A photo of the whole front yard and house would help as well to get a feel for how the whole property works together. What type of soil do you have? Moist or dry, clayey, sandy or loamy? Acid or more limy? For low maintenance, plan to edge the beds where they abut the lawn to keep grass out and mulch with an organic (not rock, rubber, etc) mulch that you will renew every year or three, depending on the type and how deep you have it. Wood chips, bark mulch, cocoa bean hulls, pine straw, etc. - you can choose what appeals to you, but put it on thickly enough to discourage weeds. Don't use landscape fabric as it will make things harder in the long run. Actually, if you don't have mulch down now, put some down ASAP so that weeds don't get started now in the bare soil. If you put cardboard or several layers of newspaper under the mulch, it will work even better. You'll be very glad when it comes time to plant that you took this preventive step. To be perfectly honest, plants aren't static. They grow and get bigger. Most perennials will need some dividing down the road, though some will be quite happy for ten years or more without dividing. When you put in the garden, place plants with their size in 10 or 15 years in mind and fill in the gaps for the first several years with short-lived perennials, annuals, or pots of plants and ornaments that can be moved as your long term plants get larger. That will save you having to remove or move plants as they get larger but keep the garden from looking too empty for the first several years. Some sunny perennials I have that don't need frequent dividing and are disease free for me: - Peonies, especially Japanese or single ones. If you get ones that specify sturdy stems from a peony specialist, they won't need staking. Be sure to remove all old foliage in the fall for disease prevention. - Many sedums - Thyme, which will crawl around among other plants. - Veronica 'Georgia Blue' or 'Waterperry' which will also crawl around other plants. - Clematis, type 3 pruning are easy maintenance - give them a structure such as an obelisk with narrow bars to climb on and cut to the ground in the winter. Don't like dry soil. You may need to mail order from a reputable clematis nursery like Brushwood, Silver Star Vinery, Hummingbird Farm, or Joy Creek. - Cranberries will grow in normal moisture, acid soil and have shiny everygreen leaves and low vines that wander among other plants, tiny pale pink flowers and large decorative berries that move from pale green to glowing red and persist all winter (if you don't harvest them.) Some easy smaller shrubs that are low maintenance for me: - Some of the smaller weigelas have colored foliage as well as flowers - Deutzia 'Nikko' and 'Chardonnay Pearls' have a short, neat habit, white flowers in spring that cover the bush and CP has chartreusey foliage. - Low bush blueberries (if acid soil) have small white flowers, berries for you or the birds, and turn red in the fall for a long period. - There are small forms of Rhododendrons that are small and slow-growing if your soil is acid and doesn't dry out. Use the link below (or the multiparameter search link) to search for height, flower color, hardiness, etc. There is also a search page for azaleas: http://www.rhododendron.org/searchazalea_intro.htm You might want to wander around areas near you with nice gardens and stop to ask questions about plants if the owners are in the yard. Most gardeners are happy to talk about their plants. Take your camera and if they don't mind, photograph plants you like. Get books out of the library that have labeled photos of gardens and look at the styles. Would they look good with your house in your opinion? If there are garden tours or open gardens in your area, try some of those to get a feel for garden styles and what plants and plant combinations you like. (Here's a link to the Garden Conservancy's Open Days schedule, $5 per garden you visit. http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/open-days-schedule) Here is a link that might be useful: rhododendron search

I just found out that the post office has been returning packages people sent me. The PO was reacting to a 2 year old "mail forwarding" hold that was no longer valid. :( I think I emailed everyone I've traded with about it, but if you sent me one and had it returned, please let me know. I've fixed the problem with the post office. Also, I'm willing to send people 'Reisetomate aus Siebenburgen' seeds for an SASE at this point. If you're interested, let me know! Eliza

So Lisa - Do you want the whole white inset - soapstone 'vintage look'? (just with a twist) Or do you want an entirely 'different' look that happens to use white insets and soapstone? How do you want your kitchen to feel? "Because I see this kitchen everywhere (and DH won't consider anything but white - it's his only strong opinion) " It sounds to me like you want something different -- something that DOES NOT look like (or almost look like) the "see this kitchen everywhere" version. For that reason, if DH is stuck on white cabinets, why not bail on the soapstone? There are so many other fabulous countertop choices that will completely change the look of your kitchen. I'd go through the finished kitchens blog, the Gallery, the 'Kitchens we Love' blog -- Collect pictures of kitchens with white cabinets that somehow look different. "What you describe is such a classic it is hard to improve on." The poster who wrote this provided a very real and valuable insight. White inset cabinets and soapstone is a 'classic look' -- and changing it could end up being 'wrong' instead of 'different'. Think of the little black dress, classic pumps, a strand of pearls, and a wild, funky hat. Different? - yes. Can it be pulled off? - probably. But if you drop the pearls and change to Wow! shoes with the hat -- then you have a totally different statement.

It took me a month but I did call a glass company and the mirror is now gone! It was funny, I called around and got quotes for $200, $150, and $75. I asked the guy who would do it for $75 to come and do the job. I explained that it was 81 inches by 67 inches but I think his English was limited. He showed up today all alone! So he said, "That's too heavy for one person." and I thought he went to his truck to call in backup. He came back with his ladder and a suction cup and started to yank this huge 1/4 inch thick mirror off the wall. It popped right off with about 6 repositions of the suction cup. He asked if I wanted it in my garage. I said, "No, you're going to haul this away for me." He said, "No, I will cut it up and put it in the garbage." I was skeptical but I went with it. Then it was loose and he kept saying, "This is too heavy for one person. It weighs 300 pounds." So I watched as he cut the mirror into two pieces and lowered them to the floor. He cut those into long strips. Then he carried the strips outside where he found three trash cans on the cul-de-sac to spread the weight (it was trash day, yay!) and cut the strips into small pieces. The trash truck rolled by within the hour so my neighbors will never know that we borrowed their cans. There are some circles of mastic remaining on the wall, no big deal. The mirror was glued to the builder's original beige primer, so we know it was original to the house (1985). I have a painter coming in an hour to give me an estimate, I'm so glad it is not a huge mess for him. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on this project! I wanted to pick a paint color before I removed the mirror and that took me a month! We chose Benjamin Moore Concord Ivory- I can't wait until it's done!