Lila, thanks for the nice comment!! Julie, Thanks for the nice comments too. I think that I might have 2 green thumbs, but i think that i might have 1 brown pinky finger ( not everything grows as planned ) the garden sculptures were given to me, (sorry, no weekend plans) they are made out of fired ceramic. and very heavy. they came from a friend that rented a flat, (they were in the backyard) his land lord told him that when he moved out he could take them, well he moved into an apt and couldnt take them so he gave them to me. They were made by a tennant that used to live there years a go (some artsy person) and nobody remembers this persons name. I should contact that landlord and see if i could track this person down!! I didnt make them, just had to put them in my car (which was not easy at all) and take them home (6 blocks) Paul

Hello world, I owe much of my slowly amassed wisdom to forums like this and when I can, I do try to contribute back. I've been putting this off for a bit, so I have spared you months of planning, pontificating, and questioning. Thanks for the help on a couple of topics in the appliance forum. So without further ado, I shall begin at the beginning, and when I get to the end, I will stop. PS - If I sent you to this sight because you wanted to know how the "kitchen was turning out?" do think better of me for at least trying to reveal some of my madness to the world. We all need our outlets.... Chapter 1 - the problem kitchen So most who see my 11 year old kitchen (as it was until 4 weeks ago) would say it was beautiful and not in need of anything (apparently I have first world problems). Indeed shiny black granite (when clean, and no other time) pops under nice lighting with nice cabinets. But looks and function are two different things. I cook, as in REALLY. I consider myself a full contact cook. I needed a space where I can be doing 3 things at once (yes, likely one of those as an adult version, we're everywhere!), and not have guests in my way. We frequently entertain with 2 or more families with kids milling about, wandering through my work triangle, getting under my feet, tempting fate with fire and sharp knives.... We host parties with 20 or more 3-4 times a year, with a couple of 70 person parties around the holidays. It’s a big house (>5000sq ft), and the kitchen suffers to keep up with me, and not endanger those in my path. First, look at this island. Sure it is a reasonable triangle for the sink, stove, and fridge, but it is all in one very tight space. The best and only reasonable workspace is above the dishwasher and that leaves no landing space for washed dishes or things out of the fridge. The left of the island is never free of books, mail, and "not my" stuff that the family discards on entry. Look at the space by the sink, then the fridge, there is room for only one butt, not two. As I like my wife, I would like to allow her in the kitchen but we simply cannot function as a team here. OK, now look at the fireplace. The angle looks kind of cool, I admit, and makes a fire visible from the eating area, the kitchen island, and the living room. It did add warmth on a cold morning, but it choked all traffic through the kitchen around the bar, and separated the dining area from the living area. As you will see in a bit, not having a wall there creates a stunning, panoramic view of our forest from many angles. Appliances - this P.O.C range. Sorry Jenn-Air, but I just don't buy a downdraft fan in the middle of the gas range with barely a 9K burner. I will upload a video sometime showing the design flaw in that when the fan is on, the flame is sucked away from the pot above it. I cannot boil water when the fan is on. Yes, you heard me. Also the door to the oven falls out of its hinge sometimes, the convection fan never worked, and the panel below the oven disengages every time the dog's fetch ball bounces on it... I do like the griddle though.... The wine bar... Its OK, good storage, but anyone who can wrestle bottles of wine out of the fridge with small, fixed racks, deserves a glass (pssst, if you got this used appliance as a house warming gift from me, try to think of my better traits.) No water or sink here, if you want a drink, invade my triangle with caution.... The Living room So like many who have bought a house built before 2005, I had a deep, square hole for a TV. Don’t need that anymore, as they are now rectangles and flat…. I did fix it up to hold a newer style, but alas, it is now gone. I also couldn’t see the TV from the kitchen . (first world problem) The Pantry So it was tucked behind the range, a little triangle, I guess it worked, but the shelves were sort of wobbly (ie don’t remove too many things from the left or the teeter-totter will eject those on right). It also had the vent in here, making the pantry smell a bit like what was cooked last night. The Second Hall So we only really used this hall to carry laundry through, we otherwise always walked through the kitchen as that’s where the keys, wallets, food, dog treats, and family members are kept. OK, enough complaining. My next post will show the remedy… Stay tuned This post was edited by will2kz on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 21:58

