Thank you, Laura... such wonderful sentiments! :-) Our weather has been crazy, too... but we half expected it. Last year, we were already laying out soaker hoses and starting to water...and this year, we've gotten so much rain that we're completely saturated! We're just now able to get in and cut grass, and talk about tall! It's hard on the mowers, I'm sure, but what can you do?! If it's grass, it has to be kept mowed at least semi-regularly... and if it's garden beds, they must be kept weeded or the grasses, thistles and other nasties take over! So, we're darned if we do and darned if we don't! Mother's Day was nice... calls from my kids, and the husband made a nice dinner... while I spent the day relaxing, for the most part. There are certain chores that must be done regardless of what day it is, like cleaning and feeding dogs and other animals, but that's no big deal... I have it down to a science! ;-) I finally got the old guy to help me get photos off my camera, so I thought I'd share a few this morning... Here's a mama and her twins... My very best mouser... I call her Vixen! The next generation of excellent mousers... one of Vixen's 3 little ones... Walking from the shade garden area toward the new rose arbor... A young Peony Tree in the dappled shade garden... notice the rambler rose runners everywhere on the ground! Closeup of the flower from the Peony Tree... Another Peony Tree in the front yard... north side... And this is a Trillium that opened white and is turning a pale pink shade. It's among a patch of purple flowered hybrid Trillium I planted several years ago... you can see the mottled leaves of the hybrid... I didn't plant the white one, though... And finally, the first of the Irises are starting! I hope you enjoyed a walk around the yards with me... stick around as all the roses begin blooming and other perennials begin to color the gardens a wonderful rainbow of scented color! Thanks, Al... I can finally view Youtube, but the monitor I'm using has no sound on board... for a girl with a technological genius as a husband, I'm always the last to get upgraded! Would you believe I'm still using Windows XP?! I desperately need an upgrade to Windows 7, which should be coming shortly... when he has time to upgrade me. :-) It's kind of like being the plumber with the leaky toilet handle that sticks, or the barber that doesn't have time to cut his own hair... when you're in the business, you're last in line! :-) It looks to be another gorgeous day... sunny and hot with strong humidity... I may spend some time weeding and edging today, instead of killing myself cutting grass! Hope everyone has a lovely day! And... Happy Gardening!

A lot of windows shown on the elevation drawings are not shown on the floorplans. Be sure your architect makes all the drawings show the same things...otherwise there could be confusion down the road. So sorry to hear about your RA. Planning for an elevator is a smart move! But may I ask why you've decided you want/need two staircases going up to the second floor? Building staircases isn't cheap and your house really isn't all that big. If it were me, I'd skip making the staircase behind the garage go up to the second floor and put the savings from that into going ahead and having the elevator installed now. (I assume the elevator would go where the 2nd floor linen closet is.) If your father is in good health at 82, he could easily live with you another 10 years...maybe even 15. And, the last thing you need to be dealing while suffering from RA and assisting an aging parent is the mess of a home renovation. I'd do the elevator now if at all possible and cut back on things like maybe granite countertops instead. Getting rid of the second staircase up would also allow you to make your 2nd floor laundry larger and more user friendly. Right now it is basically three skinny hallways. UGH! I'm sorry but that is a horrible design. (Speaking of which, I don't really see any need for a second doorway into the guestroom/bonus room. and having that second door just forces you to have a second hallway.) I'd get rid of the staircase, move the laundry room door up near the master closet and then incorporate that back hallway that currently lead down to the second door to the guest room into a nice large closet for the guest room...or maybe some linen storage to take the place of the linen room that is going to become the elevator shaft. Also, by cutting out the second staircase up, you can enlarge your first floor mudroom and make it more user friendly as well. So, unless you have strong feelings about keeping both staircases, you might want to consider cutting one out. As for having the piano upstairs, my only question is how are you going to get it up there? I've never owned a baby grand so have no idea how hard it would be to get one up a flight of stairs. You might want take the house plans by a piano moving company and get their input before you sign off on the plans. Also, while I see no need for two doors opening into the guest/bonus room from different sides, if you are going to have the piano up on the second floor in that "piano room" alcove, have you thought about possible putting a set of double pocket doors between the piano room and the guestroom/bonus room? With double 36" or 42" wide pocket doors, you would have the option of leaving them open and turning the guest/bonus room into a listening space where people could sit and enjoy a piano recital played on the piano in the alcove. Plus, imagine how pretty that nice large bonusroom/piano space could look with the doors pushed all the way open. And, when you do have guests, closing the pocket doors would still give them plenty of privacy since there is likely to be little reason for someone to wander down to play the piano when guests are staying in the bonus room. As for the kitchen, so run your plan by the gurus on the kitchen forum. Right off the bat it strikes me that while the fridge is in a reasonably good location for access by folks in the breakfast nook, it is not in a very good spot for use by the cook who will have to walk around the island to reach stuff like butter/milk while in the midst of prepping dinner. Also, a prep sink on the back counter is not likely to get much use because it is "around the island" from the stove. I suspect you will find that you wind up using the main sink all the time because all you have to do to reach it from the stove is pivot around. Just my thoughts. Hope some of it proves helpful.

"2: The pull issue is still in question. The holes in my cabinets are 3" apart - but if you look at my photo above, you can see the fading. (the pulls extend beyond where the holes are) I don't know if the painter can do anything without striping them. I like hardware like this — but even if there was not fading issue, these particular ones wouldn't work b/c they don't come in 3" whole spacing." This site allows you to use the search function by selecting your pull size (center to center) then you can select a pull you like and look at the length of the pull. Select a pull with 3" centers but a length long enough to cover the faded areas. As an example..I have used this pull and it is a beautiful pull. It has 3" centers but is 4 5/8" long. How long is your faded area? https://www.thehardwarehut.com/catalog-product.php?p_ref=269021#productOption2

Nicole that tofu looks delish!! I made a Greek-ish feast for Dad and hubs. Greek style potato salad with green and yellow wax beans, balsamic evoo dressing. Another salad with cucumbers, lemon juice and sour cream and chives, similar to Tzatziki but without the mint. Lamb chops for the boys. Lemon yogurt cake for dessert with fresh strawberry topping. The lemon cake was meh. I think there was a typo in the recipe. It was a cake that called for a sugar syrup poured over it after it was baked, and the syrup only called for 1 tsp. lemon juice. That meant no flavor, even though I used a TBLSP and also some orange zest. I think it was supposed to be lemon flavoring oil. . . . We're not Greek but love Greek food. The lamb chops made me think Greek and I had the yogurt for the cake and needed to use it up. I've had better lemon cakes, to be sure . . .