Yes everywhere I want to plant things will have to be fenced eventually. We plan to put a new shop there at the bottom and will fence an area for the plants. That 4 1/2 acres really looks huge from the top. Lucy if you go past the shop and start up the hill our property is right past the church on the right side of the road and goes all the way to the top where the houses up there are. I think the road is High Chapparel up there. Someone built a garden at the top edge of his land. He showed me the stakes where his property ends and I guess the people with the house thought they owned all the way to where the cliff drops off but they don't. There are massive boulders up there that are really beautiful but it would take a crane to move them, lol. I'll be satisfied with a walking trail and clearing around up there to sit and look over the valley. Brought home a nice holey rock to plant some small sedums or something in to place by the pond. The deer in the pic look fake but they aren't. They go right on peoples porches and in the garages if you leave the door open. The only thing I have found they don't bother much is mums and lantana. Its big dreams but maybe I'll win the lottery one day, lol. Right now its just nice to have it cleared enough to drive up there. Planted a bunch of wildflower seeds and going to take the bushhog up there and cut some of the tall grass so I can see them in the spring. I'd like to have the water tested in the spring. Its right across from the old pony express and stagecoach stop. Wouldn't it be cool if our town was named after the little cove with the copperas water on our property. It would be the closest source of water to that original settlement. Cat tails are growing in there right now but no other pretty plants. I'm itching to dig out a deeper pool, lol. If it will support them I would like to have fish in there someday.

Here's a pic of both slabs together. Flwrs--How funny that you mention Theanimala's kitchen as I just posted about her kitchen today to someone asking about horizontal pulls. I love her kitchen! Have you seen Alabamamommy's marble island? Big and thick too! Hermajesty--I guess my BA love won't be fulfilled IRL. I'll have to "visit" your kitchen to get a fix! Wait, you just gave me an idea. I could use it in one of my bathrooms! I'm not sure it would work in the new master, but we'll reno the kids' hall bath next year and maybe I could use BA in there! I just love it so. Rhome--I think I forgot to tell you about my marble outing! I like a simple counter edge better myself too. The meyer lemon incident could happen in our kitchen too in a handfull of years. For now, I'm pretty much in control of the cooking and marble etching. Maybe by the time DS and DD can cook, it'll be etched enough by me. (I say this crossing my fingers and wishing!) Rachel--Another BA owner chimes in! I love your counters too. Maybe we'll have opposite twin houses. I'll have kitchen carrara and bath BA to your kitchen BA and bath carrara. I love touching the marble too. Feels sooooo luxurious and smooth. Babs--thanks! I think we may finally, actually, impossibly, really getting started soon! I've been planning this for over a year now!

Guys, I thought I'd let you know my Labor Day weekend finally came to an end yesterday. My friend who is a plumber came and crawled under the house. 2 trips to Lowe's and 6 hours later, he cut out 7 unnecessary, leaking couplings, replacing them with three, and straight pipe runs, and fixed 4 different leaks. STBX hadn't drilled through the joists like you're supposed to, to keep the plumbing up next to the floor for warmth. He'd gone down, under, up, across. Down, under, up and across thru out most of the crawlspace. One piece that Plumber Friend cut out, where the largest running water (not drip, running water) was, had 2 pieces of copper pipe held together with electrical tape. Not your best choice of plumbing material, but the theme of my DH's work Good enough for now. Plumber Friend said it had probably leaked since day 1, but over the last 6 weeks or so the tape had finally just plain been washed loose. 166 gallons of water a day! And people think I make this stuff up. So my plumbing is fixed after 3 days with my water shut off, 3 days without TV, 2 days of lost work, a new timing belt on my truck, and today... I get to go to work to pay for all of this. But, that @@#$! holiday weekend is over. Did anyone have a better one? Other than Abfabamy!? Bless your decorative heart!

Jody, one of the guys in our group works on gasoline pumps. He said, they don't make them much different than back then, but, the old ones didn't go any higher than 49 cents. Yup, they were OLD. ;) Moni