It's an older, but decent neighborhood, Most people have lived there a long time, only a couple of rentals on that street, but the house has been obviously vacant for several months (previous owners foreclosed on, sign in the yard, no window coverings, street light illuminating every front window). My back yard butts up to another's backyard (they are on the corner and their house faces diagonally) so the back yard is private (plus it's nicely treed, has privacy fences, garages, etc.) I plan to put a couple lamps on times in the bedrooms until I get moved in. I'm refinishing the hardwood floors and painting all the walls/woodwork so I can't really move anything in. I have met one neighbor, very nice lady who said she notices people coming and going a lot and just assumed the thief was a workman. The house was extremely popular on the market, it's under priced and in a popular area. It's had dozens and dozens of showings. Even still people are in and out because it's not closed yet, it's on "show for backup" status until it's actually closed. Every time I go in there are a dozen realtor cards on the mantle. I find that a little presonally bothersome, as I think of it as "mine" even though legally it's not mine until they finally get the paperwork through and I can close. Once I have the keys we'll likely be there nearly every day painting and getting it ready ... the only days it'll be unattended will be the 48 hours dry time between each floor varnish coat. I do plan to introduce myself to the neighbors once I get the keys and ask them to call if they see people over there. Stealing copper is, unfortunately, a common thing around here. They'll go in any unoccupied house they can safely sneak in to (any one without an active security system and a private back yard). It's more a reflection of the economy rather than the neighborhood. I hope to get moved in the second week in April, provided I can close this week. The floors will take the longest but they really have to be done before I can even think of taking a single thing over there.

Well lets see. My day started today with a phone call saying that I needed to come downstairs. (I'm in a high rise condo) There was someone wanting to deliver a pallet of 19 boxes and the condo can't have a pallet sitting downstairs in the lobby. I had ordered lights and thought they'd be Fedexed to me. No, they trucked it in, put it on a pallet and came a day early because they said they'd be there tomorrow. Add to that and the guy delivering said he was not going to open the wrapping and strapping to remove the boxes. He said his orders were to just deliver them to the front door of the condo. After calling my salesman, I finally told the delivery man he either opens the pallet so I can remove the boxes or he can take it all back. Then I had to go get the two luggage racks to put the boxes on. The shipper actually helped me load them onto the luggage racks but I had to get them upstairs myself. Add to that, no one would help me bring them upstairs. Once I actually got them upstairs and unloaded, the salesman called me back to let me know the shipper was absolutely supposed to unwrap the boxes from the pallet and put them INSIDE my apartment. Gee Thanks! Now I have those 19 boxes plus another dozen with handles, more lights, etc sitting in the dining area. Then I drove to the house. We finally have AC, except in the main rooms of the house. What happened? The idiot who installed it put the return duct into the supply duct and visa versa for the public areas of the house. So basically the main zone doesn't work. For over a week we (both myself, the builder and the supervisor) have been calling the HVAC company. Each day they lie to us saying they're on the way. Today the president promised us he was going to come inspect it himself and would be there sometime after 2 PM and would call when he was 1/2 hour from the house. He never called. I called him and he texted me back, "I can't talk right now. I'll call you back shortly." That was at 3:10 PM today and it is now 10:47 PM with no call back. So now the builder is sending a notice that it MUST be fixed within 72 hours or they are terminating the contract. Meanwhile I only have AC in the upstairs and the master suite area and my floors are supposed to go in starting on Tuesday. Right before this happened, I walked into my master bathroom to look at the tile going up. They tiled over an area they weren't supposed to tile over. Instead that area is supposed to have a wood return. So the sub had to pull down part of the tile and then cut some off the edge. Later the super and I met with the sub who will be doing the rock on the lower level of my house. He looked at the two pallets of rocks that were sitting there and said there needs to be two more pallets. My builder's office ordered too little. The painters did an excellent job of painting the outside of my house except for one thing. They painted the face of the trim with the trim color, but left the sides with the house color, so the trim appears to be flat instead of dimensional like it should be. My front door was supposed to match BM Caliente but it doesn't. It's a bright red instead and with the green colors of the house, my house looks like it's ready for Christmas. That would be fine, but we don't even celebrate Christmas! Then at dinner time the sub who will be doing the rocks called me because he was upset. He let me know the rocks my builder bought were too large. I realized he was right as the ones I had samples of were 4"-6" and these were double the size. Then I came home to a change order to move one of the outdoor spigots. Only problem? When we had our redline meeting back in July of 2016, I told them I didn't want this spigot inside the garage but on the outside. Problem? That was told to the supervisor who is no longer with the company and back then I wasn't smart enough to write every single thing down and then send a copy to every one like I do now. That was just my day today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a day where everything feels like it's falling into place but I'm not counting on it. Add to that the million and one things I'm second guessing like you are. That is perfectly natural, but once you make a decision, try to let go of it and let it happen because building is hard enough without also beating yourself over the head for your own choices. It's sort of like when I start a drawing. Each drawing I create is going to be absolutely perfect. At least it is in my head. After I'm finished, I can always find lots of things I'd do differently but I've learned instead to embrace the good (if imperfect) job I did and move on. Those of us building a house need to do the same thing. Is it easy to do? Not at all but it will be so much more rewarding when we can let go of the perfection.