Generally the advice is to cut the spikes off at the base on complex hybrids. But seeing this orchid is half violacea the best thing to do is to let the plant do its thing. You will know when to cut the spike down to the base when the spikes become unsightly with many flower scars and are no longer things of beauty. Just wondering how this orchid will turn out because the parents of Cassandra are equestris and stuartiana. I cut the spikes down to the base on equestris and do not cut the stalled spikes on violacea because the plant will flower again from stalled spikes in my conditions when summer arrives. Do not know anything about stuartiana. No doubt someone will come up will the usual if its brown cut it down stuff which probably applies in this case but doesn't apply to many hybrids.

We too are in the middle of building and I think it is impossible NOT to feel anxious about borrowing and spending money when the economic news is so bad. It is downright terrifying to be building a home when almost no one else is. It always FEELS safer to be traveling with the herd. But I was taught - as I'm sure you were - that the only way to really make money on the stock market was to buy when everyone else was selling and sell when everyone else was buying. In other words, economically, it is BETTER not to follow the herd. I think the same thing holds true here. As all the economists and pundits keep telling us, part of the reason the economic news is so gloomy is that, after years of Americans having a "spend, spend, spend" mindset, so many people have gotten scared and have suddenly started to hold onto every penny they can. While the decision to start saving is great on an individual level, having the entire country start trying to do it all at once has helped to lock up dollars and contributed to the economic mess. DH and I saved frugally through all the years when "spend, spend, spend" was the order of the day. Now, even with the economic downturn and our investments taking a huge hit, we still have enough saved to purchase what we want. And, we getting better deals when we buy things for our house than we would have had we built a few years ago. So no, I don't feel guilty about spending the money we saved over all those years. Besides, as other posters have already pointed out, every penny we spend helps someone else keep a job! Besides, since the government has decided to print and pump more dollars into the economy in an attempt to get money circulating again, I figure double-digit inflation is bound to hit us very soon. Whatever dollars one manages to save right now are going to become worth a whole lot less in the very near future. Better to invest my dollars in durable goods that won't devalue when inflation hits. So rather than cutting back, DH and I have actually decided to borrow more than we otherwise would have...especially since we are able to qualify for very low interest rates on a thirty year mortgage. Rather than wait to do some upgrades later (as we had originally planned), we're doing them now because we're confident we'll be paying back the borrowed money with much cheaper dollars down the road. But, does all my logic insulate me from feeling anxious sometimes? Nope! I still have my anxious moments. Guess herd mentality is hard-wired in. LOL. Just my 2 cents.

We have roll out trays in one of our 12" cabinets and we just keep the bread, english muffins, rolls, etc in there. It's really not very big at all, but it works for what we needed it to. I really don't know what else I would store in there except maybe measuring cups, sifters, etc. In your kitchen, I would likely leave the 12" cabinet there but delete the roll out trays and use it for storing cutting boards, baking sheets & cooling racks. It's ideally situated next to the ovens and across from the island for prep. With all that being said--and going back to your previous thread wondering about keeping symmetry on the 2 drawer stacks and the underneath the rangetop--your island hides all of that. I would urge you to really think about how you are going to use that area and make changes accordingly without worrying if everything lines up or is symmetrical. If the island didn't hide that cabinet run, my advice would likely be slightly different, but since the island is there and you can't see behind it from other areas of the house, I would go for function over form. Just my $0.02! Hope it helps!

I'm normally very picky/neurotic about things like that, but I have to say, based on your photo, that a good caulking job should make that disappear, and the caulking will hardly be noticeable. You may keep looking at it and be bothered for a couple of weeks afterwards...and then one day you'll realize that you don't notice it anymore and no one else does either. I would venture that, even if the cutouts had been better executed, you would have needed some caulking anyway to hide the inevitable slight gap, and to prevent water getting in between the wood and the side of the sink. Finally, do you really want the cabinet to be re-made and have further delay over this issue?