Suebot - don't think i'm going to tell you anything that somebody else hasn't said, but since i've had too much experience with deer & rabbits, i figured i'd concur with the remedies that worked for me. i used to live/learned to garden on nantucket and martha's vineyard, where the deer are at least as unreasonably tame and probably more abundant than they are in ct. i've heard stories of people standing 10 ft away from them yelling at them while they chomp on their hydrangea flower buds. one woman i was talking to claimed she saw the deer attacking her dalmation!! anyway, my first thought about your original message was are you sure all damage is due to deer and not rabbits? - when they stand on their hind legs, they can eat quite high - on a couple of my client's properties on the islands, i had more problems with bunnies than deer, especially with my daylilies & echinacea. so, i also found success with the deer away spray products; i can't remember which one i used, but i believe it had garlic & mint in it and i actually liked the way it smelled. the directions said to spray every couple of weeks (??), but i found that i had to spray every couple of days or so & definitely after a rain. it was pretty time consuming. unfortunately, my other success was fencing in the gardens. i just tried to be decorative about it - i used nice cedar posts with caps, bird netting @ 4' high (you can't really see it, so the garden still looks nice), i hung rope along the top of the netting (for a nautical look...). I did throw netting on top of the gardens in the spring until things grew too tall, but i have to admit, the deer hopped in a couple of times (- that would've been a mess i kind of would have liked to see). i now live in maine and have a large cutting garden in my back yard, a good distance from my house and i use the bird netting as the fencing (simply because it was the only fencing i could find that would be high enough in one piece) and it works (doesn't handle snow load, though). i see deer in the back and they walk right around the garden. chipmunks are now my problem. unfortunately, my true feeling is that if the deer want to get to something, they will. sorry to be so lengthy, good luck. just out of curiosity, do you have phlox and is it being eaten - that always gets destroyed the worst for me. -mara

Open airline tickets used to cost double what a coach class ticket costs. Refundable, meaning , without a change fee ticket also costs more than a regular coach class ticket. Change fees start at $50 a ticket and go up from there. They give you a year to rebook. I was a travel agent for 4 years......but would I buy an open ticket. No. Change fees are fine with me. I'm holding 2 tickets now that I did not use. Note: You have to call the airline before the flight to let them know your not using them & you want to hold them for 1 year.

Bmorepanic, Thanks you for your help once again! Your design is good. I can see many excellent features in it. It reminds me of some of the two island designs we played around with, but with one bigger island. The flow between dining room and kitchen would be wonderful with your plan, which was one reason we resisted a peninsula for so long. However, I am now too happy with the L plus big island concept to let go of that idea. I am not bothered by the peninsula between kitchen and dining room (although shorter is better). I like the idea of having that block of the peninsula when I am entertaining and we are dining. I also really, like the idea of doing dishes in the peninsula spot more than against the wall (as you know I am not happy against a wall -- too jumpy for that -- wall spots are good for DH though). From the peninsula, I can chat with those at the dining room table, take in the fireplace, watch TV or look out (from a distance) at two large windows and a set of french doors). I can even see my younger kids on their climber in the backyard. When my teen son understood he could watch TV while he washed pots he suddenly was keen to do dishes -- priceless! Watching my neighbour on his deck out the side kitchen window does not have that much appeal. Also, by the time we do dishes it is often dark outside so you can't see anything out a window anyway. I see your issues with the DW around the corner. LOL about the bumps and leg jabs. I could see myself with some bloody legs, so, thanks to you, I am not going to place the second DW around the corner after reading your comments. I have it in the latest design (see below) as two DW together which allows a shorter peninsula than if we put one on each side of the sink. The reason for this is I would not want one DW right up against the corner which would block the storage above. I can imagine no time when we would be organized enough to be loading two DWs at the same time. I imagine one would be full running through a cycle or be in need of unloading, while the other was in receiving mode. So for me two side by side does work. I do appreciate the time you have taken to think through my kitchen with me! Below is the newest version. I think we might consider making use of a cart for distribution of groceries to their various corners, and even to help unload dishes to the glass cabinet. When entertaining, we could also clear the table with a cart. I realize that our DWs are not close to glass, bowls and small plates storage which will be in the glass cabinet. However, the benefit of having the dishes close to the snack zone is worth the hassle of unloading. Just can't have it all in a 20 foot long kitchen! We also plan to make use of a Kornerking drawer/lazy susan device in the corner for baking/cooking ingredients combined with a easy reach L cabinet in the upper corner area for food as well (not snack food). I went through a very long list of typical kitchen jobs and assigned each an area for completion so I can figure out what to store where (and hence make progress on the size of drawer, shelf, etc to incorporate). I was able to see that most of our kitchen tasks will not require too much walking and zones will not cross too much. If you see any other tweaks, please let me know? Carol

Just as a "want to waste some time option", you might start with a real map (real paper... I know, completely unheard of nowadays) and a simple school pencil compass. Use the compass to make several concentric circles with your home location at the center. This would give you a rough idea of how far you could or even want to drive in an average day. By using the mile indicator located on the map somewhere, you could set up the circles at perhaps 100 to 500 mile distances from one another. Secondly, make a list (even a mental one) of the cities, burgs, and attractions between two or more circles. While not perfect, this will give you an idea of a couple of things. First, we will know that I/we don't mind driving XXX miles per day and secondly, what might be available to see and do within that preferred mileage suggestion. Thirdly, reduce that defined area by picking a compass direction that seems most advantageous to what you want to see and do on your (pick some number of days and insert here) trip. Realistically, the compass direction may have to be determined more on available roadways than on actual compass points but then, what's a good trip without a few side trips. If you have even more spare time, start to look up commercial tours, where they go, what they include as sightseeing attractions, etc. You don't have to actually take the tours but rather, use their advertising $ and experience to plan your own trip. The internet is wonderful for these uses since it goes everywhere with no cost other than what you're already paying per month for the service. Every state and most of the mid to larger sized cities also now have a load of information on locations, attractions, and so on... all neatly arranged dated and free to you. I've probably stated the above concepts poorly but maybe you can glean a bit of information that will make planning a bit easier.