nod702 - you make it too difficult i find a mower sitting at the curb few times\summer. I also know a repair place where in the back lot he has all kinds of motors- old cub cadet riders (too bad they have been stripped for many parts) to recent push mowers & tillers @ $20 and $10 respectively. also i know another deere dealer that has a long row of riders of non deere riders. i asked whats up and if i could buy one for parts and he sold me one for $20. (turns out the last owner tried 'fixing' it and the OHV lifters were misaligned else there was nothing wrong with it) I still have more than 1 mowers\riders\trimmers\etc cuz i sold some of my apt buildings and kept my toys. With the other apt buildings i still have, i rotate them for maintainance\repair.

Yes, I know it's different. When we moved into our house, it had a dishwasher. It broke, within a couple months. Dh can fix anything, so he bought the part and fixed it. Then, another part broke. OK, so I'm done trying to glue that dw back together. We bought a new one (when we redid the floor from all the water damage). We bought a nice one, about $500. It got the dishes very clean, worked great, for about 2-3 years. I had been limping along with it, pretending that it did dishes when it started making an awful noise. I finally quit using it, but didn't notice that water was collecting in it and sitting. Yuck! Dh took it out, since we couldn't afford a new dishwasher so soon. Nor, did I think it was worth the money. It also seems to me, that my counters are cleaner this way. With the dishwasher, I would put the dishes in and not do the other dishes. They would sit there for way too long. If I'm hand washing dishes, I do it one to two times a day and do all the dishes. I know a lot of people have much better luck with theirs, but I cook a lot, and if I have one I stick everything in it that I can, so it runs a couple times a day.

My hood is 33" off the surface of the counters and stove. I have 8 foot ceilings as well. I bought that mosaic out of Lebanon cleo and nope, it wasn't custom, but I had to make them find it for me (it was an older pattern they weren't currently selling). I've only done the trowel on version of plaster...on marmarino I guess I'd worry about that one because you're not supposed to sand it between coats, which I like to do to smooth it out, but then I'm going for a very polished finish verses a rustic one...so perhaps that's the finish technique. Be sure to do a precoat (or primer) in quartz paint in the bathroom, it makes a huge difference in the quality of your finish long term! (I'm doing it in the kitchen as well). I can't imagine making one of those mosaics. The detail is amazing isn't it? Yours is gorgeous...and I was shooting towards a floral but DH started gagging and making funny faces...so chickens it is. Besides they match our chandelier in the dining room heh heh (elegant chickens...who'd a thunk!) When you get to the plaster work cleo...just keep one thing in mind and you'll do great...ok two...first use rounded edge trowels..they'll make a huge difference, and if yours aren't rounded, sand them down on the sharp corners. And secondly and most important.....THIN THIN THIN! If you can't see the color of the wall under your first coat, it will be a disaster after it dries and you'll have to start over again after sanding it off (and really...new drywall is easier than removing bad plaster). I prefer a 3 coat wall to a two...and then at least one coat of a commercial grade wax (and don't skip that in the bathrooms ever). The wax protects it from all of the fingers that rub over a well done plaster job :) And they will...My powder room is always "petted" by anyone who enters...or walks by LOL

That one looks really great, I agree. I have really bad knees so I have a Chef's Gelmat in front of my sink and in front of my stove as well. It is the only thing that enables me to stand for any length of time. It is amazing, but I agree it doesn't look nearly as nice.