This was the thread that helped me put a name to the style of garden that I love best. I have been working towards the cottage style for many years and never get tired of the evolution of it. Loved reading them all again today. Cheryl

I taught small animal husbandry and gardening at a Bible Institute in Mexico, for a little over 8 years. Rabbits were a mainstay of our production because they grew really well on alfalfa and corn, which we raised ourselves. The domestic rabbit was developed for culture in cages. I know that many are prejudiced against cages. But the rabbits themselves don't mind. Having each adult animal in its own cage allows one to control their breeding and maintain better hygiene, and thus protect the health of the does and, indeed of the entire rabbitry. Someone above mentioned starting with a buck and two does. That is indeed the way to go. If one doe fails (and a certain percentage of them do, right from the start) then you are not out of completely out of production. More than two does will produce A WHOLE LOT of offspring, which may be more work than you want. Each will have at least four litters a year of an average of, say 7 kits. The kits reach butchering size in 12 weeks. A standard meat breed, such as California or New Zealand White, will yield a 2 1/2 to 3 lb carcass, dressed out, at that time. That is mainly meat. Their bones are quite light. So, in four months, from breeding, a doe can be responsible for the production of about 21 lb of meat. One of the beauties of rabbitry is that one could raise a whole lot of meat in a shed or garage, and neighbors might never even suspect. They do not stink. They do produce a lot of manure, but it is not smelly as manures go. It can be spread directly on gardens without hurting anything, as long as it doesn't carry urine in it. Well fed domestic rabbit meat isn't all that lean. But it isn't marbled. The fat is easy to separate from the meat. I happen to like eating it, as it comes, on the carcass, when we roast it. Our favorite way to fix a rabbit, is roasted whole, like a whole chicken. Place the rabbit in a baking pan, sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and roast for about 1 1/2 hour at 350F. The meat should easily pull off the bones when fully cooked. After serving rabbit this way, the left overs can be picked from the bones and used in a stir fry or soup. We have frequent dinner guests and I cannot, in 20 years, think of anyone who didn't think that it was just wonderful. It is a white meat. Anyone raising a few rabbits at home could fairly easily harvest weeds or grass to supplement their feed. Before teaching rabbitry at the Bible Institute, I raised rabbits in a more remote setting, where there were neither prefabricated cages nor commercial rabbit food. Our rabbits did fine on local weeds, cover crops and either whole kernel corn or stale tortillas for a carb. The domestic rabbit is the easiest of all animals to butcher and prepare. It is definitely the least messy. Duck is another favorite of our family. Duck is all dark meat, which I dearly love. We raise Muscovy ducks, which are not nearly as fatty as other breeds. The Muscovy, is, in fact, from an entirely different species than other domestic breeds. Muscovies are wonderful foragers. Ours roam our pasture and pond, devouring insects, rodents and small reptiles. They lay eggs, easily twice the size of a regular chicken egg. Their eggs are delicious. I like to roast a duck exactly the way we roast rabbit. The meat is flavored like... duck, which we enjoy. Leftover duck makes WONDERFUL soups, stews and stir fries. Just be sure to cook it no higher than 350 F and for however long it takes for it to easily pull off the bones. Most of the fat in a Muscovy duck is in the skin. So it is easy to remove, if so desired. Muscovies actually beat rabbits for exponential reproduction! As a homesteader, I find that my greatest challenge with them, is to keep them from producing too many ducklings. The wild reproduction seems great during the summer, when they are eating so much from foraging. But after a killing freeze, suddenly those cute ducks consume A LOT of expensive feed! They are also much more laborious to process than are rabbits. The argument against beef is completely slanted, as a couple of people have already mentioned. Most places that raise beef have a drier climate and poorer soil than where the "anti beef people live." Somehow they seem to think that if ranchers didn't raise beef on their ranches, that those ranches would be converted to luxuriant gardens. But that is not the case. Believe me. I LOVE to garden, and have several nice sized vegetable gardens on our little farm. But I never cease to battle with rocks and constantly work at building tilth. After I have spent all available resources and energy to grow gardens, I still have a lot more than 90% of the property well suited for ruminants. We like to have a few cattle along with sheep and goats, as the three species do not eat exactly the same things. They actually produce better in a mixed herd. George Tahlequah, OK

I saw this on both the kitchens forum and here. I'm a construction defect atty in CA, which means I have some expertise. Good news: house appears to be on a very-large-by-Cal.-standards lot. We usually have 3000 square foot houses on 4000-6000 square foot lots. I'm guessing that the house is on a pie or other irregular shape lot, which might put it at the end of a cul de sac? Bad news: it really looks like there's been a drainage/flooding issue in the past with water standing next to the garage. It's on 3 sides, including the concrete side next to the house, which rules out ordinary sprinklers/splashing. The man door will possibly need replacement. There's an uphill slope behind the pool, which might be concentrating/focusing the drainage, or not -- hard to tell from pix. The tennis court appears to have a slight depression in the center that is channeling water to the center of the garage. Minor bad news: in 3d pic from bottom, the sheet metal/flashing might be awry -- look in front of second story window at cockeyed line. I can't tell from this pic. More bad news: the late 1980s-early 1990s were the high water mark for construction defects, lots of junky tract homes being thrown together by day laborers, before builders started getting sued and started wising up, etc. Good news: since we've been through bad rains a number of times since then, all of the defects will have shown up by now -- if the storms we've had since 1991 haven't created window leaks, nothing will! I strongly recommend both a good home inspector and a talk with a neighbor or two on both problems in the tract and problems at the specific house. The disclosure laws won't help in a true foreclosure -- the bank has never lived in the house and is thus exempt from disclosure laws. (Trust me on this -- IAAL.) Good luck! Blue

The recent residents of the house are renters who have been there for two years. It may be their furnishings and that might be why there isn't much on the walls. With the high ceilings in many rooms, that house has a lot of large wall expanses. Dedtired, the house is more blue than gray. Yes, the designation seemed off to me - I'm glad so many of you confirm it. I wonder if that's the real estate agent's idea of Cape Cod or the owner's. Gooster, not just a barrier island but so little working room around the cooktop on it. I guess the peninsula is the landing spot for the ovens but it doesn't seem very convenient. And anyone using the cooktop will be in the way of anyone wanting water from the sink. I've been trying to figure out why the cabinet area in the living room bugs me. It doesn't seem to fit. Perhaps because it looks more like a big bathroom vanity than a wet bar (which is, I assume, the intended use). What could be done to make that go better? Perhaps start with taking off the mirrors. It looks like there is no way to close off any of the public rooms from the others - entry, kitchen, breakfast nook and family room are all very open to each other and to the upper hall. It doesn't look like there are doors to close off the living room and dining room either but perhaps that could be added.