How did it get to be Monday again? Didnt we just have one ? At least I can spend the evening on a leisurely tour of IU day one over on the thread that Cindy put up. Got a nice cold beer and leftover BBQ chicken , and no chores(ok well, postponed chores anyway) so I will bip over there after I post this. I looked at it for a few minutes at my office today and realized I needed uninterrupted time. Sounds like you guys had a blast ! On the red garden link I posted yesterday, I could never do that either, but oh how it made me long for the space to try ! I have a red and yellow garden that I started last year,but it isnt quite there yet. Part of the problem is the exposure and too much shade from a mature crepe myrtle. Mariann, my late DH and I built a home-made hoop greenhouse several years ago, whicj I just dis-assembled this year. We used ½ pvc pipe, left-over and fall-down lumber, bender board and I ordered greenhouse poly sheeting that repels UV rays for up to three years . It lasted about 5 . However , my heating system was c-9 clear Christmas lights under the benches, and our winter temps here dont usually get lower than the high 20s, so it worked great for me. I would love to have something more permanent and climate controlled some day. bug, what funny faces that young man makes ! Eden, 18 coleus ??? Will we see some pics? Were they 18 different varieties? I just strted putting some orange in my garden last year-I had that 60s shag carpet aversion ! Try it next to something purple Okay, time to hit the IU4 thread , hi to those missed Kathy in Napa

I was sitting at the kitchen table today at almost dusk and there were 5 hummers on my feeder and 2 more circling around.And of course there was the security guard up on the wire chasing away any other males that tried to stop by.They are soooooo much fun to watch and the only reason we buy sugar.I have to refill the feeders every other day. I to like this post. Congratulations Steven,and i know what you mean.Everyday when i open my shades i have to look at the messy porch across the street.Trash cans,nasty old string mops,cardboard boxes,big bags of dog food,etc,etc.It blows my mind that the owners can't see this.They own a gardening service that serves one of the most affluent towns in San Diego county,they do my yard and several of my neighbors.Yet their own looks like "Tobacco Road,WHY??? Makes no sense to me. Then we have another person in our neighborhood who has the raggediest flag i've ever seen.I kid you not it is torn along every stripe,and this is hung on the front of his house.This man is a retired Marine!!! I wrote up a big note one day telling him it was time to retire the flag and what a disgrace it is for him to have it hanging there,to disrespect a country that has given him so much. I put the note in his mailbox.That was over a month ago,and it still hangs there.I'm tempted to go buy a flag of his countrys origin ,cut it all up and send it to him and tell him to hang that one.Of course i wouldn't do this,but it burns my butt he doesn't remove it. I think i may call one of the veterans organizations and tell them about it. Kathi

Pamghatten, the colors in your pictures are stunning! Mtnrdredux, that is a skylight and I hate it. It's over the middle of the kitchen and adds about 100 degrees of heat to the room. I've been exploring options to add a motorized solar shade that would filter out some of the sunlight during the hottest parts of the day. I can't put in a reflective shade because the build-up of heat could blow out the glass. I love your new beach house, BTW...gorgeous!!!

Depending on the cost we are planning to build the Tranquility plan in central Texas, but we can't build a basement to raise the height of the home due to hard soil. Has anyone added a second floor covered patio to the second story of the Tranquilty floor plan or one of the other versions that is similar to it that Garrell offers? Our lot we plan to purchase has a panoramic lake view, but we need to be up higher to see it. We are not planning to build any of rooms on the second floor, but we would like to have an interior staircase leads up through the unfinished second story that gives us access to door that opens onto a 2 story covered deck. If that isn't possible then we would need an exterior staircase with an easy walk up on the exterior side wall of the master/master bath. Our ideal location for our covered deck would be over the Master and Master bath, and we are hoping the roof line can be altered to allow a gable over the covered patio. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated, as I email Garrell 2 days ago, but I've heard back from them.