Hello again username 5 :-) My sympathies to you for the quack grass. I am sure you have heard the old saying....about changing what you can change and accepting what you can't and the wisdom to know the difference? Well...I agree with you that accepting quack grass is the wisdow to know the difference...lol. I am not sure I don't have it in the lawn, but if I do, I don't think it is everywhere. The one area I think it is in is adjacent to this vegetable area and I am not growing grass there anymore but installing a walkway with flat stones and creeping thymes between it. I am going to mulch that heavily before I do though and maybe let it sit there a whole season before I try laying stone. And I am going to plant the thyme very closely to get it to fill in fast. I am hoping that I may have killed 90% of it this year, in that area, because it has had cardboard and bark mulch covering it for three months and it has only rained twice in two months. I had another area of the yard, that I wanted to put a mulched sitting area in and I left clear plastic covering it for 2 years before we mulched it and put a sitting area there. We barely saw a weed for about 4 years after that, and just started getting them back this year, so we cardboard and bark mulched again and so far haven't had to weed this season. That area didn't have the quack grass in it though. I wanted to use the plastic technique for the quack grass but didn't want to injure the neighbor's trees. So my soil is close to ideal..hmmm...that is good to know. If I just had full sun and about an acre more of land..lol. This land used to be farmland in the 1940s. So I don't have to add lime to the soil for the veggies, right? I seem to do ok with the veggies. Last year was the worst due to horrible weather all season. Rain, cloudy, no breezes, humidity, heat..everything bad and nothing good. I got diseases on my tomatoes that I never got before. Thankfully this year was better. Even the dryness was ok for the tomatoes and peppers with supplemental watering. We also took out a 120 ft of overgrown shrubs along the lot line in the spring which really opened up the yard to air circulation. We planted new shrubs, but it will be awhile before they are that overcrowded. [g] I have one veggie bed near my back door that is on the other side of the yard. It is raised with cement blocks and instead of soil, I piled half finished compost and shredded leaves in it. I put in a couple of kale plants last spring and when it got hot, I pulled them except one that I wanted to leave to go to seed. After I collected the seed, I just left it there when I got busy. I had parsley in the bed too that I wanted to try to winter over. I put more shredded leaves around them and I was so happy to see that the parsley came back this year and has gone to seed. Love when it does that. The beneficial insects love the parsley flowers and I love the seed. The Kale plant, started growing again in the spring so I just left it, it flowered and went to seed again and I got busy again..lol .... and didn't pull it. I was so surprised to see it start growing again after it went to seed, and right now I have a kale plant producing very nice dark green leaves and it is filling up about a 4x4ft area of that bed. No covering either. We juice greens all year, so I am glad to have that plant with no work for it, right next to the back door. What is YMMV? [g] Okay well...you are right, nothing is written in stone. I may try using the lasagna bed technique and I can always add something else in another year if "disappearing" soil becomes a problem. Yes, I am growing all annual crops. How did you find the excavator that brought you in a truckload of soil? Sandy loam sounds great! I am not going to plant up that whole 35x35ft area with veggies. I am going to fill 4 raised beds that are 4x4ft. and I want to construct a structure to house compost and grow squashes and pumpkins etc up the structure. I will have a lot of just mulched area between the beds. WOW! Those silver maple roots are amazing~ ! I am SO sorry for all the trouble they have been to you. If we ever move, I am going to remember that. We had a neighbor 3 yards over just cut down every tree in his backyard. Why oh Why couldn't the people in the next yard do that?! LOL Oh, well, we aren't going to be moving anytime soon, so you are right, just have to make my peace with them. I thought maybe every fall, I should take a shovel and just push it into the ground around the perimeter of the beds to sever any small roots that are trying to get a foothold. I already found out first hand how they will go for anything raised. I have had them fill up a compost pile that I left too long, and have had them in my veggie beds over the years. What can you do...is right! Not very many people have the "perfect" growing environment. Everybody has something. Thanks so much for talking this all over with me. I am much more certain about what I need to do next year, and I can get started getting ready for next year, this fall. I rarely come to this forum. Especially this summer as I barely had a veggie garden. Had some plastic totes from Lowe's with 3 tomato plants, and a pepper plant. Two zuchinni and two eggplants in a bed in the ground...which btw was near that area that I mulched and was FULL of quack grass all season and nothing grew well. I didn't get one eggplant. The container plants grew much better. Two zuchinni were TOO much..lol. Next year, I have been told one is enough. ;-) Oh, btw, how much lawn do you have that has the quack grass in it? Have you tried that corn product that is supposed to suppress weeds? Adam

