I live about two hours north of you in Mendocino County, but I'm not sure how similar your weather is to ours. I have grown some of the tomatoes on your list. Stupice: great production all season; average taste (for an heirloom, that is). Brandywine, Sudduth's: poor production; wonderfully complex taste more than compensates. Kellogg's Breakfast: great production in mid-season; superb taste and amazing color. Cherokee Purple: perhaps the most popular heirloom up here; great production and taste. Riesentraube and Olena Ukrainian: spectacular plants, no disease problems, and great production and taste. Most of us--well, I at least--owe Carolyn a debt of gratitude for her book, which introduced us to these and other varieties.

Thank you so very much for your inputs. Except for Monicakm, central AC is rather low on the ranking, which really surprised me. Meeting with contractor to get a realistic price for putting in a dormer on garage attic, before doing the roof. Will make decision on bonus room once I know more about costs. So it seems like it's definitely master bathroom (and master bedroom make over) is next on the project list. I truly do not like the small conventional pre-fab shower stalls, usually 32”x32”. I’m a small person (4’11”) and I feel that is way too small. So I was trying squeeze 10pounds of “wants” into a 5pounds of real estate space. Wanted: - larger shower stall/area - double sink (not that we need it since DH and almost never get ready at the same time, but would be good for resale) - wet area (so I can hose everything down; we used to own a Chinese restaurant and I love being able to hose everything down in the kitchen area) But I have read many many online reviews against small wet-room, how everything gets wet, how you track wet feet in/out of the room, no place to put your clothes, and how many potential buyers would look at the room and would think about how much it would cost to gut the room/renovate it to “fix it”. Well, DH talked me out of the need for double sink, so I get to keep my larger shower. By moving the wall-hung toilet toward the entrance/furthest from the shower, there should be less water/moisture. What do you think of this? - I get my larger shower area: 4’x5’. - The shower floor will be one piece (stone/onyx or solid surface still researching); easier install, no grout/seams, easy to clean. See link for options - A glass wall between the shower and the sink - I don’t want to put another glass wall next to the toilet because I want the toilet area to not feel tight (both areas of my toilets now are pretty snug) - the bedroom is still a decent size 15'x12'. Masterbedroom layout: 2nd floor layout: Would you hate to open the door to seeing this right as you enter? I thought to put the shoes shelves there since the shelvings do not need to be as deep as a wardrobe, so there's more space in the landing area. sink: w32”x20”. I like the lip around so it keeps the water splashing in the sink area, instead of against the grout/wall tile. Yes, my King bed will be in front of 2 windows, and I will do lots of curtains like this: Monicakm: We do put in window air conditioners. Yes, a must have for those crazy humid nights. Yes, I do have to do more research on heat pumps. The HVAC guy who did my radiant floor heating told me about the newer tech ones that goes down to 17degrees (or even lower?). Lotteryticket: Yay on finishing your Mbath. Can you share pictures? I have no clue on the cost yet. Need to find potential bathroom contractors before I set a budget. Our 2-car garage is oversized. With the dormer planned, we would still have 1/3 of the attic for storage. Also have the basement for storage. Weedyacres: I don’t know much about plumbing, but I don’t know how to get plumbing across to put the bathroom on the right side of the room. Where I have the bath planned, it’s a straight shot UP from the basement, through the 1st floor pantry to the masterbedroom. I don’t think we can get the plumbing to cross the hallway from the 2nd floor bathroom (see 2nd picture). LARemodel: My elementary school days were in Pasadena/Glendale area, and I thought most homes have AC, so I was surprised to see your ranking. If we finish the room above the garage, it’ll really be for the kids and their friends/hanging out, and for the additional GLA so it helps when we list the house in the future. Linelle: Yup, just a nice 3rd bathroom so I don’t have to share w/ my future teenagers. Already, my 8yr DD keeps getting into all of my stuff/makeup, etc, that I leave in the vanity and medicine cabinet. Again, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. Amanda Here is a link that might be useful: link to low curb one-piece shower floor

Cartegena can be a tough area, too. It's been almost 10 years since I was there, but there were tons of armed soldiers throughout the city. I don't think we would have felt comfortable going out on a tour of our own. We loved going partially through the canal - my brother-in-law; however, said it was like watching paint dry, but if he wasn't gambling, he wasn't happy anyway. My husband and I thought it was fascinating to watch our ship be boarded by the canal pilot and escorted to the eastern (but really westernmost) entrance of the canal. Did you know that the eastern entrance is more west than the western entrance? We also had the opportunity to visit the San Blas islands, home of the Cuna Indians - it was quite an eye-opener to see the sea-level islands. Helene

Jeri, I'm not sure if mine was the kitchen you saw that has both gas and induction. We have a four burner gas stove with a grill in the middle, plus a two hob induction. The rationale was this. I always thought I wanted gas, especially after living with a subpar electric coil range for 18 years. I discovered induction on GW, and, like many have mentioned here, was really intrigued by it, especially the fine control. DH was pretty set on gas and so was I (especially since I was completely sold on a Blue Star), so since I didn't know anyone who had first had experience with induction, and we had the room to do both, we did. I have to say I LOVE having both. The induction makes the best oatmeal, boils water (for tea, pasta, etc) extremely fast, and simmers at a very low heat beautifully, which I love for soups, stews, etc. But I also love having the power of gas, and although we havenÂt used the grill frequently, itÂs a very nice feature to have. Plus, with our set up, itÂs very easy for us both to be cooking at the same time and not get in each otherÂs way. If I had to do it over, I'd do the same thing again. BTW, I often use a tea towel when I'm making pasta in case of spills and so far haven't really had to buy new pans specifically for the induction, as most of our existing pans work. I will have to try the paper bag trick! Eliz