I am the original poster and find it interesting that this has come to the surface. Since it has I will give you an update. My friend now has a 16 month old baby. I am going to make a very long story short and leave out a lot of details, but the neighbor has become ugly to not only her, but to other neighbors. He threatened them and they found poison meat in their back yard. Someone said they saw him back there but have no proof he threw it in the yard, so ....There are other things that happened also. She went to court and the neighbor cried and made up stories and told many lies. As they left court he made some comments to the effect about her dog being dead one way or another, and smiled. She has a court order to have a dangerous dog sign on her door and as long as she is in the state he has to have a muzzle in public. He is used to it, and it is a great compromise. The child rolls on the dog and pulls on him and the dog snuggles up to her and shows her off. They are still very cautious of him, but he has never had another incident and this person is the only person he has ever had an issue with. This person continues to taunt them, along with other neighbors, dogs and kids. It's unfortunate and sad. He looks for trouble and gets it. He is a bully. He has caused problems for others. People fear him and he knows it and loves it. He is one who manipulates and for some reason it looks like it's not his fault when he gets caught. I will say no more, you may have the idea. At some point it will blow up, if it hasn't already, and he will get his comeuppance in a big way. I am not saying it is right that the dog bit, I had a biter myself and had to deal with things, I am just saying that she is dealing with a sick individual here also who has made her and many others very very uncomfortable.

Other than a couple of the Bravo realty-based shows (Million Dollar Listing etc) I only watch HGTV, by which I mean I have a few shows set to record new episodes and that's all I generally watch on tv other than the evening news my husband is addicted to seeing :). I only watch television to be my complete mindless entertainment plus prefer to utilize the majority of my leisure time reading so I've never gotten interested in all the must-see shows that require seasons' worth of view time that everybody seems to like. Never seen Downton Abbey or Scandal or House of Cards or really any of the popular stuff....HGTV lets me get my 20 minutes' fix (since it's always recorded I never watch commercials) of views into houses: what people want to buy or what people buy and fix up. I like Property Brothers and it's a fast watch if you skip the first half hour (because who cares about the first already done house and the ones they don't pick) and start with whichever house they select. I like House Hunters and some HH Int'l and the spin offs renovation and where are they now versions. Love all the beach and tropical house hunting shows. Like Flip or Flop. Don't care for Love it or List it because of the hosts, same with Fixer Upper and also because FU seems to do the exact same house style every time. Although come to think of it Property Brothers hasn't done anything other than that same white shaker style/quartz counter/gourmet appliance look in forever either. My enjoyment may be tinged by the fact that I didn't get cable tv until 7-8 years ago so I missed what seem to be the halycon days of yore that many sigh wistfully about. I do recall dimly watching some fix up show many years ago with people gluing grass to walls and doing other strange things so I'm a bit dubious that HGTV was all that perfect LOL. It serves its purpose for me which is to allow me to unwind every evening with a little entertainment that requires no brainpower or extended commitment.

Chris, KD=kitchen designer, something I'll never have, haha! murraysmom, yes, we have a Restore here in Spokane. I'll definitely be visiting often when the time comes! Chris, that's a wonderful thought to relocate the top half of the built in cabinets. I'm going to think on that. It probably isn't possible to save the bottom half, at least not in this house. I would like a bigger countertop and I'm not sure these cabinets could hold the weight. The doors open on the LR side, which is not convenient as we use those cabs as our pantry. I wouldn't want to throw any of it away; that would be pretty wasteful. I'd offer it on CL or freecycle or donate it to Restore. Hahaha, wordie! Yeah, every paint company has to come up with their own color names. Light Navajo White is a Clark and Kensington color; I think that's an Ace hardware brand. We used Valspar paint, so they just mixed it up to be exactly the same color. wordie, I'll check out those sites you mentioned. Thanks! llucy, I have no idea why this person suggested flipping my entire kitchen! But she's the same person who, when a person asked for kitchen design help and her only thing that couldn't be moved was the staircase to the basement, just relentlessly pounded her to move the staircase! Haha! That is a good idea and something I should do: take a little time to think back to all the kitchens I've cooked in over the years and remind myself what I liked or didn't like about them. The least expensive microwave drawer I've seen was on the Sears website for $1350. The microwave I have now I've had for years and I got it on sale at Target for $35. :-) When I do the remodel and move the range over a bit, I want to get an OTR microwave instead of moving the hood. I am very leery of putting another hole in the roof (if I had to relocate the hood). Plus, Sears has one that doubles as a steamer. I steam veggies almost everyday. I like my steamer/rice cooker, it's an Oster I bought about 7-8 years ago, but it is a pain to clean every night! I know the KF people are militantly again OTR micros instead of outside vented hoods, but for my kitchen I think it makes sense. My two kitchen windows are always open when I'm cooking and we always have a breeze blowing through. Between that and the OTR, I think I can save my kitchen from the total destruction the KF folks say will happen if I don't use an outside vented hood, haha! It's quite the debate over on the KF, haha, because now there are people who want to locate their cooktop on their island and use one of those cool (expensive) down draft vents. Oh my! You'd think they just said they want to take a bottle of vegetable oil and throw it all over the entire kitchen, floor to ceiling! Haha! Well, I don't have an island to locate a cooktop on, lol, which is highly discouraged over there, and I'm not ordering a custom wood hood from Sweden, haha, but I like the idea of the OTR (over the range) microwave that functions as a vent, micro, and steamer. So there! Haha! It will also free up counter space. Chris, I'm just now thinking the ideal thing to recycle the china hutch would be to use them in my future imagined laundry room! The problem is where to store them if I knock them out before I get the laundry room, which is most likely. But, maybe by then I'll have a shed or garage! I don't recall who suggested this and now of course I can't find it, but I like the idea of looking for a shed on CL or Freecycle! llucy, I truly hope you get your dream cottage! I don't know you well, but I think you'd really enjoy getting a MH and fixing it up! The great thing about fixer upper MHs is they're really cheap and then you get to fix it up exactly how you want it! Within your budget, of course. But if you're frugal and don't mind recycling things like cabinets or really, almost anything, you can really do a lot on a shoestring budget. I don't know if you have a Fred's Appliance store near you, but here in Spokane they often have sales that beat the big box stores. Even better, they have a huge Ding and Dent Center here! Why would I care if a refrigerator has a dent on the side when it's pushed into the space and you can't even see it? You all inspire ME! Now I have to get busy housecleaning--the garden party is nearly upon me! :-)

