And now you will have to buy the "rubra" form as well! I agree it is a cool plant, and surprising in that it seems to do as well in California as it does back east. One of those accent flowering winter bloomers that has interesting form, and almost a tropical look to it when in leaf. I find I have to do a lot of thinning on it to keep it in bounds, and can't say that it has a fragrance that carries, but it is nice. I can relate to the shopping bug, plants were the only thing I shopped for this Christmas season, and got some beauties, like a really full Sticks on Fire Euphorbia in firey color for the back deck, to chase away those winter blahs. I also went for a couple of apricot flowering Grevillea 'Superb' in full bloom, also for the winter color and to attract the Anna hummingbirds. Last were some really beautiful and rare Restios with gorgeous stems, Cannamois virgata, which I rationalized might not be available for purchase next spring, better nab them now! Magnolia stellata and M. soulangeana and M. denudata are also great temptations this time of year, but...I...Must...Resist...

I worked for a cardiologist last year, part-time. People can be silly about BP. Wifey (her name for herself) called in about Buttercup(you get the picture) and said that his top # was around 70.(this after surgery and new meds) Dr. is never available - I said get to the ER. She waited till next day to call again to see if Dr. was available - I said never - go to ER. If it ain't normal, it's not right. You might have survived for years with high numbers, but if your new meds drop them dramatically, it's not right. I for years had what my Dr. called 'naturally low' BP. Later we found out that I had severe sleep apnea - that'll keep your BP low lol. Maybe even flatlining!! Glad you are both on the mend. Nancy.

Welcome home, Margaret! It looks from here that your trip to Colorado was meaningful and memorable. Family time is often the best of times. Yes, it is unseasonably cool up here near 49° North! I spent an hour or so outside this morning. It was 39° with a 15 mph wind, so a windchill of 31!! It will surprise no one to say that my tomatoes are purple! I came home to have a 2nd breakfast of hot oatmeal and strong, hot coffee. Your comment about "blue monet" in bloom gave me pause. I think you may mean mountain bluet but googling, I discovered that there's an iris variety called Blue Monet. I have thought that "bluet" could have a more reasonable name. My wife was once at the farmers' market and amongst her bouquets were some bluet flowers. She was approached by a pair of middle-aged ladies and one of them asked the name of the blue flowers. "Bluet," she replied. But as they turned away, the friend turned towards the lady and said, "I don't think she knows the name of that flower." I once worked for a person who sold flowers to dozens if not hundreds of flower shops. She advised me that if questioned about a flower that I didn't know I should respond, "Oh, that's some kind of Centaurea species!" Her claim was that I would usually be right and that it would sound more intelligent than claiming that it was some kind of Aster which would be even more likely to be true . . . Anyway, in my searching I was led to Wikipedia to view a blue painting by Claude Monet . . . Did you know that after cataract surgery, Monsieur Monet went back to earlier paintings and added blue to the canvases?!? Linked below, I believe, is an example. digitS' Here is a link that might be useful: Water-Lily Pond and Weeping Willow

While it's a nicely laid out house, and the pictures of a Texas hill style house are lovely . . . I'm concerned that you're asking for ways to decrease costs, while presenting us with a house that's about as expensive as possible to build. If you want this style, it's going to cost for several reasons: - A long house like this requires a long, expensive foundation. In contrast, if you were to vault the secondary bedrooms up to a second floor, your foundation costs would decrease. - A long house like this requires a great deal of brick (or other siding) and a large roof and more insulation. A house's exterior costs more than its interior. You said you can't make it more square -- and I see that this style doesn't lend itself to a square -- so the choice really is, This style or a less expensive build. - Your footprint contains multiple jigs and jogs rather than being a simple rectangle. Of course, we can all see that a house this long NEEDS some of those things to avoid looking like a pre-fab warehouse. - A long house means that plumbing is strung literally from one end of the house to the other. This means longer plumb lines, significantly more labor to install it, and a greater chance of leaks later. You might consolidate a bit near the secondary bedroom; that is, you could bump those two bathrooms up against one another. Or, a bigger money-saving option would be to downsize to ONE bathroom for the three bedroom . . . and/or eliminate the powder room /have guests use this bathroom. Since you're talking about a pool, it would logical for pool guests to enter the house through the back gallery, which would put them right by the secondary bedroom wing. - I see that you're planning a very large master bedroom . . . and the only spot the bed could be placed is against the far right wall /under the windows. This leaves a rather large area at the foot of the bed. I'd consider eliminating the sitting room, which seems to be sort of a master retreat . . . and use that area at the foot of the bed as a master sitting area. You could still include the fireplace on that wall; however, a small wood stove would be less expensive and more fuel-efficient. - Your garage looks extra-deep. If you're thinking storage, it'd be cheaper to build an outbuilding behind the house later -- plus that wouldn't be included in your mortgage. - Consider eliminating the upstairs game room (which would also save big bucks in terms of eliminating a staircase, which is only serving one room). You say, but we want that game room space! How about making the entry hall /gallery into a game room? I see that it's rather necessary to the layout of the house . . . but it's just a hallway now. Make it serve double duty. - I would consider cutting the kitchen down by 1/3- 1/4. It's so spread out right now that it's going to require many extra steps each day. I'd go with a standard island instead of the (expensive) custom island that you've drawn here, and I'd cut down on the number of cabinets. You have a decent-sized pantry, which will cover your storage needs. - Some one else commented on the cost of allll those French doors. Look into the new "glider" doors, which look like French doors but are an update of old-fashioned sliding glass doors. They're less than half the cost of French doors, plus they don't interfere with your furniture placement and they're more energy-efficient. - Though it has nothing to do with the build, I agree with NOT having children's computer space in a private location. My girls were good kids, but they occasionally wandered into places they shouldn't on the internet. Also, with desktop computers going the way of the dinosaur and laptops /tablets becoming more powerful, computer needs are changing. I think parents of young children need to be VERY vigilant about this topic.