Jeannie, you might be surprised to know that there are a number of excellent specialty Japanese maple nurseries located in California and that there are many regular posters to this forum living in that area that grow them. Japanese maples grow well in much of California and they are widely available at many better retail nurseries and garden centers. As to them being a "deciduous tree that cant possibly survive growing such limited height as 3- 5 feet", that's nonsense and simply indicates your lack of knowledge about these plants. There are many dwarf forms and those dissectums with very low grafts that will simply never grow much taller than what the OP wants. And have you never heard of bonsai? Container culture as a whole has dwarfing ability on most plants so generally growth is much slower and many cultivars of Japanese maples make ideal long-term container plants. John, as you probably realize, JM's are rather common in SoCal but do indeed fair better when they are within the milder coastal area. A shaded position for any variety is preferred. And bboy is correct about the quality of the irrigation water - you will need to make allowances for this and hopefully a better local nursery will give you some tips. If you can do the drive, Rogers Gardens in Newport is having a Japanese Maple seminar on March 28th. If you've not visited before, Rogers Gardens is one of the pre-eminent retail garden centers in the country and they will have a great selection of J. maples for you to chose from as well as very helpful advice on growing them in your area. There are number of red laceleafs - some of the most common cultivars with low grafts - that would work for you height-wise. But many will get much wider than tall, so spread should be a consideration in the choice as well. Here is a link that might be useful: Rogers Gardens spring seminar list

dino, pretty door. It will dress up your hallway very nicely and will fit with your traditional/transitional decor just fine. I think it will add a little sparkle to your somewhat plain facade. It isn't like some doors that are so ornate & Victorian that they look out of place on a colonial-esque home. Yours is a nice choice. Hope you enjoy.

Can they do a corner seam? While some people prefer a short seam at the sink, I like the look of continuous stone on my sink rail, where I spend most of my time. My sink is on one leg of the U and the seam is 4" from the corner on the bottom of the U. I don't really care that there's a long corner seam, mainly because I have a great seam and have to look hard for it. Oldryder explained that sink seams are not the preferred placement, but fabricators seam there to CTA as the sink rail is a weak point during transportation. So it's good for getting it in your home, not ideal for use and appearance for the next 15 years. One disadvantage of the sink seam is that they are unable to use the electronic device that pulls two slabs together and creates a very tight seam. So you might have a wider seam right in front of you at the sink. Some people have had horrible pattern matches on sink rails too. It may be that your granite has to be seamed there, but I'd question whether it's just the transportation issue. They can transport it using steel reinforcement bars under the granite. Make sure you see and approve the layout of your slabs before they cut them!

You are right. I have seen that done and it's helpful. The house is loated in MIlford Delaware. It iis off the main street entering the town but not sure of the "district". It is in what I would call the old hospital neighborhood. Milford is quite small. It is the only one I have seen there so far, though there are other bungalows and Sears kit homes nearby. I looked over a listing of Sears homes and it does not appear to be one of those. It was built between 1930-40.