As noted above, maybe a liner (hood without a fancy exterior) would be best for wood integration. I have a Wolf Pro Island hood, and it fits my desired hood height under an 8-foot ceiling by using a 1-foot extension. A seven-foot ceiling would seem to match the hood (or its equivalent liner) without an extension. In any case, island hoods are intended to duct upward, so you either have to put a bend in where the beams are, or continue through the ceiling. It is too bad that the main beam passes close to the chimney that you want to center the hood on. A large, quasi-commercial style hood at the ceiling could provide a large enough capture zone while being perhaps less obtrusive. Besides the question on the chimney sectional area, there is a possible issue with grease transport through a normal chimney, not that it hasn't been done for centuries, but then the heat source was a hot wood fire. The cooler internal tiles or whatever are being used to line the chimney will tend to collect grease more easily than thin sheet metal ducting that will tend to warm quickly. So the same issues as with wood creosote build-up may be in play. Also, using the chimney forces you to use an internal blower at the hood, rather than an external blower on the roof or exterior wall. An internal blower will be noisier for a given blower design and flow rate. What is above the ceiling by the chimney? kas

These are the things we love: cooking, being with friends, being with our dog. Things we don't like: the current kitchen. The current kitchen has: -limited counterspace -- we now have a kitchen cart that lives in the living room taking up space there. Regular use items are on top of fridge because of lack of counterspace. -microwave on the bottom shelf of cart so older family member can't use it and it is back-breaking to use/clean for everyone else, too (no counter space for it, no room for a second cart). -oven that is too close to the floor (the door actually lies on the floor when open) and opens directly into the main kitchen entrance. -Kitchen table with 2.5 foot clearance to counter -- we sit in this space and it is also a walkway (including use by person with walker). -People frequently have to exit kitchen to allow access to fridge doors or for other people to pass through. -26+ cu.ft fridge is packed to gills (plus we have a fridge and two freezers in the garage (a full height and a chest). -coffee grinder won't fit under current low cabinets so takes up a great deal of the prep space beside the sink. -When we grind grain, roast green coffee beans, dehydrate kale, or do the sausage making, folks are banished from the kitchen table interrupting meals. -We have a lot of fruit trees (orange, lemon, lime, pomegranite, apple ...). During each season, more implements compete for limited space. The pomegranite press juicer eats up more sink prep space, the apple mead sits out in the very limited stove area for months. Exasperated with friends? No -- their presence makes dealing with the kitchen oddities more than tolerable. The cramped space has never stopped the parade of fun cooking stuff like buying whole pigs and parting out to friends or making our own bacon and sausage (though it has sometimes been quite the circus: juggling the meat grinder, sausage stuffer, keeping lots of ice handy to keep everything icycold, shuffling people as trays of sausage are sent out to the garage fridges/freezers after being stuffed, etc). We love visiting the farms where we buy our food, learning how to kill and prep live chickens and I even once camped out at a Tenn farm for a week learning various fermentation methods (including making soy sauce). It's a pretty major part of our lives. Now, I was having trouble explaining to the master chef/homeowner front entry into kitchen was a bad idea. "It just isn't done" wasn't cutting it, and "it'll hurt resale" elicited a response of "well, can we get an estimate from a realtor as to how much it would devalue the house? Maybe it's worth it anyway". And there are financial and family connection reasons that the house will probably be his for the rest of his life. But I let him read your responses so he knows it's not just my opinion. :-) Cooking is a really big deal for us and is way fun. It will go on, no matter the size and layout of the kitchen. That said, the side south window may be on the chopping block and center hallway options are back.

I'm sorry to hear about your baby.It's NOT your fault. Whenever our pets get diagnosed with something, we all go into this mode...Maybe IF I did something sooner...I should have noticed...etc. That is not the case. Pets get illnesses just like people. I believe that when its their time, its their time. All we can do is make them comfortable and give them the best existence we can. Some illnesses are treatable, some are not. My dog has been diagnosed with Hypothyroid, Kidney disease(not much I can do there) and Cushings (she has a TUMOR growing on her brain-the pituitary area). None of those are my fault. She is sicker on paper, than in realty- TG. At first, I was in denial. Then I got scared. Then I got angry. Why her? She had a rough (puppy mill) beginning. Then I accepted it. I just lost the older one last November (she lived a good long life-18). I didn't expect this one to start getting sick right away... Anyway, I decided that I will give her the best life I can. I take her for rides-to her store. I walk her. I play with her. I feed her good food. I am making her life very happy. I have no idea how long she'll be around, but I'm not one of those people who will put her on some awful tasting food for her kidneys just so that I can get an extra month out of her. I know some people force their dogs to eat crappy food, just so they exist. I'm thinking what is life for her if she cannot enjoy her food? I feed her whatever she wants/likes. I just don't give her too much protein, or anything that would make her sick. She seems to be happy. That's all I can do. Try to put yourself into a mode where you realize that every living being goes through a cycle of life. One day you'll be together again. Enjoy the time you have together now and don't show her YOUR STRESS. They can tell.

Hi! We live in Brisbane, and I would like to plant something all the way along our western fence, which is in shade most of the day. I am looking for advice for what to plant that will provide some privacy. The morning shade is fairly light (with some patchy bits of direct sunlight) due to nearby taller trees. It is in heavier shade all of the afternoon. We have a 3 story block of units on our western boundary, and so the sun disappears behind this building. The soil is well drained, and deeper down has some clay. But the plants will most likely be in a raised bed in fresh soil, as we are going to build a retaining wall. We have planted Lilly pilly resilience along the back fence and about 3 metres down the western side, but then it starts to get shadey and I have noticed these few trees are already slower to grow so was contemplating a different variety of plant for the rest of the wall. Something fast growing would be ideal. Photo taken was at 12.30pm April 19. Do you think I should persist will Lilly Pilly? What about Camellias? What about Summerscent? Im not really a big fan of bamboo. Thanks!!! Lou