Jen and Tally: I think we were all typing at once! Sorry I missed you two...Tally, I don't even like 55 in January, but yeah, it's worse when the calendar says next week is April and our trees are trying to wake up! I love your idea of beautifying your street with "spare" plumies :) what a good neighbor you are! Who needs tomatoes? Well...I do love me a home-grown beefsteak...but as between tomatoes and plumeria, there's no doubt which wins LOL Once I need the space, those tomatoes will have to go. Jen: happy for you for your Waimea "score"! It's definitely one of the best. Kona Candy is pretty fab, too. In answer to your question: last year, a single inflo on my KC bloomed for six months straight. This year, in January, when all were sleeping, KC pushed this inflo and never slowed down; AND there's a new inflo on one of the other tips. So I answer an emphatic "YES INDEED!!" Smart cookie indeed, too! ;-) Yes, that is my evil plan: lease community garden space at rock-bottom prices so that I can continue my unchecked, fever-pitch purchasing of "must-haves" hahahahahahaha as I've said to you in the past: touché! 10x mag and flashlight, crazy? Not on MY planet, at least LOL I bought a headlamp and wear it as I search for new inflos nightly (just when I think I've learned to recognize the appearance of a just-formed inflo, these trees jerk me around!). The neighbors all think I'm a total freak hahaha which leads me to... Emily! Be proud of your obsess... er, I mean, "hobby." LOL Yes, mere mortals may think us strange, but what do they know?? I think there might be a grain of truth in what you said about my driving up demand ;-) I keep waiting for my OWN stock price to go up LOL but so far, nada. Thanks for the compliments, all! Looking forward to lots of photos in the months ahead! G

I can only comment on the Bluestar RNB, which seems not to be a front-runner for you. But as you ask about the hot doors . . . it just has not been any sort of problem for us. The door gets very warm under certain conditions, and you might be surprised if you were to fall against it with palms flat. Surprised, but not injured at all -- our door just doesn't get hot enough to burn somebody. Moreover, if I'm baking, or roasting (or braising, etc.) while working at the range, I'm not especially aware of heat coming through the door at all. And the oven door handle stays just fine -- don't need a potholder to open the door at all. Our two younger kids had just turned 9 when we bought the range and I'd had similar questions, and had them resolved before we bought place our order. They've never had problems getting getting burnt, and neither has our small dog. Of course other kids may be younger, and things happen, but I don't see a danger from the door itself. With our range, a little kid could fall against the glass door, or poke it with a finger while looking at cookies, and not be injured at all. Startled, perhaps, but not injured. The far more significant risk seems to me to be common to any range at all: little kids need to know that a stove is not a toy, but something to be careful about. They need to know that they oughtn't to go crashing into it or leap up and grab things. They need to know that whether you buy a BS, or CC, or NXR, or GE, or a 20 year-old whirlpool from a garage sale. An open flame is an open flame; a hot coil is a hot coil; and a pot full of boiling water can scald anybody.

We had a front loader once, and I liked how dry the clothes came out, but the door seal failed rather spectacularly, and I found I couldn't soak my really grubby clothes. Since I work with my hands, really grubby clothes are a way of life for me! We find we like the old top loaders better, and they are a lot cheaper. There is plenty of room to remove the appliances. My smallest doorways are 30", and the path through the master closet and bathroom has 36" doors. Average washers and dryers are 26-27". We could go stacked, but it might be a problem for my vertically challenged better half. The laundry area looks tight, but our current one is only 54" wide (across from the appliances), and it works fine. As drawn, the one in this design is 67" wide, a full 13" wider than we have now. That's one thing I've noticed in our current home- how tight a lot of places are, and we don't even notice. Our kitchen only has 48" across the aisle, and it works. The fridge is across from the sink, and blocks access to the hallway when the door is open, but no one ever was inconvenienced much. You just wait your turn. Our foyer is only 4-1/2' X 5'. By comparison, this house will be very wide open. For the sake of discussion, north is approximately in the direction of the view. In actuality, the house will be rotated about 15 degrees clockwise from the top view. I think in high summer the sun may hit the back of the house a little, more likely in the morning. The northern exposure is the weakest feature of our land, but in SC, that's where the mountains are. Luckily, it's a mild climate, where A/C probably costs as much or more than heat on an annual basis. Therefore- the parlor and porch face east, done purposely to keep the porch cooler in the hot afternoons. That puts the bedroom on the west; not my first choice, but all that is left. In reality, all we do is sleep there, and we are both up WAY before sunrise, so the exposure isn't all that important (to us). The dining area will get morning sun, the kitchen afternoon. Again, not my first choice, but I think the dining area should be adjacent to the parlor, not the other way around. What else? The barn will be ESE of the house; about 100' away. We have woods in all directions, although I plan to have a pretty good open area. There's too much risk of ice storms to have lovely trees hanging over the house. Also facing north, and the view, the ground falls away at about a 15% grade. The approach from the road (300' to the south) goes up a rise of about 20', over the ridge, then downhill and to the right towards the house. That's why the garage faces in that direction. I'm going to have the gravel driveway wind back and forth slightly rather than dead straight. It's likely you won't see the house at all from the road. The barn is up on the ridge, and may be partially visible when the leaves are off the trees. Here's an aerial to give you an idea of the orientation. The top of the pic is due north. You can see the long, narrow entry. The house and barn will be to the right as the land widens out.

Wow! That is chock full of fab ideas. We have literally over 100 mason jars (in laws were nuts about canning) so I appreciate the ideas of what to do with them. Loved the sparkling branches, how to make your own mercury glass and transferring photos to wood. All very cool ideas. Thanks!