Lauren, I'm going to (mostly) agree with Colleen. Hee hee. At a glance the 1st does look like Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg' (in kind of floppy shape), but I think there's a possibility it is xGraptoveria 'Fred Ives'. When it blooms you can get a positive ID. The other also looks to me like xAlworthia 'Black Gem'. I wonder who the hybridizer was, because I'd like to ask if those really are its 2 parents. I find it hard to believe Aloe speciosa is one of them, but I see it is all over the Net.

As Tony often says, rain seems to be magic water that does not create rot easily. Usually a shower here or there has no effect. Karyn- your cuttings probably had started putting out roots and responded to the increased heat and the outdoor atmosphere. I;ve had the same thing happen in warm, humid weather. Bill

I think the fridge location could go either way, but I'd definitely lean towards swapping it with the ovens, but that's because in *my* house the "browser" traffic to the fridge is at least 50-100 trips a day, but the "chef" traffic is more like a dozen trips. When I'm cooking, I like to get all my stuff out of the fridge and at the ready in one or two trips instead of grabbing as I cook. But kids and others are constantly going in and out for drinks, condiments, snacks, etc . . . so I wanted my fridge convenient to snackers and browsers and diners. :) I also like keeping hot stuff far away from seating. :) Also, if you move the cooktop to that side wall, then also moving the ovens allows you to use the cooktop as a landing zone for hot stuff out of the oven, which I personally find very convenient. Also, if you leave the fridge where it is but move the cooktop, I don't like having the fridge (browsers, drink getters) so close to my cooktop and thus the fridge landing space (for drink prep) being right there by my cooktop. So, yes, I'd swap the ovens and the fridge. I do think moving the cooktop to the side wall is a *great* idea. That would be a huge improvement IMHO by increasing the workspace between the sink and the cooktop and separating the clean up zone from the cooking zone by some good workspace for both the clean up person and the chef. In my kitchen, when major cooking is underway or recently completed, it is not uncommon for me to have 36" or so of counter space (above the dishwasher and beyond) covered in hand washed items drying -- piles of cookie sheets, large pots, knives, crystal, etc, so I need at least that much space on the "clean" side of my sink free for that without impinging on cooking/working/serving/prep areas. Meanwhile, I need at least 24" free on the "dirty" side of my sink for the stacks of dishes awaiting processing/loading into the dishwasher and/or sink for washing. So, that means my cleanup zone really needs (and has) 8 linear feet of space for the 24" dirty counter + 36-39" sink base + 36" clean space. I have that much space for it, and it all gets used. (My trash pull out is under the "dirty" side of the sink . . . but you could tuck it under your sink base if you plan it right and have a compatible sink and plumbing locations.) I'd absolutely die (obviously not really, but still) if I didn't have a trash pull out near the "dirty" side of my sink for scraping dishes. If you can't fit the main trash pull out there and want it over by your prep/cooktop area (assuming you do move it to the side wall), then I'd only do that if I could fit a second nice trash pull out UNDER my dish sink. Even if that sink pullout is a bit smaller than the typical kitchen trash pull out, it'd be sufficient for me. Not ideal, though, and I'd really try to have it to the side of the sink. FWIW, our dishwasher opens to a 42" aisle (45" cabinet to cabinet), and walking by it when it is open is no problem at all. It's not in a super high traffic zone, but we do walk by and around it when it is open all the time without any trouble. I wouldn't go crazy about the window size, even though I do agree that a wider window would be better. If you do stick with the smaller window, do be careful to keep your cabinets away from it a bit, as the cabinetry crowding the window will block even more light. I'd definitely give up that under-counter cabinetry where your seating is. Make the island a bit narrower, allow 18-21" overhang for diners, and let go of the idea of using cabinets for storage under there. It'd be super awkward to access, and cabinets cost $$ . . . redirect that $$ to other items on your wish list. If you cabinets are custom, you could make those island cabinets extra deep (say 30") which will dramatically increase their storage capacity. (I have just one stack of 30" deep drawers, and I swear they have twice as much capacity as the standard depth ones, although I know that is mathematically impossible, lol.)

English - is a dreadful language (humor ahead and it is long) We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes; But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes. Then one fowl is goose, but two are called geese Yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a whole lot of mice, But the plural of house is houses, not hice. If the plural of man is always called men, When couldn't the plural of pan be called pen? The cow in the plural may be cows or kine, But the plural of vow is vows, not vine. And I speak of a foot, and you show me your feet, But I give a boot - would a pair be called beet? If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth, Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth? If the singular is this and plural is these, Why shouldn't the plural of kiss be nicknamed kese? Then one may be that, and three may be those, Yet the plural of hat would never be hose; We speak of a brother, and also of brethren, But though we say mother, we never say methren. The masculine pronouns are he, his and him, But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim! So our English, I think you will all agree, Is the trickiest language you ever did see. I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble, but not you On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through? Well done! And now you wish, perhaps To learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead; it's said like bed, not bead; For goodness sake, don't call it deed! Watch out for meat and great and threat, (they rhyme with suite and straight and debt) A moth is not a moth in mother. Nor both in bother, broth in brother. And here is not a match for there. And dear and fear for bear and pear. And then there's dose and rose and lose -- Just look them up -- and goose and choose. And cork and work and card and ward, And font and front and word and sword. And do and go, then thwart and cart. Come, come, I've hardly made a start. A dreadful language? Why, man alive, I'd learned to talk it when I was five, And yet to write it, the more I tried, I hadn't learned it at fifty-five!