I can relate! I don't know if I am making the best possible decisions trying to make this place work. At the age of 63 I moved from a rent controlled apartment to a 96 year old "fixer". I wanted to be able to grow vegetables, so I did not opt for a condo. They are not that much less expensive around here anyway, and for the most part, poorly constructed. The home inspector, and all the contractors who have worked on this place give it flying colors for construction. It is apparently a very solidly built house. We talked the seller down considerably, but it still wasn't cheap. I know going in it would need $35 thousand dollars to replace broken water heater, heating system, plumbing, etc. before I could even move in. I also ripped up the carpet and refinished the beautiful hardwood floors underneath. I also replaced the old, stained fiberglass bath/shower that was growing mold and made me shudder whenever I stepped into it. I figured I would bolt the house to the foundation (living in earthquake country) and leave it at that for a while. Then over New Years, the wind blew down part of my fence and the 20 year old cook top had a gas leak, so PG&E turned off the gas. I couldn't find replacement parts for the old corroded burners, so I bought a new Kitchenaid cook top...WRONG! It emits a low hum even when it is off. I looked it up in the manual, and sure enough, under troubleshooting, it says this hum is a normal part of the functioning of this product. My bedroom is fairly close to the kitchen, and I couldn't sleep, so I returned it (with a 20% restocking fee). Now I have ordered a GE Cafe model cook top. It scores consistently in the top ten cook tops, and I read reviews from two professional chefs who installed them and were very happy. I haven't received it yet. I can't help but wonder if I should have just called Kitchenaid and asked them if they had a quieter model. I live alone, This is all new to me, never having owned a home and not having to deal with these things myself. I don't have anyone to advise me on these things, except friends who laugh, pat me on the back and saying "welcome to home ownership". I am not particularly handy, although I am not opposed to learning. This was supposed to feel liberating, having my own home, but I've been here for 4 months and am feeling very stressed. I'm not thinking of selling though-yet.

Mrs. N, first congrats on buying your new home, it really can be a very exciting and fun time. (I invite you to come visit us in the Decor Forum). I too chuckled while reading your post because it reminded me of myself when we bought our house 11 years ago. It was a sellers market then too and we ended up choosing a foreclosure home in need of a lot of asthetic work. It wasn't what we thought we'd end up buying but we like a challenge and were fine with it. However, the house has well water and a septic tank which were really foreign to both of us. I just knew the well or tank would die, the a/c or heater would be faulty or worse, something would explode. Of course nothing ever exploded or broke. And, it took a while, but little by little we turned this ugly house into our home and not just somebody else's mess. Ants can be killed and part of living outside of the city, is having critters under the deck, they've never harmed anything in our yard but stay warm and safe under there. As for the other place, the grass is always going to be greener on the other side, but trust your instincts, you chose the house you did for some good reasons. There really is no such thing as a "perfect" house. No matter what you buy, when it comes to that "wish list", there will always be some kind of compromise.

alameda....thank you so much for introducing me to 'Shirley's Bouquet'. I had never heard of it. The pictures on helpmefind were absolutely beautiful. I saw that 'Moonstone' is one of its parents. 'Moonstone' is an incredible rose for me in my garden, so I'm sure I will love 'Shirley's Bouquet' too....I just bought one from Edmunds! severe_novice....I have 'Seafoam' and it can be grown as a groundcover, a small climer, or a small spreading shrub. I would imagine it will do well draping over a split rail fence. I must admit that in my climate it blooms a lot, but the blooms turn brown and stick to the plant and look messy (I was growing it as a small climber). I replanted it in a sunnier place and will grow it as a small shrub now so I can shear it with hedge trimmers after the bloom to make deadheading easier. I don't have PJP, but I do have 'Bolero' and it's practically a perfect rose. I have 28 of them planted as a hedge.

The misinterpretation is that the same faucet is different depending where you buy it. That would be a rat's nest on part numbers and warranties for the manufacturer if it were to be so. They may be based on the same "model" but with different parts and model number (confirmed via your SKU info). So say an HD faucet may have a vacuum-chromed plastic escutcheon and plastic nut, whereas the exact same faucet at a plumbing store will have a real chrome metal plate and a brass nut, with a higher price to match. Just like going to buy a TV at a big box vs mom&pop, same exact unit, but the big box one might delete a couple menu features or ports to meet a price point, and the model # will have a couple different letters designating such. Big internet discussion on John Deere tractors too. Unless you are doing a high-dollar remodel or your reputation depends on the associated work, going to the big box is just fine.