Hi Bill, I do remember the photos you posted of your new renovation and I was quite impressed with the job you did. The whole project came out great. Lots of good ideas and execution. AND, it looks like low maintenance in many ways too. I will look forward to seeing your new space mature. The catcus in one location didn't do well over the winter last year but I still had a patch of them in the fall. I've been immersed in one project or another that has kept me out of the garden. I barely have had a chance to even walk around the yard since summer, so I haven't noticed what the cactus are doing. I'm hoping that no snow cover and mild temps were good for them this year, but we have had some very cold temps with no snow cover. Thanks for the reminder, I'll have to check them out next time I'm out and I'll let you know. I can't believe it is almost February! Spring is right around the corner and I can't wait!

You know I feel just the opposite. I have never seen so much creativity. When we were growing up, people just had furniture by necessity and homes were not really decorated, they were just well, functional. Now I see young people doing all kinds of things, painting, learning new ways of doing things with what they have, going yard sale and fixing up. I'm so amazed and proud of them for finding something that looks like it could go to the dust bin and they make it into some really great and useful item that is distinctly unique. I've seen them make an ugly place into an amazing abode that just says so much about them. Even people who had never had any training learned how to faux paint or stencil (not the ugly stuff or bunnies or ducks but sophisticated patterns) wallpaper like motifs that look really great. In my mom's day they never did stuff like that or even thought of it. The odd person here and there did but were often thought of as eccentric! I don't see too many cookie cutter PB houses around here, some will incorporate pieces here and there and I do love some of their accessories such as the pewter or faux silver pieces and some of the mirrors and bedding, pillows. There is no doubt that TV is what changed the world. You can view the same programs around the world and people are so easily influenced by it. But I don't feel there is a hard line about what furnishings are in or out. I think cookie cutter neighborhoods are the result of builders coming in and throwing up a bunch of homes all at once. It's cheaper for them and less risky to stick with something they have had success with, they don't really care, they just want to sell them. I do lament the feeling that no matter where you go you could be anywhere with the malls all being the same, this holds true around the world actually. It's surreal to be overseas and see the same things in their malls! The one class I wish they would bring back to high schools is Home Economics. I learned to sew, design and cook, grocery plan and shop and how to write a check and balance a check book, etc., in home ec. Those are the things that helped me the most once I was out of my parents home and living in my own apartment going to college. Of course the core curriculum of the math and sciences did too but the practical truth of home ec really saved me. My high school was pretty good looking back on it even though it was a small town and county school. We had languages, art, art history, literature, writing, phys ed, Latin, speech, drama and home economics ~a lot of these things have gone by the wayside to make way for the almighty computer classes which I will never understand because you could teach computer in an afternoon. I will never understand all this emphasis on computer literacy especially since it becomes outdated so quickly. To actually think of giving up cursive writing classes because they don't have time for it? How is that possible? I'm sure it is frustrating for teachers as well.

It's an interesting idea, because I'm not afraid of the "dogs playing poker" kinds of things, because they can be worked into a design if they speak to you. I once visited two summer cottages on the same day--one was a jumbled mess of hand-me-downs and eclectic art and well worn antiques. You felt good there, it was "comfy" and when viewed all together, had an aesthetic. Then I visited the other house, it was nice things, less cluttered, open and airy in the color scheme, more refined. It was also "comfy." And yet when I walk into other homes that are a jumbled mess of hand-me-downs they aren't comfy and same with a fancy home full of beautiful things. Surely there are design aesthetics that create an inviting and beautiful, harmonious feeling for a home, ways to incorporate what you love in a way that meshes harmoniously with the whole. Isn't that the essence of Feng Shui, even though I think it has gotten a little lost in translation. I'm sure there are other schools of thought on this issue. I just know, having now toured dozens and dozens of home looking for one to buy, that certain homes give off a inviting atmosphere and what makes that happen is varied. A home with history can also be tasteful. I know once a friend said about my place, "This home gives off such a comfortable vibe." A lot of my ideas came from the "Use What You Have" book of decorating by Lauri Ward and another book I can't remember but I remember it had no photos and was somewhat smallish, and it showed how to arrange pictures on a wall and place table and lamps, etc. to create harmony. That's what my dad has a hard time doing. I remember my mom used to say that my dad could appreciate nice things but had no idea how to see the big picture of how individual pieces went together. He's having a hard time right now with my mom's death and I'm seeing his mind is also very cluttered and his energy is very scattered. So sometimes emotions are reflected in a house in interesting ways, to say the least.

I brought the lot for the privacy. There will be neighbors on one side but not the other. It is a deep lot so no neighbors even close to being seen behind and across the street there are no homes though i intend to build deeper into the lot and keep a large number of trees in the front. On the street there are 3 bigger craftsman style homes, a couple of smaller ranchers, an old brick cottage with detached guest house, 2 BIG 3 level homes on stilts and a small farm with a barn, veggies and even a couple of goats. I also brought it because it has a community pier and gazebo so I have access to the ICWW. The architectural diversity appealed to me as everything is so cookie cutter in most neighborhoods. I am looking for a home I can live in alone comfortably because I am sure in a few more years neither child will be living with me. I live simply. I don't entertain other than a couple of friends and when we do it is simple tapas food with a glass of wine sitting on the deck or the screen porch. The lot will be kept wooded except for a small area of lawn and plants surrounding the house. I don't need or want a big house and I guess that is why the home I posted above appeals to me, it looks compact and manageable. I do need bedrooms for when the kids and their friends come visit and right now I would like room for the one still at home to have his own space, but achieving that without building big. For example: To be honest most of the styles of homes that I have saved may be considered small (footprint) for the lot. The following would be ideal with the addition of a den/away room, mudroom/laundry, large 3 season room or screen porch and downstairs master bedroom & bathroom.