Good morning! Well, my computer is holding at the moment, so I'm venturing a few replies while I can.... Borrowed from Wiki - I googled "sinister handed" and Google's first suggestion was Left-handedness - Wikipedia. ;) "There are many colloquial terms used to refer to a left-handed person, e.g. "southpaw" or "goofy". Some are just slang or jargon words, while other references may be offensive or demeaning, either in context or in origin (e.g. the British "cack-handed"). In more technical contexts, 'sinistral' may be used in place of 'left-handed' and 'sinistrality' in place of 'left-handedness'. Both of these technical terms derive from sinestra, a Latin word meaning 'left'.[6]" "Meanwhile, the English word sinister comes from the Latin word sinestra, which originally meant "left" but took on meanings of "evil" or "unlucky" by the Classical Latin era. Alternatively, sinister comes from the Latin word sinus meaning "pocket": a traditional Roman toga had only one pocket, located on the left side for the convenience of a right-handed wearer.[citation needed] The contemporary Italian word sinistra has both meanings of sinister and left (the masculine adjective for sinister being sinistro). The Spanish siniestra has both, too, although the 'left' meaning is less common and is usually expressed by izquierda,[11] a Basque word that made its way into Portuguese too. In Portuguese, the most common word for left-handed person, canhoto, was once used to identify the devil, and canhestro, a related word, means "clumsy" (sinistro means only "sinister"). Furthermore, in English, the expression "To have two left feet" refers to clumsiness in the domains of football or dancing." See ya'll elsewhere....! Josh

jessica, I agree with your idea about taking your cabinets all the way to the ceiling and not staggering them since you have 8' ceilings (mine are even lower -- only 7 1/2 feet). I also agree that stainless appliances can look great in a white kitchen and help to break up all the white. The second layout is much better than the first. It sounds to me that you'd be happy with all stained or a combo of stained and white. I originally planned on all stained, but over and over I was drawn to pictures of white kitchens. In the end I went with a mostly white kitchen with an island in a beautiful russet stain. Since you love both stained and painted, maybe you could do a stained perimeter with light colored laminate and a white island with Ikea butcher block? Are you getting a gas stove? Do you cook a lot? I agree with others who have recommended a real hood instead of a microwave hood, especially since this is your dream home. Unless you live in a flood zone and your budget will permit, I think you should go for the hardwood flooring. Good luck with your project ... I can't wait to see how it unfolds! Erika

Jpmom, you home is gorgeous already! The 12" crown will look perfect with the already tall baseboards. Then add all the other woodwork in, the fireplace mantle, wainscoting, and pillars in the dining room. So pretty! My first reaction was to continue the white painted woodwork. It seems naturally connected to that bar wall from the the LR and DR with the baseboards and wainscoting. Oh and I also love that transom window above the other doorway too! My other thought was that I know from experience how the backsplash tile can completely change colors due to the lighting and what is directly next to it. I would want the two areas in the kitchen with the backsplash to look related. It may look completely different with one being next a window with white cabs and dark counters verses the other being in low natural light with black cabs and white Quartz. I'd definitely wait to decide on what to do with the bar area until the rest of the kitchen is painted white as Romy suggested. I do think it might look great either way, but I'm just one who needs to see it in real life before committing. I am sure either way it is gonna be stunning! ETA.... Could you possibly find a remnant of the Volga blue to fit the bar top if you went with white cabs on the bar? Or possibly just cut the granite and add a dark walnut type wood butcherblock section that reads dark above the wine fridge? Think romy's dark wood top next to the granite? Just a thought....:-)

I am in a similar zone to you (Indiana) and this is how I do it. I treat all seeds the same whether from evergreen parents or dormant. I have planted them in late summer and overwintered them in a greenhouse that stays around 60 degrees in the winter (unless it is sunny and then the temperatures go up for a while). I have found no benefit from doing this. They don't grow much; in fact, many will go dormant. At least they quit growing but don't lose their leaves. When they start growing again, the center looks like a daylily coming up in the spring. We have also had a lot of trouble with spider mites in the greenhouse. Furthermore, when it's time to plant the seedlings in the ground, they are no bigger than the ones you waited to plant the following spring. As far as loss of viability is concerned, you do lose some seeds while in storage. I don't worry too much about that because I figure they were not viable in the first place. I dry the seeds for at least a day or two (sometimes longer--just depends on when I get around to putting them away) on paper plates in the living room. I think what's important here is that they are dry when they go into storage. I store them in small plastic bags (the 2 by 3 inch size) in the refrigerator. I don't have any experience with storing in a cool basement. In late January I start the process of germinating the seeds. I have found that I get quicker germination if I use moist stratification. So in late January, I pour a little distilled water in the baggie and put them back in the refrigerator. Many of them will start germinating in the refrigerator, sometimes in even a day or two. Others will stay in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and show no signs of germination. I used to wait until at least one seed in the cross germinated to plant them. Now I don't bother with that. I like them to soak for several days (at least 2 to 3). Then I plant all the cross. I find that germination is much quicker. It used to be before using the moist stratification that some seeds would take months to germinate. Now they all germinate in a week or two. That's important to us because we like to start planting in April if the weather cooperates (this year it didn't and none of the seedlings are in the ground). With this treatment some seeds won't germinate at all in the refrigerator but as soon as you plant them, they germinate quickly. We have been hybridizing for 10 years and it seems that every year we refine our methods. This has worked well for us for the last several years. We have over 3000 seedlings to plant this year. Daylily hybridization has been the most exciting thing we have done with plants. Good luck to you. I hope every seedling you grow is a keeper. Nancy