TY nursery...never order anything from them. Again, Congratulations! Go forth and be figful. Frank, from The Bronx

Ahh yes, the math skills are really horrible (I don't know if this is just an epidemic in WV or if the whole US is calculator spoiled). I'll never forget one time I was at McDonald's and my total came to something like $4.96 and I gave her a $5...she messed up the register and was completely lost as to how much to give me back. I said "it's just 4 cents, don't worry about it"...but she said "well, then my register will be off"...so I waited for her to go get her supervisor who proceeded to use a calculator to figure up my change. I was completely dumbfounded. I'm not sure those were the exact amounts..but it was very simple math...so sad. The bad thing is I've seen several examples similar to this. For a short while while I was in college, I worked at Shoney's. I ended up quitting after about a month or so because the supervisor kept forcing me to work over when I had exams yo study for and things I really needed to get home to...but when I went in to quit, the manager came into the office and tried to talk me out of it because they had been having trouble finding people who can count back change! Amazing to me.

I don't think buehl suggested anyone with a shoebox sized kitchen is really agitating for an island. She is saying, if I read her right, that you may not want or be able to follow all the rules all the time, but they are still invaluable as an analytical tool. Let's step back a sec. What is the one, fundamental question that everyone who comes to the KF is asking? Whether they are sketching layouts or comparing marble to granite or choosing flooring material or wondering how to put a DW at the end of a cab run? Despite all the different issues discussed here, they all boil down to the same fundamental question: "What consequence?" If I do this, what consequence will it have? If my aisle is too narrow, will we be fine and only rarely collide in my situation, or will I constantly have an uncomfortably close encounter with my MIL's backside? Will I be angry when I cook, and cook less? Will detritus pile up at my back door and make me look like a cat lady? Will I drop boiling pasta water on my Maltese, or constantly scream at my children to take the lemonade off the countertop? What will happen if I buy a Shaw's sink? What consequence am I facing if I make this choice? I find that Americans are increasingly unable to understand one fundamental, basic point about the universe. You get to choose what you do. You do not get to choose what the consequences are. If you plan for only 9" of prep space in your whole kitchen, you do not get to choose to roll out dough for a large pizza every day. If you want to cut lemons on your marble, it will not remain pristine and like new forever. It's not up to you. It's up to reality. You have no say. You just obey. So before you decide, you better find out what the consequences are, because they're automatic and you can't change them. That's where the rules come in handy. They tell you what the consequences are. Obey the aisle rules, and you'll pretty much never bump into anybody. It won't be an issue, or something you ever even think about again. You certainly can, and often must, choose a narrower aisle than the rules decree. But there will be consequences. The consequence can be anything from the occasional, not-a-big-deal step-aside to a pot of boiling bolognese on a ruined cocktail dress. In your kitchen, you may be OK with accepting the consequence of mild traffic jams, because it is the lesser of two evils. You are doing it so you can escape other consequences that are less desirable to you, such as never seeing your dinner guests until dessert, or having no place to put hot pans, or simply walking too far to get what you need. Everyone is free to make their own decisions. But everyone has to accept the consequences. The rules just help us tell them, in advance, what the consequences are.