Sunshine8, There are early, mid, and late tulips and daffodils, even some early early and some late late ones. Contrary to Cls009, most of my daffs bloom before my tulips, but not all. Maybe you have early tulips and late daffodils. :~) If you know the names of your varieties, you could probably check some of the online bulb catalogs such as Scheepers, Brent & Becky's, or Van Engelen and get an idea of the sequence of your bulbs. Also I find that my established bulb areas tend to differ in timing somewhat from the newly planted ones, even if the bulbs are the same, usually being just a bit later, but not always. Eventually they settle in and bloom pretty much together, if their conditions are similar, if not, they go their own way. Also, late October is pretty normal bulb planting time in Michigan, so you should be okay that way. Wet and varmints are pretty much the main problems for newly planted bulbs. Daffs which are poisonous, are not usually eaten but may sometimes be dug up by varmints hunting tastier things. Tulips are loved by many creatures, but crocus are by far the most favored in my yard.

I very much second Pickle's cart option. This makes a mini-island that doesn't trap you into difficult walk paths. The space I'm working with is close to the dimensions of yours and like you, heard from "everyone" that an island was needed, but after a number of drawings, I gave it up. I have created something else by turning the kitchen sideways, but have informed DH that there is the possibility that a cart still may show up. If my windows did not dictate so many other things, I would have made a cart garage under the countertop. I visited Ikea recently and was surprised to see all the cart options in the showroom. Large and small, wheeled or not, metal or wood. Lots of utility in them. Not advocating Ikea here, just the idea. My daughter has a little cart in her microkitchen in Fairbanks AK where it is invaluable. She can roll it out of the way when space is needed but otherwise, it's at her side when she needs an additional "plunk space" or cutting surface. Knives are in the drawer and most-used bowls, etc. are on it. A friend saw her cart and fell in love, went home to Minn. and created a one-wall kitchen with a modest cart as auxiliary space. It makes his wall a two-cook kitchen and is a transition between the table area and the wall kitchen. During the meal, things are plunked on it heading one way or the other; after the meal cleanup occurs via the cart surface. I don't think it moves around very much except when a specific cooking task requires it, but I know that wheels were important to him. When there is a big crowd or a project where it's in the way, many carts can go away, outside even. One of the mound of books I scoured for ideas during the planning stage featured the kitchen of a professional recipe writer. It had cupboards that were a little deeper on the two facing walls and there was a cart. I suspect that the cart was the stuff she needed on either of the two walls and that the top surface was that extra space needed in the heat of battle, in her case for dough often. Carts can have functional marble tops, butcherblock cutting surfaces, or color or....

"What do you feel makes your LR less desirable than this one? Anything you can tweak about the LR? " Mine needs paint. The trim in the one for sale is white (which I have been planning on doing) and the walls are a pretty good neutral color. My trim is this nasty dark brown and the walls are white. I know paint is a relatively cheap and easy fix, but frankly I hate to paint so I've been putting it off. "Do you have the same kitchen cabinets? Were I buying that house, I would be looking at painting them." I've already painted my cabinets white. Also, I have better appliances, and ceramic countertops. He has me beat on the floor - he's got a nice cork floor (which I've been considering) and I've got the self-adhesive 1 foot square linoleum tiles (which, believe it or not, are still a big improvement over the floor that was there when I bought the place). "Is your house on the market now?" No but I'm seriously considering putting it on the market soon. And within the next few months I may have to take a job relocation anyway. "I want to tell you that a lot of houses in the area that were built during those years have had foundation issues." I know - my own house has an issue that at first glance appears to be related a foundation problem but it actually isn't. There is a crack in the brick wall on one side of the house that starts ABOVE the slab foundation and runs most of the way up the wall. The slab itself isn't cracked. The crack is due to the exposed wall being in a spot where it catches the afternoon sun and is exposed to a lot of solar heating and contraction. It is not a very obvious crack, but if you look for it you can see it. "Lastly, your neighbor is using a coldwell banker agent. He is not a highly visable agent for the area, and coldwell banker does not do high volume sales in your neck of the woods." You know, come to think of it, every coldwell banker listing in this area has sat for months until re-listed with someone else. I can think of 4 houses in the immediate area that were coldwell banker for at least 3 months, didn't sell, changed realtors, and then sold in a month or two. My bank (USAA) likes to recommend them. I guess this is a case where I'd not listen to an otherwise trustworthy bank. "It wouldn't be hard to be more appealing then this house." (in curb appeal) I have more shade trees and some landscape lighting but otherwise my house is not much better on the outside. In fact the wood on the outside of the house (these houses are 80% brick) on mine needs to be repainted worse than the house for sale does. My fence is in about as bad shape, although I do have a roof over my slab patio instead of just a bare slab patio. Bare patches in lawns are basically normal in this neighborhood - the soil quality is very poor and not much grows in it, not even weeds sometimes.

hi finally have a chance to sit!!!!whew! i come to kt for all the stuff mentioned above and then some! you are all a fountain of info! i love your pictures of homes, families, gardens, pets, etc. i find it very interesting to read about peoples lives in places ill only see through your eyes so to speak. i dont get to come on as much in summer as i do winter...tonight i took the night off for a little while anyways lol. cant believe how much i missed and im not even off the first page yet! i love the KT because everyone here is so extra special to one another. thats rare in todays world. i can come here feeling blue and leave feeling happy as a pig in poop lol. i also like it because ill remember i need to find something out and all of a sudden...bam someone here is looking for the same thing. i just think your all a great bunch of folks! have a nice night everyone! ive reaally enjoyed reading this post. (sorry so long winded)