I'm the guy from SC pnbrown was referring to. In 2002, my father and I built a road worthy vacuum from an old 2-horse trailer and an 8HP Agri-Fab vacuum. I attached 6 feet or so of PVC pipe to the end of the flexible hose as a nozzle that I could hold. I soon found that it was easier to lay the nozzle on the ground and rake to it instead of moving it around because it would get jammed pretty easily if it was overwhelmed. I used it for a few years and then moved to another place where they bag their leaves, so I quit using it. I still have it. It should still work with a little tinkering. I'm in the process of upgrading, though. I have found that I have a tendency to bring home plastic bags and dump them whole and then they turn into a mess in the spring that I don't want to clean up. I do dump a lot when I get them home, but when I haul 200 at a time and head back out for more, I can't dump them all on the spot. I got over 1000 one year a few years ago. i still have plastic bag pieces all over the place when I till in certain areas. The upgrade... Same vacuum mounted on the rear of a 16 foot flat bed trailer with 6 foot sides and a conduit top covered with a heavy tarp. That's the plan anyway. I calculated it and with 4 foot sides, capacity would only be double what I had in the horse trailer. Maximum possible, that is. Not that I ever filled it that full, but it did come close on occasion. I have acquired the trailer frame and need service on the electic brakes and other wiring. And safety chains and a jack. And a tray welded on the rear for the vacuum to mount on. Once I get that done, I can add the bed of 2x6's and build the sides. There are stake pockets on the front and sides. I'll use metal roof pieces to make the sides solid. Then I'll cover it and give it a go. I drive a F-450 with an 8x12 dump bed on the back. So it's not great on fuel. Having a larger trailer means more collection per trip. More efficient (yeah, right). I have a couple of sub-divisions close enough that don't bag their leaves that make it worthwhile enough for me to visit. I live in Pendleton (Anderson county) about 2 miles from the county line (Pickens) where they vacuum all leaves in the city of Clemson. They will deliver vacuum truck loads of leaves to folks in the Clemson area if they are in Pickens county. Otherwise, I think they haul them 20 miles to the landfill site where they are composted. They will not deliver them to me even though I have offered to pay something for them. A vacuum truck load of leaves is worth paying for. So if they won't bring them to me, I'll take them. I got the funny looks from folks when I'd pull up with the horse trailer and start sucking. But quite a few folks would come out and talk to me about it. I can't wait to unveil the new and improved version. Probably next fall. I'm already popular with the baggers in Pendleton. They see me coming and some actually help load them. One old guy was complaining about how expensive the bags are, so I brought him a bunch back one time. Nice ones like he was using. What I really want is for some of the folks that are putting out bunches of bags at a time to quit using them altogether and let me suck them up. They'll like not having to bag them and I'll like getting clean leaves. Often pre-shredded and mixed with grass clippings! I love leaves! Here is a link that might be useful: The horse trailer vacuum - 2002

If you're thinking Arts & Crafts bungalow, you can always look to some of the originals, many of which now have painted trims (though honestly I *wish* more of them still had their original stained trim, ours included!) It was also very common to paint trim and cabinetry (and thus use "lower grade" wood, which in those days meant redwood or fir instead of oak) in the kitchen, bath, and bedrooms and have stained trim and casework in the dining and living rooms, and that worked fine. That might be a way to manage costs while still getting the look you love. And I've seen some gorgeous kitchen remodels using cherry or fir cabinets with painted white trim and white built-ins that mix it up a bit in houses where the trim had already been painted but people didn't want white kitchens (and didn't want the cost of replacing original trim!) Fir in particular is one of my faves with soapstone, though it is a soft wood so it will ding. We also have a painted gray and white kitchen, which mixes it up a bit in a different way. There's no rule that painted cabs must be white---and honestly, a lot of the reason that listings for houses of that age have painted cabinets (especially white) is that it's a very easy way to clean up and "modernize" older cabinets for resale. (At least, that happens a lot where we live---people paint and put on new counters to sell an older kitchen.) Some of those were probably put in as stained kitchens, but had woods that aren't "trendy" these days and thus dated the kitchens. I love our painted kitchen, but if we'd had the resources, we would have seriously considered QS oak or fir (even the fir was far more costly than our paint-grade poplar). I'd be sure you're okay with the tradeoff before switching gears.

When I first moved to this garden I visited a nearby (relatively speaking) hosta grower. He sells 1,200+ hosta cultivars so I selected 9 in order to stay within my budget (which was small). Liberty, Revolution, Minuteman and Patriot were among my selections. All have been outstanding performers in the 10 years since I planted them as have Gold Standard, Olive Bailey Langdon, Halcyon & Ice Age Trail.

Ahhhhhh! More animals! So incredibly cute! Love that funny, Oly! That's exactly how it is with our youngest, who got the squirt bottle after him three times this evening. Such a stinker, but when he does this, all is forgiven.