I can see doing a wider french doored (or pocket french doored) opening to the left to increase the accessibility of the kitchen to the rest of the house, but PLEASE do not make the mistake of "opening up all the walls" in this home! Part of any older home's charm is the distinct closed off rooms that are cozy discoveries. If you do the fireplace "keeping area" in the lower ceilinged part, that will be the most highly sought after gathering spot in the house and you won't want or need to "open it up" to any other room. It will be a destination area. A retreat. As far as layout, it's a no brainer than the sink can go along the right where the tall windows are currently located and the range and fridge can go on the opposite wall. I like the idea of a farm table in the middle, but my back does not if you would use it as a prep area! I would need a 24"x36" prep area that was at least 36"-38" tall. Now, if the farm table were to be T'd off of that prep area, that would be the best of both worlds. That prep area could be a chunky created butcher block, or other antique cabinet. Good luck shopping! I think that's more than half of the fun of an unfitted kitchen.

I've never had vegetables stay so fresh in a fridge. Lettuce can last days ... Sold. ;-) feline foods: ah. This list could go on for days because one of my four-footed masters is super high maintenance and needs lots of variety (in ingredients as well as brand apparently). Her philosophy to what she wants from us seems to be similar to my graduate studies advisor who's favorite reprimand used to be : "I don't know what I want. I'll know it when I see it; and this ain't it." So anyhow. We only feed our cats moist and grain-free stuff. Haven't fed them any of the dry food for now well nigh 5 years - this at the edification of another GWian who alerted me to this. So all food is either fresh home-made (and usually based on what we're making in re: fish) or tinned, grain-free. Our shopping list of brands includes: Wellness tins (made here in Mass. actually) and Wellness pouches, Weruva (lots of vegetables in the food but fascinating chief ingredients), Spot's Stews, Dave's, Grandma's Dinners (if you please! varieties include turducken believe it or not), kiwi-something that I don't recall coz we don't have any right now ... . Each of these brands has multiple flavours so in storage in the pantry we have multiple tins of multiple varieties of each of the above. And the reason for all that much variety is the fuss-pot I alluded to above. She tires not just of say turkey or duck or chicken or salmon, but she tires of the brand. I think coz each brand has a fairly homogeneous preparation process so just changing out the ingredients really isn't enough stimulation. I suppose as I write this that it's fair. I couldn't have quiche every day every week every month by just varying the class of quiche. So, okay, Georgia; you're forgiven (a bit). Anyhow, the tins when opened go in the fridge. Since we give them food in multiple rounds per meal (courses), the fussy one at least insists that there be something different from course to course. So there are a minimum of 2 and oftentimes more tins than that for every meal. They don't get the entire tin in general, so there is always left over tins and flavours between meals. Oh yes, that is aside from the really fresh stuff for them - fish parts that we just bake and give 'em as something different. More info than you wanted to know, I'm sure. :-)

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!

1. Privacy I live in a city, so this kind of backyard set up and proximity to neighbors is not at all unusual or perplexing to me. I have a gangway between my house and the neighbor's, where our dining rooms face each other and have put segments of trellis up in intervals with vines growing up to give some privacy. It is the city, we know we see each other, but with the trellis there is neither a wall nor our faces in their window. (See my pics below.) This was super inexpensive - salvaged trellis, yard sale planters, the I even got the rhodies from a landscaper who was pitching them into a compost pile. I think you could do something similar at intervals on the left side of your deck corresponding with the neighbor's window locations. You could plant flowering vines or tall evergreen shrubs in yours. It is nice to have greenery peeking through to the neighbor's side as well because they get to enjoy a bit of your greenery and not just feel like you have a trellis in their face. 2. Create the illusion of privacy When living close to neighbors, privacy is somewhat a state of mind. You have to create a space of your own where you can block others out mentally. Hanging lanterns or zig zagging stings of lights can really do wonders for delineating a space and making it feel like your own. Also create a sense of space by adding some color cohesion to the furniture, planters, and other materials you bring on to your deck. Also, getting out there and using it helps to claim the space as your own. The more time you spend out there, the more your neighbors will look away to give you privacy outside. 3. Kid space I don't know how much you love to garden or how old your kids are. I personally would put containers along the side of the deck to grow plants in, and use the back dirt area for a playhouse for the kids and/or a sand box. Get a cheap one off of craigslist. Use it until they outgrow it, then see what you want next in the space. A more grown up club house? It just seems like the perfect place for kids to feel far away and on their own even when they are not. I'd also get one of those outdoor toy boxes that doubles as seating to put on the deck area and store outdoor toys in it. Leave a lot of the deck space open for play - my next door neighbors have a patio the same size as yours and the kids have been playing some kind of tether ball out there all day today. They do ring toss, hopscotch, even ride trikes. You'd be surprised how much kids can do in a small outside space with the right games and toys. 4. Adult space Find non-bulky stackable seating so you can rearrange it for adults to sit outside and chill, and also stack and move it out of the way for kid play. Keep one slender rectangular table off to the side that you can use as a bar or pull out to side at when you want to eat out there.