Hello Pal! I received a wonderful package today from my pal. A nice assortment of a variety of different coffees. I love flavored coffee, and will be treating myself to a pot on my day off this coming Friday. Don't worry about not sending me a bunch of plants; I know what you mean by not having a bunch ready to divide, etc. Sounds like you are really having a dry summer. We had rain through June, then a heat wave for most of July & August and now a little relief. We have set heat records here. I figured out how to use the digital camera and how to post pics, so I will post a pic that you have requested. One is a pic of our cabin as I stand on the end of the dock and the other from my neighbors dock. The one from the neighbors dock shows the beginnings of the flower bed/strip I am starting. It will be about 75 - 100 ft long and 15 ft wide when done. I have a long ways to go, and it's a lot of clay to dig through and out. Pictures make it look a lot nicer shape than it is. Needs lots of updating. Now to figure out how to make them smaller, they are way to big - sorry about this.

A wonderful job! Your 'before' photos show a tub that looks a lot like ours - but ours was an icky green! It may not be the same, as this one is reasonably deep. But it has a straight back which is very uncomfortable when trying to soak. I really envy you your deep new tub. We couldn't afford to take ours out due to flooring issues. So we just had it repainted instead. The old green monster: Much better in neutral beige! I can't get over those blue carpet tiles on the wall. I had to get my DH to come over and look at such an amazing (and appalling) sight! I thought our original bathroom was ugly - the POs had a bright pink fluffy toilet seat cover in a green and yellow bathroom!? - but I think yours has beaten ours for the 'most awful decorating', hands-down...... Congrats again on doing such a great job. I'm impressed with your DIY skills!

Thank you for all of your comments and compliments... You have reminded me not to rush into changing things. The house has alot of trim work throughout, including on the dining room ceiling, dining room walls, living room, windows, entry/foyer, doorways, etc...In those areas, all the trim has been painted white, but it appears to be the same style and type as what's in the kitchen/family room. I guess I was thinking that the rest of the trim work should be white too. But, I see now that it doesn't have to match and will leave a bit of character to the family room! The wood for the built-ins do appear to be an upgrade over the kitchen cabinets. As much as I love the look of all white trim, the family room has such a warm feeling, as is, so I will probably just keep any furniture in the room light for contrast and accent with color. I will definitely not rush to change to quickly! Some of our main reasons for choosing the new home is because it was custom built, is loaded with trim work and moldings and is in an older neighborhood with lots of large trees and yards. Of course, there is also plenty of shiny brass in all of the bathrooms, door handles and foyer lighting that we will be busy replacing. And, the landscaping needs some updating from the overly manicured large bushes surrounding the front entryway of the home. I may have trouble with interior design/decor, but I am in my element with landscaping and yard work! I appreciate all the comments about the kitchen...My husband and I have done a lot of work ourselves in our current home. He does most of our home repairs too; he hates hiring out! Life has gotten extremely hectic these days, so we have less time for DIY work like the time it would take to do paint the cabinets. But, I think we can easily handle the backsplash and modifying the cabinets with beadboard on the sides, but will find someone for counters/sink and help with whatever we do to the cabinets. It sounds like if we have to hire someone to paint the cabinets, it might put us way over our current budget. While I still love my inspiration kitchen photo, I may entertain the idea of darkening the stain/refacing the existing cabinets, possibly painting the center island as one of you mentioned and updating the counters, sink and adding backsplash and other details. This would buy us time (and save us money), until we can afford to get the wood floors we want and the painting of the cabinets the way GreenDay detailed. I appreciate all the advice.

Thanks! So far the feedback from real estate agents who've seen the house has been positive. We're still not ready to sell though, perhaps in the fall. Meanwhile we've been enjoying the kitchen, except for an issue with the granite seam at the sink, argh! I really didn't want the seam there but I realize it's standard, and better to have a couple of small seams than one long one running front to back on the counter. The seam at the front of the sink is cracked and crumbling. I've posted for advice on the Stone Advice forum and am getting the fabricator to come out & fix it. Otherwise things are great and I'm loving the double oven. The top oven seems to take forever to heat up when it's in "regular" mode, but in convection mode things move a lot faster. I'm still experimenting, but so far it's been useful to have the 2 ovens.