Ah nature! Those look like flat millipedes. Don't worry, whenever we see an explosion of something like that, it slowly disperses. Whether by disease or predators. The first year in our house, we had tons of milipedes everywhere, the house, the yard, the pool. Now, we only see them if we are looking under rocks outside. Milipedes are eaten by other things. This is from the Kentucky Extension Office; ECOLOGY Millipedes are common in soil, under rocks, and in other dark, moist places. Millipedes cannot move very fast, and most species feed on decaying plant material. Millipedes do not have venomous stingers or fangs, but some of them can secrete bad-smelling and bad-tasting chemicals from pores in the sides of their bodies. These chemicals help keep many predators away. Despite this defense, millipedes are often eaten by centipedes, spiders, and predatory insects.

I like the heatpump with propane. Having the propane is nice for the gas oven/range and incase its extra cold as a backup. Straight electric might me the same price or cheaper than propane but that all depends how expensive the propane is and the electric is. I would go with quote 4 because its the most reasonable price. I"m assuming you don't need a 120,000 btu furnace, so you might want to ask contractor to size that down. You definitely have the right idea by going with a heatpump. Having the propane is worth it since you already have the tank and piping into the house in my opinion.

I really like your granite---I think it is beautiful! I would not classify this slab as "busy." And I am a person who really, really shies away from the more, say, colorful, busy, overstated kitchens. The vast majority of kitchen pics in magazines and books that I tab are pretty classic and understated. My own kitchen will hopefully have creamy white cabinets, some type of granite with creams, brown and greys and/or black in it with no heavy striation, yellow oak floors (to match the rest of the house), and a very understated backsplash. I am marking this color in my file for future reference because I think it might be a good it. I don't think your slab is heavily striated at all--the darker color in there (it looks grey rather than black in your picture) is really not present in showy, loud streaks, hence the reason why I really like it.

What a wonderful story! And congratulations on your lovely new furniture. I can hardly wait to see them in your home. Your story reminds me of something similar that happened to me about 15 years ago. I drove past an antique store every day on the way to work, and kept admiring a maple corner hutch in their window. I told my husband about it and said that I wanted to run in and check the price when I had a chance. But a few days later it was sold. I told my husband I was kicking myself for not making it in sooner, because I had really loved it. The next day when I got home from work, it was all set up in the dining room, with my dishes all arranged on the shelves. Turns out he was the one who had bought it! It was such a lovely thoughtful thing to do - it made me cry! What a guy!