I'll take a stab at answering some of your questions... 1.) Large difference between appraisal & judgment. It might be a junior lien holder that is foreclosing. For example, the property is appraised at $180K; there's a first mortgage with $60K outstanding (hypothetical); and a second for $14,895.53. Many times, a homeowner in trouble will keep payments on their first mortgage current but default on the second. In our example above, there's enough equity for the junior lien holder to foreclosure, take title subject to the priority lien, & still anticipate selling the property for enough to clear their position. 2.) Yes, that's probably correct about the taxes. You should pay a visit to town hall & take a look at the land records. That will tell you who the mortgagee(s) is. It will also tell you if my above guess is accurate as to who is actually foreclosing. If it's a junior lien holder foreclosing they have probably paid the taxes. A junior lien holder does not want the priority lien holder to foreclose in a case like this because that foreclosure would wipe out their subordinant position. 3.) Other monies owed. Yes, undoubtedly there are additional charges against the borrower. These would include penalties, late fees, accrued interest, attorney fees, auctioneer fees, advertising fees, appraisal, insurance, real estate taxes, etc. A foreclosing lender will include all of the above into their auction bid. 4.) Also, if it is a subordinate lien holder who is foreclosing anybody bidding at the auction would be taking title SUBJECT TO PRIOR LIENS such as a first mortgage. So, let's say you were the successful bidder at $21K. You didn't buy the property for $21K...you purchased it for $21K plus the $60K I noted as hypothetical above for a total purchase price of $81K & you are responsible for paying the first mortgage. Now, that's a whole 'nother bucket of worms because there's probably no assumption clause in the mortgage...so the holder of the first might require you to get a new mortgage. 5.) Real estate taxes are ALWAYS A PRIORITY LIEN. So, they would have to be paid. In your example though there is no tax lien. Somebody has paid the taxes (likely the lender). The lender would have taken the taxes into consideration in their bidding strategy at auction. So, there would be no consequence to any successful bidder at the sale. Any liens lower in priority than the foreclosing entity (other than real estate taxes, mechanic's liens) is distinguished in the foreclosure process. So, if Aunt Thelma is owed $10K...she loses. 6.) Your link only took me to the county page. I was unable to actually look at anything useful to your example. So, I can't comment on your "detective" work. 7.) NEVER assume there are no title problems. As example, maybe whoever built the house never paid the roofer & the roofer filed a Mechanic's Lien that has been sitting there all of this time. It's a priority lien. There's any number of title issues that could be a problem. Again, a trip to town hall will reveal title issues. 8.) Yes, he could be losing the property for $15K. I once foreclosed approximately $75K against a property appraised at $2.2M. (There were nesting bald eagles & my borrower couldn't sell the property because of the eagles.) I foreclosed & worked out a deal with the city to buy the property from the bank & establish a park around the nesting site. The city purchased the property for what I was owed plus cancellation of all of the back property taxes. Strange things happen. I'm guessing it's a second lien holder that is foreclosing based on what the attorney told you. 9.) Has he trashed the place? Gosh, who knows! 10.) Buying an REO is easier than purchasing at foreclosure auction but not nearly as much fun nor as exciting as standing there with your bidder paddle, "Do I hear $50K? I've got 50...do I hear $55K? Yes, back there in the corner...come on now, it's a great house...now do I hear $60K?" lol /tricia

As I have stated an unknown number of times,the buzzing sound is not the appliance it is the pan. Induction makes no noise at all. The only thing you should hear is the hum of a small cooling fan(s). Pans depending upon their construction is the source of your buzzing. Cheaply constructed pans will produce buzzing. Even very good quality pans can be heard if enough power is used on them, but generally this is in the "boost mode" and not an issue on normal cooking settings. Expensive does not necessarily mean good quality! Weather you need a service upgrade is dependent upon whether or not your new appliance exceeds the electrical capacity of the existing circuit. As a general rule, 40 Amp service will suffice with "most" modern units. Obviously looking at the specifications would be the prudent thing to do before attempting to connect a new induction unit. If this is over your head, then have an electrician look at your service and determine if it is safe to put the desired unit in place without an upgrade. Knobs, personal choice. I personally love knobs but it is not a deal breaker. When replacement time comes if I find one with electronic controls I like I will go for it. As was pointed out earlier it is better IMO to have individual controls for each hob as opposed to having to select the hob and then manipulate power settings. I have also known touch controls to not function if enough moisture gets on them, boil over for example. Magnetic fields, yes they exist, obviously this at the heart of how it operates. As "M" pointed out an individuals actions to be affected by them would have to be so far off the wall, it is hardly worth mentioning.

Thank you all so much for indulging my brainstorm!! I think what is bothering me most is I dont have a clear vision, but we know exactly what we need to do with the rest of the house. Under the ceiling fan is where the kitchen table goes and then the room wraps around to the family room. The entire wall on the other side is all glass sliding doors and it gets full sun all day long. My husband actually loves the fan because the sun can make the room quite hot especially while cooking. there is lighting under the cabinets for sure and it does look nice and bright when all the lights are on, but I do love the pendant lights over the island idea. its definitely a few years away before we do Anything but I LOVE that soft green @Maureen posted. I actually think that might be perfect for the island. Love the idea of losing those cabinets beside the stovetop - I hate them because they just scrape along the counter. Putting one big hood fan is a perfect idea @designinteriorsouth. If I were Doing it today I would be inclined to paint the perimeter cabs white and then change the backsplash To a lighter colour.