I think you would find gardening very liberating and appealing in NC compared to Minnesota. We can grow many more varieties of plants here compared to northern states, and the weather makes it possible to garden year round. Spring can be very spectacular when dogwoods and azaleas are blooming, and weather is most pleasant in spring and fall. Summers can be oppressive when we have spells of hot weather, and it's not unusual to have extended stretches when high temperatures are above 90 degrees. That's generally not a problem for gardening unless accompanied by dry spells and droughts, which unfortunately seem to be becoming more prevalent. The weather in fall is also very nice, although the leaf show is probably not as spectacular here as in Minnesota due to lack of sugar maples. Winters are very mild and some plants (eg, pansies) will thrive and bloom from fall through spring. In the Wake Forest area and throughout Wake County, we unfortunately are having a population boom and loss of natural habitat for deer, which can be a serious problem depending on where you live. In my neighborhood in N. Raleigh, deer roam through the yards at night eating just about everything in sight. This has forced a drastic change in my gardening. I used to grow lots of vegetables, pansies in winter, daylilies and hostas - but the deer have changed all of that. I don't grow vegetables at all any more, and have to spray my hostas and daylilies with repellent to keep the deer from eating them to the ground.

I agree that you need to live there a while. However I'm the walkpath person and I see that people walk from one door around the table and out the other door. If you had a straight shot walking alongside the wall you can deadend the kitchen. I'm assuming that you plan to use the dining room, yes? Then deleting the table and replacing with a wheeled cart with hinged countertop for seating a person or two might help you make the space more flexible. Put it closer to the middle of room. You can plunk things there when moving into/out of room so that the L of the kitchen is dedicated to actual work. You can release brake and pull/push it to be a different work station or get it out of the way against the wall when you need to. If you spend under $1000 for it you can sell it after you get a bigger plan and meanwhile you enjoy a kitchen that's more efficient. Ikea sells many styles--start looking there but don't stop there. Just think about what it offers. Lower shelves on a cart provide storage for cooking gadgets to get them off the countertops--crockpots, processors, stockpots, gizmos, serving pieces. If top is a chopping surface it moves one person out of the L so another can work there unimpeded. Meanwhile that blank wall begs for art and color.

Gerrity - Great to deal with - did an amazing job on an outdoor table for me from a remnant piece Marble and Granite in Westwood - Selected my marble slab and THREE times they sent the wrong slab to the fabricator. HORRIBLE to deal with!! Interior Stone and Tile - Waltham - AWFUL/THE WORST EVER - My fabricator (that my builder recommended) for my kitchen soapstone an marble pantry - Kitchen was ok, but not great - They very obviously do not often work with Soapstone. But job went ok - though some small issues. The Pantry though was a total BOTCH JOB!! They templated but cut my marble wrong and when I commented the piece was too short they still tried to install it! I refused and then they bonded a piece to the end- They did not template correctly so I could literally slide my fingers between the wall and the counter. They put almost an inch of caulking along the wall - Just horrible! They charged my credit card even though I would not sign off on the horrible work - And to make matters worse they actually charged my credit card before the work was even done!! They also made a surround for my fireplace, they broke it on installation and glued it on broken anyway. (Shame on me for giving them my credit card). Owner was nice to my face but totally did not try to resolve the problems once he left the job site. My cabinet maker told me he had never seen a counter installation so poorly done in his 20+ years of installing cabinets. After all this they refused to refund any of our money and we had to take it up with American Express - We won!!! Thank goodness! DO NOT USE INTERIOR STONE IN WALTHAM!!!

I've been trying to get on the computer all say! Kevin thanks for the info about your brother. I have seen his posts and think I would be in good hands. My husband and I are going Wed to view the slabs again. DH is going to call and request that the slabs are out to see each one. I will bring an oiled cloth and go from there. Katiob I saw MaryNC soapstone and drooled. I did go to Westwood and I had made an appointment to see their ss. I really didn't care for it. The sales rep did water it down and said some more was on order but could not give any more info. I wish I had asked about the Green Mountain maybe that will be an option if things don't work out. Pmama I will check out Lowell as well! Everyone has given me so much good information here I bound to get what I want. Thank you everyone. I'll keep you posted as to how things turn out.