Hello Tony, I want that recipe for your bug spray. Especially with it being organic. I hate the idea of eating fruit sprayed with chemical pesticides! I don't have problems with bugs except for on the gardenia and very occasionally on a plant here and there. I am pretty lucky. I know the gardenia is not happy in the winter because I keep it warm in my house and i know they like it cooler. Hey Mike, Will I still need to ad Epsom Salts if I fertilize with the foliage pro or the epsom salts? I thought I read something about not using epsom salts if using a fertilizer with urea. The turface is sold under the garden section. I can't imagine it not being the right size for gardening but if it is larger couldn't I crush it to make it smaller, or will that make it to small? I have to make it work but i will ask first before I go over there. Now are you saying that I need chicken grit AND the crushed granite? I must have a diffrent version then you do. What stuff do you use to make yours. I would rather make it your way since I know that you have had great success with it. I wonder why I got this variation then. Yours doesn't call for the sand then? If you could just list your "ingridients" for me and the amounts, that would be great. Do you still need epsom salts with your mix? Would my citrus fertilizer eliminate the need for the espsom salts? I asked you about the salts before but I didn't get an answer back from you on that one. Not a problem, I know I have been shooting tons of questions at you but I really need to know if I need this or not. If your mix or my citrus fertlizer eliminates the need for it, that would be great. As far as that nut job nextdoor, your absolutly right, and it enfuriates me that my landlord gives him special treatment just because they are friends. She has told me that she has threatened to evict him because of his BS, but because there friends it won't happen. Mike I apologize for the urgency with getting the stuff for the gritty mix but it is necessary for me to get it this weekend since my tree should be here by early next week. Can't wait! Andrew

If I had to guess I would say it is to late. Here are a couple pics of mine after last winter-they were cut back almost to the ground. In this 1st pic you can see how pale the spear,etc is- the whole thing pulled out. Here is a pic of it cut back,I didn't think it would make it because of how far down I had to cut to find live tissue. You can cut down(for starters)as far as down as the socket went that pulled-don't worry about hurting the palm at this point,my guess is it has no chance without being cut back. Keep cutting down,if you do not find white tissue before the absolute soil line it's dead. My guess is you will find a cored out center but hopefully you will find some healthy tissue, if you do it won't take long for it to pop up,maybe a week if in a warm sunny place and if the roots are still alive. Anyway,here are some pics of the process from this past season. Another one- and...another 4 days later(in April) Palms recovering-7 weeks later- Here they are(recovered) in fall(Oct 8th)- GOOD LUCK!

I am worried that you will not like the bright white grout, since you were already concerned about the tile looking a little too gray with everything else? (Obviously, you are worried, too!) I think a slightly beige-y grout would be just the thing you need to pull it all together perfectly. It will pick up those beige tones in the marble. Maybe people could give you some pics and tell you their grout colors--it isn't something usually named, but it is kind of important, especially with subways.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I'm sorry I didn't get to read them earlier...spent the afternoon building a snowman with my little guy in this lovely winter wonderland we are experiencing in NC right now, followed by hot cocoa with 'Mickey' marshmallows (because "Mommy, boys don't drink hot chocolate with 'Minnie' marshmallows!"), followed by a sugar cookie making party! So down to business... -As many of you have pointed out, this design has some issues. The background on this is that we hired a designer to draw the house plans. After nearly a year (when it should've taken about 3 months seeing as how I drew the floorplans for her and actual pics were provided for the entire exterior from every angle imaginable) we had spent a small fortune and we figured out we were being strung along to increase the designer's bottom line. So we finally said this is it, print the final set and we will take it from here. So here we are with pretty much the whole house nailed down except for the kitchen and construction scheduled to start in about 3-4 weeks. The solution: call on your Gardenweb friends to help make this kitchen an open yet cozy example of both form and function. And I thank you again for all your help! -To answer a couple posts, a counter and cabinet are needed next to the refrigerator for storage of glassware and a place to set the glasses as they're being filled from the dispensers. Celticmoon- I hate those corner cabinets too! They are stumpy and they do impede walkways around the island. Rhome- Yes, there will be a fridge/freezer in the garage just outside the entry door in addition to the 48" fridge/freezer in the kitchen. With a 15 year old the size of a linebacker and a 5 year old with 2 hollow legs who can out eat his older brother, I might need a third! On the pantry-you walk in under the upper portion of the stairs and there will be a set of tall shelves that will line the left hand wall for dry goods. These will go to 2 shelves under the landing and around the corner for large pots and bulk items (yes, I love Costco!). This setup has worked really well for Mom & Dad and my DH & I really like it. Lisa_a- I don't like the oven placement either, but I had to put them somewhere just to get the final prints done. I like the idea of placing them on the DR or FR wall. Thanks! Mythreesons- You are in the Charlotte area, right? I think we exchanged window info a while back. What did you ever decide to go with? Did you ever get to talk with the owner of the Abberley Lane house in your neighborhood? Thanks for the input and posting of your plan. I really like your island setup-it's just what I had in mind! As far as the mudroom/laundry/powder room area: the cubbies will be hidden inside a cabinet. My DH & I went round & round on that part of the layout (in fact the powder room was an addition to the original plan)& what you see is the compromise we could both live with-hence the disguised cubbies. Our bigger issue is laundry. Our mudroom and laundry room were combined in our last house & it was an absolute nightmare! And of course the entry door that was used the most by EVERYONE was the one in the mudroom. All of my work stuff ended up there too. I've made a large specially designed space for all of my work stuff in the garage so it never enters the house. So hopefully, we will just be dealing with coats, gloves, hats, bookbags & shoes--all behind closed doors! Please keep the suggestions coming! I will work with these & get them on paper to scan & post. If anyone sketches anything out as you're thinking or if you see a layout you think will help, please scan and post it! Thanks so very much!