....cont'd I know they may not be the most popular plant but I see them in almost every property/yard I pass by in the fall. But seriously heucheras, hellebores, dahlias, begonias? Who the heck uses those plants? People who are really into chrysanthemums tend not to be interested in general gardening topics and live in a fairly rarefied world of fellow obsessives. Also, I feel I must add, just to add some gloom to the proceedings, one of the least attractive aspects of chrysanthemums is their utter refusal to die. Never, ever again will I plant a buddleia. Please don't reply with your tips that have helped you keep your buddleia bushes thriving for 10 years or more as I must make a clean break. It's invasive, in the true meaning of the word, and it's ugly. I don't often consider any plant ugly but buddleia is a gawky, twiggy, leafless, mess of dead brown seed heads for much of the year. I hope you didn't mind my bit of, I hope, constructive support and not take it as a criticism in any way, I'm not qualified for that. Glad to hear you thinking that way...I was holding back telling you to get rid of it NOW. No no no – far too late to stake at this point – they will simply look ridiculous all season. However, there is a better, easier solution – administer the 'Chelsea Chop'. Hubby bought himself a new toy and went crazy in my yard chopping everything green that was over 3" in height..including my coneflowers!! I really can't blame him. I too went crazy over my new weed trimmer and cut off some perennials. And I have done it not a few times due in part to my zeal to get the weeds gone. However, germination is the easy part of raising Joe Pye Weed from seed – the absolute nightmare are slugs and snails – which will crawl through a gravelly hell to get at the seedlings. I am sure these (Japanese Beetle) horrors have had cell phones and an internet connection for a long time. A few scouts go out, and when one of them finds something tasty, he sends a text to his buddies. They then all book a group tour via cheapflights.bug, all-you-can-eat buffet and orgies included. It is not over till the fat Lady sings and maybe I saved it from the bug for the deer to eat. Now the deer...I wish I could shoot in my neighborhood. Oriental Lily Chomping Deer – Venison anyone? It only takes the tiniest change of perception (and some plant deaths) before Bambi morphs into venison casserole. I worked with a woman that had a monkey. He was like her little son. She had him for 20 yrs. He was the cutest thing. Had his little bedroom decorated like a jungle. Strange but funny. If you hate cats...why in the world are you contemplating a catmint of any type??? What's next: I hate the smell of horse poop, but I am getting a horse??? I hope you are offering a spot for all the manure your friends' horses produce...well rotted horse doo is pretty good stuff...especially when it is free...and local...and they might deliver it to your yard just to get rid of it... Now for the weird part. Earlier this year I caught my neighbor sneaking into my front yard, thinking I wasn't home, and snipping some of my Calla Lilies for herself with a pair of scissors. I had a talk with her, but I am paranoid she is the one doing this to my Agapanthus. I am actually considering installing a security camera now! If it's an ongoing problem, buy a really nice plant that they would likely steal again. But this time, put a poisonous substance in it. Hopefully it would kill the thief. Problem solved. Found what I thought was my dream property of 4 acres and I have been plant restricted because of deer, groundhog, rabbits, squirrels, raccoon, even a skunk last year. It seems like I cannot win. I have 5 acres. What happens is – you find your standards for neatness miraculously vanish, you no longer see weeds, the grass only gets cut when you start to lose dogs and small children in it, you never water again and you embrace the 'wild' look, and start thinking about arboretums. I have a blank space in my back garden bed and, yes, it does leave me a tiny bit unsettled each time I look at it. I am SO sorry to hear your wisteria are less than stellar this year. They make such a statement and to miss out is really too bad. I have always despised the wisteria even when it was maintained but I don't know what to do with it at this point..In a perfect world it I could just poof it and the whole thing would disappear. But...I'm not sure if that's legal. I made the horrible, horrible mistake of planting two pretty pink evening primroses that turned into Primrose Frankenstein. My mother in law gave me some Chinese lantern pods to grow. Now I know that I should crush them, burn them, and throw the ashes in a river. I've known people that cut back their gardens (perennials) in the fall and leave it lay in the bed to rot – called 'chop and drop'! Supposedly this is the "new" way to do clean-up. Kind of make sense as this is what Mother Nature does? Will I remember this years' lessons next year? I think it will depend on the weather and the price tag. Do whatever makes you happy. Don't forget...gardening is just an excuse to allow adults to play in the dirt. I'm so blessed that I can still get out and play in the dirt. I put in at least 30-40 hours each week from spring to fall. In the winter, it's rabbits to trap, birds to feed and help with snow removal. I guess I will keep at it until the Lord calls me Home. Have a great winter, everyone.