A friend of mine has used two different methods to catch the seeds since, as he explained to me, the seeds will get flung quite a distance during pod dehiscence. One method was to tie a small piece of old pantyhose around the flowering area of the plant. This allows the plant to 'breath' still and prevents the seeds from getting away. In method two, (which I believe is the only method he uses now) he takes a small "blob" of the fiber fill used for stuffing in things like pillows and stuffed animals, streches it out into a rather wispy 'cloud' and mounds/gently wraps that over and around the pods. Again it allows for good air circulation, and catches the seeds thereby making seed recovery easy. He said he also finds this easier to apply than method one as well as less worrisome with regard to damaging the plant.

"Are GC's hesitant to give firm numbers for remodels? I understand that unlike building a new home, remodeling projects can have surprises discovered after demo, but would a 15-30% contingency cover us in such cases?" As a GC, I'll step in. Depends on the GC and how well they research the job prior. When I first started in this business, I felt pressure from customers to hurry and a get a number. That usually led to overlooking major problems, or not giving ourselves enough of a margin for an 'oops' factor. We learned the hard way and had a few very patient customers allow us the time to fix mistakes. As a contractor, I'd make sure the timeline penalties allowed for extra time incurred due to change orders or unforeseen circumstances. That being said, at this point I am done trying to please people who are completely focused on price with unrealistic expectations of what they can get done. So think that, yes, all contractors are scared to death of having a major setback during a job set them back, but those who learn from their mistakes, learn through experience what things can go wrong when, what to look for ahead of time and plan/price accordingly. We stick to our budgeted contract amounts, excluding change orders. I think its a part of doing good business. If we screw up or something doesn't go as planned, we fix it at our expense. Poorly capitalized businesses fail everyday because they cannot afford to fix their errors or better yet, avoid them. I have a problem with someone mentioning a change order over $500. I always put in my contracts that change orders will come with anything and a 50% deposit with a signed agreement is required for anything over $100.00. Change orders can kill a job if all parties involved aren't watching the total dollar amount. If we cannot continue the project because an issue has come up (structural for instance) that has arisen due to existing conditions, we will not continue the project until the customer is given notice, a decision made and either approval or sign-off of a change occurs. I'd suggest making sure also that all installed fixtures are spelled out in the contract in detail. Also, who is responsible for purchasing what and during what phase should also be spelled out.

Thanks everyone. We were supposed to sign the contract with the GC this past Sunday. I asked him to send over the contract in advance (we DO, in fact, read the contracts we sign...they loved us when we bought our house!) He sent it over to us on Sunday morning. We had plans and didn't get home until shortly before we were supposed to meet. He called before he came over and I asked if he was going to bring along the rest of the contract (i.e. exhibits) when he came over. And he said "That's all there is. You talked with the cabinet maker and the price is based on what you talked about." (Ginny - you already know some of this story, so skip this if you're reading it! haha) We've already had some areas where he's said something and then something else winds up happening. In our initial talk, I told him we wanted frameless, full-overlay cabinets. His initial quote didn't have either. And, it turns out that the Amish cabinet maker doesn't do frameless, period. So, we got through that and decided we could minimize the frame portion and still be okay. Next, we talked to the GC and asked about a cash discount. Which he said he offered and that it was "x" % of the total. So, we factored that in when deciding who we were going with. Turns out that he now says that our kitchen is too high in price to offer the discount. WHAT??? In my own business, if someone is buying more, it gives me more of an opportunity to offer a discount. Also, while we were meeting on Sunday, we asked about him painting the walls after the cabinets were in place because the room will reflect light differently once all the cabinets and lighting is in. He agreed that he could do that. He now emailed and said that he doesn't feel comfortable doing that. Ginny - when we visited with the cabinet-maker, it wasn't really supposed to be our final plan but instead to get a fairly accurate quote. I had what I've drawn up and was still perfecting (it's posted on the forum here)...not to mention that I'm certain my dimensions aren't exactly perfect. As to the Amish, there's a sticky area there for them in regard to powered tools, etc. Each sect is governed by similar but different rules. Most of them will talk on cell phones, but they won't have them in their home. They will ride in vehicles, but don't drive them. But, the religious leaders from each community set the rules and those within the community abide by them and don't question them. The GC said that we will get a detailed drawing when we get closer to the date that the cabinet maker will start. But, in the meantime, we need to give $1,000 with a very rough detail of what is and isn't included. My worries are that things will be forgotten or disputed. And I admit, there are a ton of details in our kitchen...I can't keep them straight myself sometimes! Honestly, I don't know what we're going to do. We're back in touch with our "runner up" and I'm still trying to work on a friendly letter to the guy that we thought was going to do our kitchen, but may not be now. Ah, my head is hurting and we haven't even started yet!

When we go to mom and her dh's, we stay at their home because they have room for everyone. My dh and I share the cleaning/kid duty with no problems from anyone. I do basic cleaning while visiting but generally don't do deep cleaning. I would do what ever mom asked though. I feel I will be needed more as they grow older and I'm kind of looking forward to helping out. Now,,dh, he often does some heavy duty thing with mom's dh to help them get a complex job done. He enjoys that because it gives him something important to do and of course his help makes things better for his in laws. When my family visits, they stay in our finished basement so they can have some privacy. They can sleep in, read, watch tv, until they decide to come up and visit. It works for us. I've only had one "argument" with my FIL and mom's dh. Both times I left very quickly with out a word. I think everyone knows I don't put up with stupid crap more than one day. That's just the way I work. Life is to short to live with chaos.