well, we are almost to the max posts, so i wanted to update on my mature syngonium progress. i have 2 new leaves of 'mature form' AND also some variegation near veins - that's totally unexpected! so i have 5 leaves and 2 little 'horns' at the ends, just like other mature leaves. when i took the cutting, the last very young leaf got mangled in xfer , so i cut it off, but left the stalk (where the new leaf develops) - so the 1st leaf was def formed BEFORE i took the cutting. now the 2nd? i am not sure - may be it was already formed inside there too? so i'll have to wait for a few more to be sure. but so far i am happy - i fed it well, so new leaves are dark green, the older leaves are slowly decaying one by one. but that's normal. now the big question is - when do i trim the vine? i think i'll grow may be 10 leaves , so i can trim it and root again and then see what will come out. and then of course i am afraid that after the trim the young immature leaves start popping. but that will be end of summer, not sooner. so, the leaves on the left are new. they have a little hard time unfurling, so they some spots and tears. they are folded in a very interesting 'origami' fashion. next time i'll take pics as they unfold to show you.

We are having pretty low temps in Colorado too. Two weeks ago woke up and it was 41 degrees. Cripes! We expect a rough winter here also. Last year's was fairly normal, but this spring/summer weather pattern (with lots of rain) has us thinking about our '97 blizzard. 52 inches of snow overnight, it was monstrous. Few cell phones at that time, and the only travel was by snowmobile! Thought the addition of ice cubes to a humidome a very helpful idea when the high temps get out of hand. Could probably put them in plastic cups to lower the temp. Haven't had the problem this summer, but in summer of 2004 (before getting serious about AVs) we nearly bought a couple window air conditioners. 105 F in the shade,-which is really unusual at 7300 feet-we actually brought one of those stand up swirly hose misters into the living room, on a plastic tarp so we could breath! :-) Thanks for the idea! It's a great one! Best, Judy

Hi Roulie, I was looking at the beautiful blue kitchens in your thread about painting your cabs, and went looking for this thread for more pictures and info about your kitchen. (I would try the SW Naval from Deb's island on one of your trial boards, it just rocks!) I have an opinion about the hole in your counter. I love the idea of using stainless, and if the Jenn-aire that was removed is the griddle next to the big Garland, I would suggest that you have someone come and fabricate a stainless steel cover that simply butts up to the range and covers the whole counter top surface, front overhang and all, for the length of counter top hole in the wood. That will give you a bulletproof landing spot for messy cooking. YOU may not need it, but you have at least one young person, and a messy spill on your butcher block with a stainless steel insert in the hole in the wood will be a lot harder to clean up than on a seamless sheet of steel. Have the fabricator match the finish as much as possible to that of the Garland, and it may not seem so much like another added texture in the room. It also occurred to me, looking at the photo, that there does not seem to be a range hood. Is that a problem for you, or do you not put a lot of grease into the air when you cook? A metal fabricator could fashion one to fit below that cabinet, and you could put the guts in the cab. Just something to think about if you have someone out to see about the hole in the counter. I went looking for your thread about your butcher block counter refinishing. The problem with wood near your sink area made me think of old porcelain 1920s to 1930s sinks as a solution. In my first search result I saw the one linked below, and it fit the one in my mind's eye perfectly. Something like this will better protect that beautiful refinished counter of yours. It prevents any more deterioration where the wood meets the back splash, as well, and does not go very far up the wall. Check out the link below. I think I am interested in your project because it reminds me of my own. I refinished a used bead board kitchen almost three years ago.I have an island top that is 25 years old sitting in my garage that is very similar to your butcher block. I did not use it when I bought it with my Green Demolition kitchen. I refinished my beaded-board oak cabinets from GD by hand sanding and re-staining them with a creamy oil-based stain that my local Sherwin Williams mixed up for me. I could not get a "pickled" stain in water-base. My routed-out lines were far closer together than yours, but you have a LOT of cabs to do, too. If I had to do it again, I think I might paint. I do not have tons of wood grain around like you do, and really like the grain peeking through, so staining was a good choice for me at the time. My problem was in getting the stain to stick to end grain. All my rounded edges exposed me to end grain, but I did not realize that this was my problem at the time. Stain did not stick well on the perimeter of all of my 34 doors and 20 drawers, and I have a rubbed-through look in places. I also have a few pieces that are a different color. Don't know if it was a stirring problem, a real color difference in the first stain can, or what. By the time I was done, I just did not want to know! Part of my problem is that I have asthma and had to wear terrible face masks to keep the VOCs out of my lungs. I had to work outside because of the fumes, too. In the steamy heat of the summer of 2010, I had little patience for problems and just let the color differences get by me. I just wanted it DONE. If you can paint with latex, it is a lot less bother and mess than what I went through! Oil-based stains are still the most common with wood. Here is a picture of my doors before I refinished them. If you want to see my kitchen (minus the missing cab door that we found in the carpenter's shop 6 months after I finished staining everything else), you can go to my website and see it at www.pbase.com/nancyb/image/127230055 Here is Here is a link that might be useful:

Frost, perhaps you are still feeling whats known in our industry as a "thermal draft". This is a normal occurence on existing windows or lower end windows as warm air from your furnace rises in the room and quickly cools and drops as it reaches your window glass. This guick "drop" of cool air is most likely the draft you feel. With triple pane windows this is dramatically reduced and I am surprised you feel it or is actually noticeable. I would verify your triple pane glass package from your Simonton dealer and also confirm the presence of Low-E on your glass. With a triple glazed Low-E glass pack, the surface temp of your inside window shouldnt be more than 10-15 degrees off room temperature and you shouldnt have that large of a "thermal draft" if any. good luck~