Our plow guy came early this morning. Yeah! He plowed 4 inches of new snow out of the driveway. Another 3 inches fell. I just finished shoveling that. Ok, I've had my fill of snow. When does winter start?! Here's what we're in for tonight. I live in the southern part of Onondaga County. I think I'm too late to pick that kohlrabi in the garden! Issued by The National Weather Service Binghamton, NY 10:42 am EST, Sat., Nov. 22, 2008 ... LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST SUNDAY... A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EST SUNDAY. BANDS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT MUCH OF CAYUGA COUNTY... AND MAINLY THE SOUTHERN HALVES OF ONONDAGA AND MADISON COUNTIES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS TODAY. ALTHOUGH SNOWFALL WILL NOT BE CONTINUOUS IN NATURE IN ANY ONE AREA... OCCASIONAL SQUALLS COULD PRODUCE SNOWFALL RATES OF AS MUCH AS AN INCH PER HOUR. IN GENERAL... ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... WITH AS MUCH AS 5 OR 6 INCHES IN AREAS WHERE NARROW BANDS ARE MOST PERSISTENT. THIS WILL BRING WEEKEND STORM TOTALS TO OVER A FOOT IN SOME PLACES. LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY... LAKE EFFECT SNOWS ARE EXPECTED TO SHIFT NORTHWARD. AS A RESULT... MORE CONCENTRATED BANDS SHOULD BEGIN TO IMPACT THE THRUWAY CORRIDOR ONCE AGAIN... INCLUDING BALDWINSVILLE... THE SYRACUSE METRO AREA... CHITTENANGO... AND THE TOWN OF ONEIDA. SEVERAL INCHES OF ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL ARE ANTICIPATED IN THESE LOCALES... WITH AGAIN WEEKEND STORM TOTALS APPROACHING A FOOT LOCALLY. A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF LAKE- EFFECT SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. LAKE-EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS TYPICALLY ALIGN THEMSELVES IN BANDS AND WILL LIKELY BE INTENSE ENOUGH TO DROP 1 TO SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW PER HOUR FOR SEVERAL HOURS. VISIBILITIES VARY GREATLY AND CAN DROP TO ZERO WITHIN MINUTES. TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. COMMERCE COULD BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD... AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. More Information ... LAKE EFFECT SNOWS TO CONTINUE THIS WEEKEND... VERY COLD AIR CROSSING THE GREAT LAKES WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE BANDS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW INTO SUNDAY. THE HEAVIEST SNOWS ARE EXPECTED TO FALL FROM THE NORTHERN FINGER LAKES REGION... ACROSS ONONDAGA COUNTY... AND INTO MADISON COUNTY.

Thank you, kitchenkrazed09, even tho it's not a typical kitchen, it works for us. There's a lot to digest on this thread, thanks to all for the great contributions and observations. circuspeanut, you posted a pic of possibly the only colorful granite I actually like, I saw a large slab at a stone yard once and while we didn't consider it for a counter, too much care and too spendy, I would love to have a piece mounted as wall art, maybe in a stairwell. I love all the funky tiles posted, especially the red, orange and yellow one (first posting), it reminds me of nasturtiums, and I think you could build a great kitchen around that tile; reds, browns, yellows, oranges, creamy white, with a soupcon of a green on the spring/acid spectrum. live wire oak, your point about people who need professional help vs. those who just need a push in the right direction is well taken and should be heeded. I see so many posts here of the former, yet is seen as heresy (by some) to suggest or use a professional ID or KD, I guess because many posters here have a strong bias against professional help. A design challenge would be very instructional and just might inspire some folks to veer off the well trodden kitchen design path. And if overly sensitive types get their knickers in a knot, so be it. sandyponder

I’m also considering the axis reversible chaise. I’ve called several C&B stores to ask about it and they argued with me saying that it doesn’t come with a reversible chaise. Wish the employees were familiar with their products.

Poblano/Ancho is a good chile, Billie. I like them a lot, especially when made into rellenos but they don’t usually grow very large for me. When ripened and dried into the ancho’s they make a great addition to my “pepper mix” for red chile or in powdered form they are really good sprinkled on mango slices and pineapples! I don’t grow a lot of sweet peppers, I don’t care all that much for green bells and trying to get them to turn red here is barely worth my effort, especially since they are such poor producers for me anyways. I do grow a few since most people in my family don’t appreciate anything above black pepper when it comes to “spiciness.” But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, if you cut me, I might actually bleed pork green chile and I do like it spicy. As far as morning glories and beans, for the most part Phaseolus vulgaris (our common green and dry beans) are self-pollinating and their flowers are really not all that attractive to pollinators in general. So even if the MG’s are attracting pollinators, they will likely overlook your beans for something more appetizing. Steve: From Michael Bartolo, the man who spent years creating the Mosco pepper ”Mosco originated from a land race of, what is referred to in Southern Colorado as, the Mira Sol chile pepper. Mira Sol is Spanish for “looking at the sun” and describes the major distinguishing characteristic of this pepper, an upright growth habit for the fruit. The grower of the original land race stock was Mr. Harry Mosco (dec.) who farmed east of Pueblo, Colorado in an area known as the St. Charles Mesa.” If I remember right, Harry was in some way related to Michael… I would be devastated if I was so limited in my chile growing. I would throw out all other vegetable gardening before I gave up growing chiles. The Thai chile sold by SSE is very good though, super tiny, and SSE advertises it as an “ornamental.” But if you do decide to take on the tedious task of picking the multitudes of little fruits, it’s got a nice flavor and not SUPER hot. It’s another one I usually grow year after year, especially since it’s compact habit works well in containers. Brandywine is so raved about I have always been curious to try it, but I have always figured that our growing conditions are not what it’s looking for. However, I have been tempted to try the hybrids that have been created with it, like Brandyboy and Genuwine. So far I have always found enough tomatoes and beefsteak ones at that (I prefer the big ‘maters to the small ones) to keep me from pulling the trigger on them. I always prefer to have a multitude of unripe green tomatoes at the end of the season. You can’t buy them in stores really so how else would I get them to put into my pork green chile (made with Mosco chiles, of course!)?