It's such an interesting arrangement of rooms...but somehow they just seem confused as to function. You have a living room that is essentially empty and then you have the family room with a desk area and tv viewing space and a table whose function is unclear. Not sure how much of this is because you don't use the living room or how much is because everyone wants to hang by the wood stove because it's warm. But other than the dr and the tv area, the rest seems to be without intention...but place holders instead. If you want a craft corner in the room, then be intentional about it...turn the corner where the maple credenza is into a crafting space with book cases or other storage and a light over the top and chairs all around a table that isn't too high...the one that's there seems high for children. This is one instance where I would want to add a wall rather than eliminate it....I'd like to see the wall between the kitchen and living room enclosed, then I'd move the stove there to tighten up the work triangle and then I'd turn the peninsula into an eat-at counter. That would make the living room a little more useful for furniture and a conversational cluster set up, and it would define a gathering space for family/visitors. In the FR, I would put the sofa back to the picture window so it didn't feel like such a barrier in the room....even if it meant I had to slide the TV away from the corner....then the arrangement of the other chairs would be more open and welcoming. The other thing that's bothering me is all the different wood colors...some mixing is fine, but I don't think there's a single piece of wood that is close to any other in color...the wood work, the dark built ins, the very light desk credenza, the medium colored table, the shelves, the picture frames, all of it is very different. Perhaps it's because wood is about the only thing to look at....there is no softness in the room....no window treatments, no pillows, no area carpets, no fabric upholstery, even lampshades are few and far between....As far as adding window treatments, I think they would go a long way toward softening the space. The baseboards are not a problem if you just hang a side panels...they need not close...and add one valance across the top of the 3 windows would look great. I'd pick the fabric first before I picked the paint as it's easier to match paint to fabric than vice versa. I'd do matching window treatments on the other windows...with or without the side panels, but leave the sliders alone. That will also go a long way to making the wood less prominent. If you want to define the rooms separately, I would go with stronger, more saturated colors and more contrast between the space...you have plenty of light so it could handle it. The colors would definitely have to work together well. But because of the open space plan and traffic flow, there's a lot of walls that are sort of unusable, so the only way to furnish them is with color. I think it would help warm up the space, but I would definitely stay away from the gray tones as they can be colder. When I see your rooms, I want to add warmth, cozy, and softness. But as I suggested, start with fabric first....then paint. HTH

if want the real secret to succession planting here it is. step 1. look up you number days of growing season. step 2. look up your last spring frost date and first fall date. step 3. create 52 week flow chart by weeks or 5 day increments that equal number days in step 1 step 4. put line down flow chart where the season starts, the season end and where frost dates are. step 5. map out you garden planting area and divide it into numbered sections step 6. get list of vegetable and when they can be planted in you area in relation to frost date. step 7. get chart for seed germination times of various vegetables step 8. make list of vegetable you want grow and there DTM (day to maturity)add few buffer days to the DTM number also add the number in step 7 step 9. over lay the info you gain from step 6,7,8 over the flow chart you made in step 4 step 10. then mark out the secessions worked in step 8 in number sections of planting map you created in step 5. step 11 follow you plan remember start your seed at correct date in relation to frost so the plants ready to transplant at correct time for secession plan. if plants do not produce a harvest by the time next plant has go into that location you did add enough buffer days. but you need remove the plants do not produce so you can keep the plan on schedule this is bit bare bones method of how to plan you vegetable succession planting correctly but cover all important parts of doing it. ttfn any errors in this post are par for the course.

Dwarf pears are hard to find, the only rootstock giving real dwarfing is quince. Cummins is one place selling pears on quince. If dwarf is critical I would start with seeing what you can get on quince and go from there. OHxF333 is somewhat dwarfing so it also could work and more varieties are available on it than quince.

As long as those soil samples have been kept dry they should be okay. Contact your local office of the University of Missouri Cooperative Extension Service and they can advise you better. I think you will find the UMCES people of more help than a commercial lab. When mowing, if the grass clippings tend to clump you are trying to mow too fast, especially if you are mulch mowing, and/or cutting too much grass at one time. Cut more often, if possible, and maybe raise the mower deck and cut less grass off. Some simple soil test you can do that may be of some help. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. kimmq is kimmsr