I really appreciate the encouragement. I did have to take a break for a while. I went to visit my aunt in Iowa and the trees I planted for her last year are really doing well. The Contender peach has about 10 fruits developing, Polly has about 5. There are also a handful of apricots and cherries. Thankfully the hail missed her. She has one mature apple on her property. I am guessing by the photos that it's Wolf River, I bought her one without knowing she already had one. She gave me some of the applesauce she made from it and it was extraordinary. Then I bought some Braeburn and Jonagold to make pies. Believe me I really appreciated the complex, sweet/tart flavor of the applesauce after trying to make pies with store-bought apples. It kind of gave me some impetus to keep going. I have all of the small fruits that were mentioned above, along with the trees that are supposed to be no-brainers. I have come to the conclusion that if I had to live off of the earnings of a fruit crop it would have to be pie cherries. I really couldn't possibly give up now with my whole yard an orchard. It is always hard when what one did for the love of it becomes something one must do out of obligation.

I really don't want to be a whiner! I went out to mine 3 times today just to see WHAT was getting done. To GC's credit, he's busting his hump finishing all HIS stuff. The marble guy was there all day long and all he got done was the tub surround. Not sure if he OD'd on turkey, or what, but he's moving a little slow. Okay, so kel, on the bright side, I think I mentioned this before--we must believe that WHEN all the subs do as they should, that things will happen very quickly. Honestly, if you think about it, most subs like plumbers, electricians, really only need a few days to do their thing. SO, if all the stars align and the planets are in their houses...OR WHATEVER!!!!!!!! HAHA! I told DH I think the thing that really upsets me is I don't like being lied to. I don't appreciate subs making up excuses for why they didn't do their job when they were supposed to do it. If you ain't coming, just say, "I ain't coming". Don't make up some lame excuse why! UGH. I also have slowly, but surely, figured out that if a sub should be at your house and he's not, he sure enough isn't going to answer the phone! My build really has been okay up until now. I have found the whole process pretty gratifying, actually. But now that we're down to the wire, we just don't have the luxury of take our sweet time to do things and I'm exhausted. Living in chaos is such a drain and I'm ready for things to calm down and get back to boring ol' family life! I will say a prayer for all of us and hopefully sleep tonight, knowing that tomorrow is another day...full of promises.

Good for you. Binding always means you are almost done to me. Don't forget pictures.

Yes I do love the Greek Villa color best. I am trying to avoid painting our trim so I worry the Greek villa is a little whiter and then the current trim will look dirty. We are going to try painting just the kitchen with greek villa first and see if we like it.