Meghan From my experience it's a toss up. I've had more bad luck with them than good. I do have a couple of bushes that I bought years ago that are still flourishing. For the most part I have given up on grafted roses because for me they grow beautifuly for 3 or 4 years and then they just go down hill after that and start throwing up Doctor Huey sprouts. I have some beautiful Dr Huey specimens that I gave up on trying to dig out and decided to go with the flow with it. Trained properly they are quite beautiful!! LOL!! There are only so many Dr Huey that a person can live with. I now only buy own root roses. Maybe it's just me!! LOL!!

You can get an engineered floor that is as good if not better than a solid product. We produce solid unfinished flooring but we also produce unfinished engineered flooring as well. Solid flooring typically has a 1/4" (6mm) of "sandable" or "usable" surface. Basically after you get 1/4" deep you'll hit the nail heads and so you can't sand below that point. Our engineered unfinished product has a 5mm wear layer. However, the engineered product is already pre-sanded to 80g which means once installed the amount of sanding that takes place is minimal. On a solid floor, most contractors will need to do a rough sanding to get the floor even, then one or two more cuts to get it smooth. Even if you have a very talented sander he is going to take 1/32 off in his sanding on the solid floor. That equates to roughly 3/100 which is nearly the difference between the 6mm and 5mm usable surfaces we began with. So in essence, you are getting very close to the same "usable" surface. Not to mention the engineered is more stable, will keep you from having to install a subfloor as it can be glued directly to concrete, eliminates transition issues between hardwood and tile or carpet AND should take less time to install. My two cents. Sam @ Real Wood Floors realwoodfloors.com

Not sure I explained myself well, based on your response. I am notsuggesting wrapping the brick wall in wood, and the wood i am suggesting would match your cabinets. I am suggesting a panel of cherry that runs in a vertical line the width of the fireplace (after covering the brick surround and one brick width wider all around that in a dark granite). The rest of the wall would remain brick. The wood panel would cover the arched niche (once you knocked off the lip). You could easily add a mantel then, perhaps in the same wood or even a rectangular box of stainless steel) on top of the wood panel. The ledge may be at eye level,but that in now way precludes you from leaning a piece of art on it. Check out how art is hung in galleries and in collections in homes, and not all of is (or can be if in a grouping)at eye level. I wish I could photoshop this to better illustrate my thoughts.

I forgot about the frozen butter/box grater method - I will have to try that next time. I did find that the crust came out tougher when I mixed in the water in the FP, but I actually did not pulse it and only turned the blade with my hand to do the mixing. I was already considering cutting the fat in by hand using a pastry blender - I use 2 parts butter and 1 part shortening in pie crust. I wonder if I could grate the butter using the grater blade of the Cuisinart. I am a bit concerned about heating up the butter with my hand if I use a box grater. I think my old FP did a better job of combining the fat and the flour because it had slow speed options, and the Cuisinart only has one speed - very fast - and that does not seem optimal for mixing butter and flour. It is better for pureeing beans, however, or for slicing huge quantities of vegetables, but I really don't use it enough to justify leaving it on the counter. Lars