Hurray! I got my package from Diene today! Diene, you did a fantastic job of selecting plants I don't have. Lavender made the whole box smell delicious. 2 different sedums that I do not have will go in my sedum bed. Yarrow-perfect for cutting. Astilbe for the shade garden. Golden Bleeding Heart- I love it! I also received a lovely natural sand dollar and snail shell, a wind chime and a terrapin as well as seeds for crocosmia, bachelors buttons and stocks. The terrapin is going in the vegetable garden where the living prototype is eating my tomatoes. Maybe they will think the area is too crowded and move on? Vela, I am glad you liked your box. You have been a great hostess! I won't be participating in the next round. I am busy with the wedding, and there is not much in the garden right now that I would feel comfortable digging up; too hot and too mature. With the water restrictions we have been placed under, it is really hard to keep everything going. I will be peeking in now and then to see what everyone receives and how things are going. Late July, early August is a great time to divide iris and daylilies. Hopefully one of you will host a swap then. I have lots of those I need to divide and obligating yourself to a swap is a great motivator. Some photos from this morning: Fuchsia Koralle Shasta Daisy Sunny Side Up a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"> Pentas, Grafitti Pink Morning Glory, Flying Saucers

extender pole

This thread is getting very slow to load, so I'll start a continuation of it. Please let this thread lapse. Hope you don't mind dandyrandlou. Part 2: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5724528/can-we-start-a-new-chain-reaction-game-part-2

Take a look at something with all the spaces you're considering in a more consolidated, better laid out design with a proportional roof: https://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/southborough-cottage-house-plan-5558/ Make a couple changes -- note image below: - Pull the (green) great room out so it receives natural light ... put in a single French door between the great room and the covered porch (purple), which is now more square /less rectangle ... better for setting up an outdoor seating area, and it doesn't block your light. With this in mind, I would add windows to the SIDE of the kids' rooms. I'd then add a patio, which could be accessed from the screen porch, the great room, or the master bedroom. - Re-do the master bath (red) and master closet (blue) so that the bath receives natural light. You could also have a door connecting the closet and the laundry -- so convenient. I'd probably make the laundry /closet a bit deeper to allow for a folding cabinet opposite the machines. - Add your second garage (yellow) to the side ... the yellow garage would be slightly larger than the existing one. (I actually wouldn't do this, but you say it's a must.) - The breakfast area isn't 'specially spacious, but you could easily stretch your table out into the great room when you have a big group. - With the hall bath available for guests, I'd make the half-bath into a lovely little desk spot ... so convenient off the kitchen. Or a pantry. - It's not perfect, but it still gives you your craft space in the area that's now a dining room ... or you could use one of the kids' bedrooms as your craft space and put the other kid in the upstairs bonus room. Note that the flow works better: the hallways aren't long and twisty-turny.