I have made several of the teapot birdhouses. I like them but I feel I need to add a word of caution? warning? here's what I noticed? Whatever. I have had problems with alien birds trying to commandeer the houses from native birds. I lost a brood of Carolina wrens to English sparrows last summer. I also had nasty starlings trying to force out my downy woodpecker pair. I took care of both issues but the baby wrens were still lost. All that being said, I do like the teapot bird houses and the birds seem to like them also. But I have to be vigilant about who's trying to move in. I think the main problem with the houses is the size of the doorway. As yet I haven't figured out a way to make it smaller yet keep it looking like a teapot. Any ideas?

Demon Based on what you've said here, I think you've made the right decision. It concerns me that his reaction is to blame the child and focus on how it affects 'him'. Classic abuser behavior. I'm even a little concerned that his reaction will change from cooperative to hostile when he realizes that tactic won't work. If I were you, I'd set up a strong support system. I have a feeling you are going to need it. I also agree with silver, it's not a waste of time to learn such a valuable lesson. When I left my ex at 29, I spent years feeling sorry for myself because I wasted my 20's in a crappy situation. But, the worse part wasn't the time I wasted, it was that my kids were in that crappy situation for 7 years and you can thank your lucky stars you figured it out in less than a year. Your daughter is young and you can spend some time in counseling and might even think about working on your parenting skills too. Before, you said you were lax in discipline, so now might be a good time to shift your focus on improving things in your life. When I was a single parent, I was also too lax and inconsistent. It's so easy to parent out of guilt too. My kids were pre-teens when I began to force myself to be consistent and push the guilt to the back of my head and it's been tough. I still struggle with guilt because they know how to make me feel guilty. Good luck.

Civil Servant, You have struck gold with all the excellent advice given by so many well informed Roses Forum Rosarians. My comments basically reinforce what they are sharing with you. Fish emulsion stinks, literally. It has its good uses in some cases. It is mostly nitrogen, which you are already applying in a sufficient amount if you opt for the Miracle Grow Pellets or another well balanced rose fertilizer, organic or non. Too much nitrogen is not good: weak, over abundant, lush, and disease/insect prone growth at the expense of flower production, is the outcome. Ditto for blood meal. Be mindful of those animal product fertilizers in light of their critter attracting nature. Even if you live in the city, alley cats can be drawn to your garden, and they will not leave your garden without voiding. Then there are urban wildlife, particularly raccoons and opossums, even skunks, coyotes and coywolves. You don't want to attract them. I do like seaweed fertilizer as an occasional foliar feed because of the multitude of minerals it contains, but it is not really critical to use it. Its use is more like dessert in comparison to a well balanced main meal. Also, there are no odor issues.

If that's a major walkway from the garage/mudroom/laundry I'd keep the fridge as originally drawn. You can move the stub wall back 12", and the pantry's front wall back a few more, to gain aisle space, and make the island 102" rather than 106" to gain 4" more, then have seating on three sides. The art niche would be narrower, so if you already own a special piece for that space, this suggestion might not work: If the goal of moving the fridge to the top wall is so that you won't see it from the great room, then buehl's suggestion would work much better than that option. I like the extra storage she has under the island, but I forgot to include it in my drawing. If you want to keep the extra oven, I'd still suggest tucking it in the top corner, invisible from the great room. You'll probably just use it for the side dishes while the turkey is in the range oven (or vice versa), so I'd put in on the periphery. And BTW, I'd love to have an extra oven, so I vote to keep it. ETA, and unless you have a really unpleasant view from the window, I'd suggest making it larger. I missed the window and seating questions the first time. : /