Thanks Kathy, DB was my top consideration until I saw the the discussion on Ramblin' Red. I was put off by the thorny comments that I read as this is my first climber 'project'. It would be fun to grow all three side by side, eh? Jeri, I knew I could count on you! Want me to order an extra? You're right about the PM & Rust, I'm down by LAX and a bit inland - I call it the PM Hellmouth (for all you scary movie fans). I've bought a number of non-toxic things to use to spray including the garlic spray which worked pretty good, but the bottom line is that I'm "no spray" because I'm just too busy and by the time 'tomorrow' comes around they look like heck. Plus I don't have much room either so now in the small pot area I'm simply sticking with more resistant florabundas, own-root preferred as I think they work better in the pots. At the mountain place, it's a lot more fun because the humidity is usually teens or a bit higher so almost no fungus. Even the Cotillion that got 'sent away' only gets a bit of rust up there. If it doesn't do well up there, out it goes, like my neighbor says, "we're not getting any younger so we better have what we enjoy around us". Keep the comments coming if you have Noella!

I know this comment is very much after the fact but I would just like to offer Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area as a wonderful place to retire. I have lived here my entire life and while I have traveled extensively across the country, there is nowhere else I would consider living. First, the area is extremely scenic.......make that drop-dead gorgeous!! Anywhere you might choose to settle will provide views to mountains and natural areas and you are never more than a few miles away from water.........lots of water!! The Sound, many lakes and rivers and streams. Because of the geography (nothing here is really flat), view properties are plentiful. Any outdoor activity you are interested in - skiing and other winter sports, hiking, camping, hunting, boating, etc. - can be easily addressed without any extensive car travel. Second is the weather. Most who have never lived here have huge misconceptions about the weather. IMO, it is excellent. Never too hot, never too cold and contrary to common opinion, it does NOT rain here constantly!! In fact, total average annual rainfall in Seattle is much lower than many other places in the US. Summers are sunny and very dry........winters damp and cool and snow infrequent. Seldom a need for any A/C and no summer humidity. There are 4 distinct seasons and each offers its own attractions. And no strange weather issues that generate ferocious storms.......no hurricanes, no tornadoes and while we do exist on a major fault line, earthquakes are extremely rare. Seattle is a vibrant, active and very cosmopolitan city. Lots of cultural activities, a major sports center and a foodie paradise. Yes, it is expense to live in town but there are scores of smaller communities within easy access of the city that are far less expensive. I live across the Sound, just a quick ferry ride away from downtown Seattle but a world away in terms of a rural feel and reduced cost of living. Puget Sounders for the most part are extremely well educated, entrepreneurial, friendly, and polite and many have a very artistic bent with many smaller communities known for their support of the arts. In short, living in the Puget Sound/greater Seattle area will provide all the advantages of a big city (colleges, employment, superb medical care, museums, theatres, restaurants and shopping) combined with a very strong community feel of the smaller, more rural and very scenically located surrounding towns. What's not to like ??

We did veneer plaster for a couple of reasons. In our regional area, no one does it. We had to go to a specialty supplier and order it in. We found someone who trained in Maine to install it and the only reason it was a bit more expensive than drywall is because our original framing was uneven and we ordered 5/8" thick sheets. I had a pretty strong aversion to drywall after the adventures with mold. Veener plaster is freakin' gorgeous, perfectly smooth and we would do it again in a heartbeat. The feel of it perfectly matches the rest of the house - which is all 1920's plaster. Here, people call the supposedly water resistant drywall "blueboard", so I was surprised by what it looked like (gray, gray and more gray) and that it was made up of two slightly different layers and that it is much harder and denser than drywall. It works pretty well as a sound deadener too! @casey Wow, that is really nice!

I am trying again, I have responded to everyone posts and it just disappears as soon as I hit submit! No sink due to budget mostly, plus I don't really like to look at a sink in the great room. I've learned how to function without so won't miss what I've never had I guess. Cocktails and wine will be mostly with meals when it's just us, when we have guests it may be more out on the covered porch and the dining area. I've moved it and think y'all are right, works better there but is it odd to have right outside the master? When we entertain I tend to batch mix a couple of standard cocktails a few days in advance (I store in swing top bottles) and then have the fixings for a signature drink to go with the meal, plus wine. It's my favorite part of the meal lol, hubby does the menu and then I focus on cocktails and dessert.