I thought you were frustrated for another reason - the volume of ID posts. Identifying an iris by a picture, unless it was an extraordinarly popular iris, is pretty much an exercise in futility. So many of the pictures are of older ones that were just common in their day while others are out-of-focus. There is no way of figuring out what they are unless you grow the questioned plant by the side of the one that is true, as Lee suggested. I remember a 'fight' between judges over VANITY and PINK TAFFETA at a Dallas show. Each judge stuck to their guns about it being one or the other but staying with the idea they were incorrectly labeled. They asked the other judging panels to come and help. Their decision was to leave the names alone and give both blue ribbons anyway because the two were perfection yet similar. After the show was over, the exhibitor of PT came in and was asked the name of the iris. She said it was PT and it was sold to her by the judge who claimed it was a stalk of V. So, if judges cannot tell on the show table, how can one tell from two not so clear pictures? Google almost any iris and you can take your pick of colors and forms. I have been shocked at the untrue colors that have been depicted on certain irises. I apologize for the length of this, but it just took this many words to say what I intended. Walter Moores

Bop, how well a fusion works depends so much on the condition of your bones and how well you follow the doctors orders. Quite a few patients feel so much better because they are without pain for the first time in years, that they simply do too much and mess things up. I fault some doctors for this, they tell the patient vague things like "do what you feel able to do, but don't over exert yourself." I had a two page typed instruction sheet of don'ts. I have a total of six fusions, four in my back and two in my neck, plus two 12 inch rods down my back. That was done 15 years ago this December. The fusions are still doing just fine. Old age is creeping in, but that's a whole 'nother story. So if the Doctor says that you are good for it, I personally think it's worth trying. If you can put up with the pain, that's different. Any surgery is risky. It for you to decide whether it would be worth it. For me, even though MY surgery was long and dangerous, it was well worth it.

It's the widgets run amuck!

There are a few things that bother me....the ceiling doesn't line up with the soffit so there's a little jog there...the side panel and the crown at the top by the coffee station stops short of the end of the wall. You are really stuck if you want to paint the one different from the other as there is no even break point. I can't see what the other side of the opening is like....is there a wall there somewhere? If so, I would forget the fact that it's a post and think of it as a wall instead. I'd close up the opening some and trim it like a doorway so that it makes sense from both sides and becomes independent of the kitchen cabinetry. That way too, you'd be able to disguise the fact that the soffit and ceiling heights are different. It would also then make the side panel in the kitchen make more sense. Alternatively, I'd leave it alone from the other side and then cut the wood panel back so it ends like a backsplash lining up with the upper cabinet. Have the crown above die into the wall, and treat the 'post' like a wall at the end of the kitchen. I wouldn't do anything to treat it as anything other than a wall...no brick, stone, wood or anything else. It shouldn't be important...it should be subordinate to the rest of your lovely home.