@Candace -- no.... it wasn't an option although I could have probably -- just didn't think of it!

Yes mforr... West Coast, Washington State... Was the rain a clue? LoL..

Olldcan.... building is VERY expensive... However, we would have been better off to take this house away and start over with this house, but couldn't have built it due to the size of the lot and since we were "grandfathered" in we were able to keep it where it is, just jack it up and put in a basement...

I wish it was my deductive reasoning, lol, I saw your post about Seattle. :)

Candace, your lake view is just beautiful. a perfect 'happy place'. smart homes can be a let down. i went to an estate sale last fall at a 17,000 sq ft smart home on a lake. the couple had lived there a few yrs and were happy to be selling. both complained all the smart features were too much trouble and seemed to have a mind of their own.
simple things light turning on lights could become complicated when the system was temperamental.

Smart people are better, just saying...

Kimdee were on Jackfish, 15 mins from Stony. We looked at WIzard as well. Those 2 were our only considerations, all others are farther than we'd like to drive. 25 minutes is good for me!

Careful what you wish for Robin, there's a whole lotta yard work going to be needed there :) and yes of course, i'll have both of you :)

mfoorr, Hogie is wet from May until Oct. Can't keep that guy dry. The builder actually asked me the other day if I was still wanting the the outdoor shower with hot and cold water..... ya think? wait til he meets Hogie, he'll get it then.

Patty, We've been planning this place in our head for YEARS. It really is everything we ever wanted and more. The excavation and basement are getting done this month, so were pretty excited.

Yes, smart homes are very expensive... just to maintain the brains of the house can cost a fortune!
Who wants a house that's smarter than you are anyways? Half the fun is figuring out the stuff...

Sounds great Candace, I think you'll be super happy there, as will we when we descend upon you en masse!!!

Oh yes olldcan.... The fun begins! That is really exciting! I love planning stuff... Gets a bit overwhelming sometimes, but it's a fun ride...

Time for dinner! Yay! Breakfast again.... I love breakfast for dinner... Later all! Have Fun!
Hugs!

DIAspoton, I here you there. I can turn the lights off and on myself. Isn't that what a clapper's for....LOL
I just want stereo with built in speakers, tv and alarm, thats it. I can't stand cables and wires everywhere and have no patience for satellite receivers/vcr's/dvd players etc. I don't do the cabinet thing either, I don't want to see any of it, ever.

I knew a person once who had a riverfront lot that was originally a little cottage. He was allowed to tear down and rebuild, but he had to keep his house within the footprint of the original house. Plus, all services had to be raised to something like 5 feet due to flood levels (we're talking 15 feet from the river!). So, the first level was a garage, storage and entry with concrete stairs and iron railing. The house was built on steel columns and cantilevered out on all sides over the original footprint.

Nite, enjoy my favorite, breakfast for dinner :)

Linda I know a couple who have a cabin on a lake. One of the original 7 cabins, no kidding they're 30' from the water and the lots are flat. There's some kind of Grandfather clause there too. They can renovate or repair but they can't knock down and re build. These 7 lots are leased lots from the federal gov't, so maybe that has something to do with it. Last summer when I went to visit my sister in B.C., I saw some amazing cantilevered homes on the ocean, just beautiful.

@olldcan - compared to my yard and my moms, yours will probably be a walk in the park.

Think my body is talking to me tonight and telling me to get some rest . Good evening everyone. Nice pics Candice, Jayme not sure what to say. Kimdee, Linda, pattanb and last but not least Bobbi and Michele. Oh shoot, Robin.

Sooooo, I should be fading out shortly, test was kind of hard, 30 essay type question....Medicine in full effect. Need sleep.....Have a garden bed waiting for me tomorrow and you all know how much rest I will need for digging.

Night night angela

Night Michele

I can't stop laughing, someone posted that they have a large master bath with no tube. Groveraxle told them not to not feel bad, they're not alone, she doesn't know anyone who has a bathroom with a tube. That totally tickled my funny bone. ;D

I saw that! Love it!!!

