Hi daveh, Thanks for answering my questions so quickly and so completely. It sounds like our "normal" winter cold should not be a problem. Those less frequent years when it gets closer to 25 F may require more care, but if it's in pot that in theory simplifies things. I'm curious if you know how hot it got at Strybing or where you live last summer? For those not in the area, I assume last summer had one of the largest number of very hot days. SF got in the upper 90s (100 in some spots?) a couple times, but as always this varied a lot depending on location. I was briefly at Strybing 2 days after the hottest one, and all the plants looked like nothing had happened (although I wasn't looking for damage). Another question I have for anyone is what is the climate like at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley? Can I assume it gets hotter than it does in the flat areas closer to the Bay? For those not from the area, discussions of temperature variations among all these areas may sound a bit silly. We are not that far away and not separated by mountains or anything like that--mainly proximity to the Bay and/or Pacific. Down in the South Bay we are warmer than SF and Berkeley (during the day, but not night) in Summer. However, we are definitely not hot like parts of Northern California (Sacramento), the warmer parts of the East Bay (Livermore) or the valleys of L.A. county for that matter (Pasadena, SF Valley). We do think SF is awfully cold, though. In case anyone is curious, a comparison of Berkeley and San Jose average temperatures: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca0693 http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca7821 Often a plant that thrives in the cooler summer areas will do just fine if given afternoon shade down here. Most things benefit from our cool nights. daveh, it sounds like afternoon shade, at least in the summer, would be wise here. I will repot soon, before things warm up. I was going to try 3 gallons. Is there any particular reason not to move straight up to 5 gallons? I was surprised to read the Passiflora book claim of it blooming in an 8 inch pot, and I had actually told my friends that I was under the impression it required planting in the ground. So hopefully 5 gallons (or maybe eventually 10 gallons) will do the trick. The fact that its leaves are very cool is a big plus in light of its eventual large size. I remembered that Annie's Annuals and Perennials also sells the plant (you need to get on their list to be notified when it is available). $25 last year. They had also said that constraining the roots stimulates fruit production (I wonder if they meant flower). Annie's grows their stuff outside but they are 10 miles from Berkeley and share their climate. It sounds like I will eventually have a lot of material for cuttings--great to hear it's not impossible.

Its standard here for marble flooring, we go to the warehouse to pickup a slab usually around 8'x5' or more then discuss the final tile cut size to minimise wastage before the installer drylay the marble in the factory to arrange the veining (also to place less desirable tile under furnitures etc). I'm in the process of laying 27"x51" size marble tile for my flooring, still deciding whether to have the veins move vertically into my room or horizontally across it.

Hi Nicole...I'm in Owen Sound, about 2 hrs north-west of you. We still have snow piled up here & there but it's finally leaving us. Spring is finally on the way. We were married on April 22, 36 years ago. The day was in the mid 60's (now it would be 16-18C) but it rained. Next day, we had about 2" of snow come down but it melted the day after that. The grass was green but it wasn't pretty enough outside for pictures, even after the rain passed. Take heart! By the time 2 more weeks have passed, all the snow will be pretty much gone & the daffodils will be out in force. That's when spring is here for me.

Thanks to everyone for so much great advice! If we're able to pull off this dream, we want to definitely ensure we do it thoughtfully, carefully, and correctly (thank you Virgil!). I'll be 54 when I retire and hubby will be 56. Years ago he used to talk about getting 10+ acres so I've had to drag him back to reality with regard to maintenance as we age. My best friend custom built on 10 acres an hour north of Sacramento (her DH is very talented and built it himself) and I've seen the nightmare in time commitment for the upkeep. Now I'm thinking half an acre tops will work. We can't/won't stay in our current home for several reasons: it's a 2 -story with many wasted rooms for just the 2 of us (we want a single story and smaller), it's in a more expensive county than Olympia, and we own 40 acres of land (for DH who is an avid duck hunter) that is currently 1.5 hours from us but is only about 30 minutes from Olympia. The traffic around Olympia isn't so bad (especially since we won't be working then) and it's a big enough city to give us all the amenities we need, including good medical care. We love Western WA and do not like Eastern WA at all. David Cary- I definitely won't even attempt to predict land prices and interest rates so far into the future. But how would I find out about estimates for tear downs? Virgil- Thanks for the estimates on time frames for all the various phases. You said "All of this can be seriously reduced by going to an existing tract development under construction or completed." I've read a few posts of people purchasing lots in tract developments. But does this mean I'd have to pick one of their builder's models or could only choose finishes? I'm not interested in doing that at all. Kristin S and Summit-nice ideas about poking around on Redfin now and spending some time in Olympia to see where we may want to live. I like the idea of being able to set up a search. But here's another question that is kind of rhetorical- a few months ago DH said he DIDN'T want to look for land too soon in Olympia. He cited the horrendous ongoing and growing homelessness problem in Seattle (it's actually spread to a suburb 20 minutes from us, of course on a smaller scale) and said he didn't want to buy land if Olympia may end up having similar problems. I sort of agree but think we'd really need a crystal ball to answer that question!