Lilo, Your friendly garden party lurker here. I did a week of quotes a couple months ago. I'll be happy to fill in for Josh on the week of June 28.

Lovely, lovely, all so lovely. You have outstandingly beautiful daylilies, my head just swims at all the colors and forms. So, it's the usual, love them all, but I must mention the clump shot of Rocket City, that's a beaut! Cat Dancer will always be a winner to me. Ugly, ugly, ugly Japanese beetles, wish there were no such things to destroy all our plants. Your lilies are a treat to the eyes, our Scherezade was supposed to look like yours, but the lack of water kept it low. Conca d'Or is marvelous, and so are your clematis, two stunning photos. Sorry to hear your mother is worse, wish there were something like a cure just around the corner, but maybe some day. Always send best wishes to you and your family, and I'll be looking forward to your next post. Avedon

We've been without our kitchen for one month and have 2 more to go. My kids are 6 and 3 and we have a new au pair. For me, the hardest part has been living without a sink - I have to trek upstairs to the bathroom to wash fruit, sticky hands, etc. As a result, I've started buying 2 1/2 gallon jugs of water. We use it for drinking, washing small things, etc. I've also made the decision to not even try to cook meat. Instead, I buy prepared meat at Whole Foods - rotisserie chicken, sliced london broil, sliced turkey. I also buy prewashed lettuce and premade salad dressing. I also make a lot of couscous - all I have to do is boil water on the hotplate and then let it sit for 5 minutes - no draining and minimal mess. Although the kids eat on their plastic IKEA plates, the adults all eat on paper. It's not environmentally sound, but it's a lot easier on my nerves. The one nice side effect of all of this, is that I spend a lot less time cooking. After I come home from work, I can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. On weekends, I'm not busy cooking meals for the following week, but am out doing fun things with the kids. Although I'm excited at the prospect of my nice, new kitchen, not having to do as much house work has been an unexpected luxury. Good Luck.

I feel for you. We started around April with full demolition June 30. I had my kitchen usable by Thanksgiving. This week we have new hardwood floors finished. Full bathroom gutted but I am here to tell you it is really all worth it in the end. We too did an addition and knocked out the back wall of the kitchen to add a 30x16 foot addition. It added to existing bath and an upstairs laundry room. It all has surpassed my dreams. Taking a long time but so worth it in the end.