With regard to Megpi's post, I totally agree on all points made. And it's still obvious to me that microbes, being living organisms, can move over and across the barrier along the top of the growing medium rather than having to "swim" under the barrier. With regard to Bencjedi's post, I grew about 100 Brandywine transplants for the Master Gardeners Plant Sale and kept a dozen or more at home to give to friends. Right now there are 10 of those Brandywine in 6" round pots filled with identical Baccto Professional Potting Mix with the pots stowed in a pile of bark fines like you might seed trees in nursery tubs with bark chips walled up around the tubs to keep the roots cool. All 10 plants have been treated identically since the time the seeds were planted ... same starter mix, same potting up mix, same fertilizer, same watering, same sunlight ... indentical. And there are marked differences between the plants at this time. Some are leafier, some are taller, some shorter, some have flowers, some don't have flowers, etc. When I look at that particular SWC with the two Brandywines, I see the one closer to the fence is taller and has less dense foliage maybe due to its location with regard to sunlight. I see the sunlight shining between the fence slats. Which way is east or south? I also notice the one nearer the fence is flowering. And the Brandywine farther from the fence seems to have more "mitten fingered" leaves. Hey, who knows about the vagaries of open pollinated heirlooms???

They did use glazed ceramic tiles on kitchen walls in 1910, in either black or white, so even if the tiles were a later addition, they wouldn't neccesarily be out of place, or should I say time? Counters as we know them didn't exist, strictly speaking. Kitchen furniture was pretty much free standing, a cabinet here, a table there. Cabinets and china closets could be built in. Work areas were usually wood, or maybe a marble area for rolling dough. Zinc was used, as was tin, also porcelain enamel. In other words, any contenporary, durable counter that is pleasing to the eye and looks like it would go nicely with your tile should be acceptable. You can check out the Victorian and 1920's kitchen albums. You'll see that they started introducing built in cabinets and counters in the 1920's, but the vast majority of kitchens still had that19th c look. Try just introducing some turn of the century elements into your kitchen design. You might get ideas if you look at the pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: photo albums

My goodness, Aunttomichael, you certainly are very sweet. We moved into the house in Mar 2002. I never saw the house before purchase as I was in Fl caring for my Dad. My DH heard the house was going to go on the market and he had my DD bring him over to see the house. He said they stopped out front and he saw the porch and said "well I hope they don't want too much 'cause I'm buying it !". DD nearly swooned LOL> DH has never bought a house or looked at a house for sale ever. He has a 100 % rating now though ! My Dad passed away and my Mom came to live with us all in those first months. We impetuously decided to remodel the attic space immediately so we would have room for family to visit Mom. Little did we know that the day the carpet was put down up there in Mar 2003 my DS1 and DIL moved in from WA state. I was very lucky that my GC was good and had done 13 other attic conversions in Victorians in this neighborhood,, including his own. There are not too many things I would do differently up there. I had never remodeled a home before so was flying by the seat of my pants. I was reading magazines at night and showing him pics in the AM :). I wish the 9ft bank of windows upstairs was french doors onto a tiny balcony and I wish I had gone with wood floors not carpet. Pretty much everything else is good enough. The downstairs , on the other hand , I spent a year researching. I changed GC's and that had good and bad points. Most everything still turned out great but as my DH says ," only you know where the bodies are buried!". He is a funny guy ! We waited these several years as my Mom got sick and another son moved home ...on and on....you know how that goes. Please do tell John and Donna hello, I keep meaning to call/e-mail them. They are fantastic folks. I sure would love to go up there and see the new place. They were in a very small location before and have really added a lot of stuff. it is unfortunate that so many folks are tearing down old homes. Can you take up the pergo. Is there a good wood floor underneath? You know the glue etc can be sanded off....just a thought. Please post pics or e-mail me and send a link. I love old houses and would love to see yours. I need light fixtures for the foyer and front hall. Probably should look at their website and see what they have. Take care and let me know how it goes. Call ahead also to make sure they will be there. Caroline

Imalm53 - I usually avoid offering opinions on color because its so subjective and personal, and because monitors affect what you see. But yours is one of my favorite kitchens. Plus I appreciated the step-by-step granite install photos that you posted awhile back. So here goes . . . I agree with some of the previous posters that bold colors would detract from your beautiful cabinets and granite. But I LOVE the colors of your accents . . . burgundy and yellow. Those are the colors of my kitchen. Sort of a mustard yellow on the walls with a burgundy rust on my window soffit. I love it for me, but I dont have the dramatic cabinets and granite that you have. (Its not done yet, so I dont have photos. ) I do like your idea of putting color on the fireplace wall. Hows about putting your burgundy on that wall, with your yellow on the mantle trim. Then using a softer coordinating color on the rest of the room. Then pulling those colors into your window treatment to tie it together. I was going to try to do a mock up but my monitor is playing havoc with the colors (getting mauve and some strange yellows). I just did a search and saw Benjamin Moores Pottery Barn Collection. Looks beautiful . . . at least on my monitor. Can you imagine doing some combination of this? (not sure if you need the green, though) Benjamin Moore's Navajo white Wedgewood gray Brick red Hampton green HTH!