***doing a happy dance*** gmom! I've got your block all sealed up and ready to go into the mail tomorrow! after asking you to e-mail me your addie, I took a chance on the computer and tried accessing that file of gw addresses. well, that didn't work, but then I thought of how aol is kinda, half-working for me, so I checked in my saved e-mails and there was one with your address in it! I usually delete those once I've input the address into the gw file, but thankfully I forgot to do so this time! lol! so, the envie is all addressed, and I'll be mailing it out tomorrow. I'm glad you spoke up because not knowing who these extras were supposed to go to was making me feel bad. I tried to not short anyone with what I thought was a fool-proof system, but it looks like my "system" fooled me! ah well, live and learn, right? so, in the paraphrased words of the Monkees, your 10th quilt block is now saying "here I come!" -dan

Hey guys, just following up. Thanks everyone for your input. TheFoxesPad, i very much imagine a similar use .. for me or my kids! A few general obeservations: 1. I am thinking more about tying it to our house, and to my surprise that means white trim 2. There is a part of our house, a small room off the living room, with very similar dimensions. It is stone about 6.5 ft up then clerestory. It has a gable roof. 3. Before our reno, the house has a very lovely little solarium at the side entrance. We had to demo it to make a mudroom and craftroom (believe me I hated doing it). My DH save the Marvin french doors and oversized windows. We'd love to use them, although whatever facade gets them will really change in character, so still mulling it 4. I want to emphasize its garden setting and path as much as the pond 5. The contractor says if we use too much glass it will be very hot in a stone house ... 6. Decided against post and beam, too much visual weight for the space. Probably shiplap ceiling, painted. Floor should be tile --- maybe antiqued saltillo 7. Our house has a cedar shake roof. Thinking we should copy it although I like tin or even copper too. 8. I think we will put in a sofa bed for those adult guests who want to stay there, and a small loft with a window for the kids as a reading nook. When we have narrowed done more decisions I will post again for input. In the meantime, thanks!

Sorry I'm chiming in so late. My dad passed away 3 weeks ago just after finding out that his prostate cancer had just moved into his liver. He'd been in the hospital getting ready to start chemo, was getting better, sent home and he died the next evening with most of his family in his home. Bittersweet. I'm executrix & am very overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to do altho not very complicated. I am 58 yo and keep trying to figure out was 60 looks like. I've seen some "older looking" 60 somethings & some that look like I feel. (None of you GW'ers fit that older look!) I was born & raised in W. Michigan; then lived in and taught in Costa Rica where I met my dh. We moved to NC 29 years ago with a 1 year old son. My dh is Materials Mgr in a chemical co. My oldest is now 30 and a research chemist; 27yo dd is a bench chemist; youngest is a business major with a minor in...chemistry. I was a pioneer in homeschooling & hs'ed my own from K-12th grade. I was a hs curriculum rep for NC/SC & worked the bookfairs. (NC's is one of the top 5 in the country) I got involved in hs co-ops where I taught high school/middle school Spanish. I just "knew" it was time to quit at the end of last semester. Dh & I buy run-down houses, fix them up and rent them out. We weren't sure Social Security would be around by the time we retire--and our 401K has been having its ups & downs. Our real estate venture has done well; we were 2 blocks from a local university & rented to students until the U decided to make a 1-mile rule that students had to live farther than 1 mile off campus. Last fall we sold 2 to the U & made a handy profit. In this venture, I've redone 2 gut job kitchens, done some simple remodeling with painting & new counters & selvaging cabinets we found in the basement. All get dishwashers--it's the first thing the women(and students) notice. There is another one that we have done a partial remodel on--the base cabinets. Between the next renters we'll go to Part B, taking out a huge unused chimney that's on a non-supporting wall & redoing the uppers for this house from the 1920's with a chopped up-floor plan. Actually, I thought we would be building our retirement house right now. In 96 we bought a lot in the NC mountains; it's a 1/2 acre lot that overlooks a small lake in an older gated community. It's my "Still Waters", where I go to restore my soul. We were close to having the plan done & working on the kitchen plan when I discovered GW--the plan I originally wanted wouldn't work when we actually put it on paper & looked at it 3D--not enough upper cabs. I was about ready to post it for comments, but alas, with my dad's hospitalizations, I've not had the time. We're close to blueprints & I'm tweaking the rest of the design with an interior decorator friend. Worth the $$$. At my own home, a 70's ranch, we'll update the kitchen that we remodeled in 92 from a country look w/honey oak cabinets with granite & a new backsplash. We put in wood floors 4 years ago. So I don't know what project comes first. We've just completed our biggest fixer ever and the renter comes in next weekend. What will we ever do with all that spare time? We have a severely leaky shower in the master bath--we think we'll need to gut it to fix it. I think it will be sooner rather than later. I like camping, Bible study, travel, photography & scrapbooking. I enjoy going to crops & doing my scrapbooks with other women--it's creative, and for the most part I get to relive all those wonderful experiences I have captured on camera. I've read everyone's storied and have found it enjoyable. This board relaxes me in the evenings. Thanks all.

Thanks! I put conduit (both flexible and rigid) inside the walls. Horizontal runs are through knock outs inside the blocks but I tried to keep this to a minimum. Plumbing is also inside (PEX and PVC for waste water) the walls. The main reason for the interior block walls was that I wanted a solid feel. The doors are fairly large (8ft tall, 3.5ft wide) and solid core so I was concerned that metal studs may not be massive enough. I used metal studs for a wall concealing a tank for a wall hung toilet but everything else is concrete blocks.