So funny, still have tears. Silly time for me I think ;)

Morning all, lost the plot of today again. Everyone has finally gone and I am just enjoying the quiet and emptiness of the house and mustering up enough energy to get dressed and hoping my brain will restart soon. Hope they make it home ok, bit worried about DD - strapped the kids in the car and then started kissing them and saying goodbye to them ........... oh wait, I'm coming too aren't I.

Candace, your lake and views and beautiful and Hogie is a hoot.

We need groveraxle here, she is absolutely amazing the way she can superimpose colours and accesssories on room photos.

Bobbi, haven't caught up on your bathroom drama yet but glad the venetian plaster is going so well for you. You need a break like that, something to go right for you.

Night guys, chat tomorrow :)

Morning roo, enjoy some quiet time and don't miss them too much :)

These dark hardwood floors are going to be the death of me. I just raced around here vacuuming and damp mopping and now that I'm sitting and the sun is shining through the great room windows, I can STILL see dust.

I was just thinking about the dust showing on my laminate. Lol

How many times do we say on here how dark flooring shows dirt and dust!!! It really can be so much harder to maintain than pale coloured flooring, at least a muddy footprint can be wiped off and it stays off. You haven't got any residue, even just from the water, that is causing a dull look that looks like dust, have you? I think a lot of you have very hard water that could be an issue. Many years ago I had parquetry flooring and I used to use a really fluffy mop with a light sprinkle of furniture polish - that collected the dust, cleaned the floor and left it looking great.

My floor isn't even that dark!

Ahh Roo, saying good bye is always a tough one. There going to miss you as much as you miss them. Remember, a cazillion years ago when there was no skype and long distance rates were beyond belief. Maybe you should go visit them at Christmas, wouldn't that be a great surprise!!!

Yours look darker than mine!

Robin, your lucky you have the variance in your floor. All dark is a BEAST to keep clean.

The sun wont be shining for long Kimdee, I see a couple large thunderhead clouds to the west, making there way towards the city plus I can hear thunder.

Love your floors, Robin, great choice!

Candace, I would love to go visit anytime but it just isn't possible at the moment and German joey is coming for Christmas. Was hoping to have seen their plane fly over but air traffic is quiet today so must be using a different runway, we only seem to be getting a few inbound flights. Have had a helicopter hovering overhead for 4 hours now - goodness knows what is going on, but I'm about over it and I can't hear any other planes. Miss 7 really attached herself to me this time, I'm worrying about her a bit, she does nothing but talk about my mother and even gets angry with dd at times because she didn't see enough of her. I have to be careful I don't make any reference to being old. Modern technology certainly makes the world smaller now - Miss 7 has her own iPhone and dd has put her on FaceTime so I am expecting a lot of chat time from her.

Kd - your room is really looking beautiful. I love that recess above your fireplace and I am so glad to see an indoor plant.

Thanks, Ms Roo -- just searching for an area rug, and then I'm done. I hope you won't be disappointed when I tell you that the plant is a really... really... good fake... I just have no luck at all with indoor plants, much to my dismay.

I'm glad you'll be able to FaceTime with Miss 7 ... I know you will miss her and all of them bunches, and I hope you get to see them again very soon. (((hugs)))

I think in some spots it's lighter but some darker. It looks darker because of the variance. Next redo will be real hardwood.

Hugs Roo.

Fakes are allowed - I resort to them in places myself, much to the disgust of my joeys, it is just finding really good ones that is hard.

Robin, do you have any major issues with the laminate? I'm looking at putting it in my kitchen, entrance and family room next year, BH is really keen on it and I am liking it also. LAdd has it in her home and loves it, especially with the kids. It is at least 15 years old and still looks great. I am looking at this one that looks like tile - it also comes in just the larger square tile, which I prefer. Might break the budget but I think if I shop around I will get it down in price and BH wants to lay it himself.

The link would help wouldn't it

http://www.quick-step.com.au/laminate/exquisa/ceramic-white?id=Flooring_FloorAggregate/005_428760

Thanks for the hugs guys, holding them close, I think I may need them before too much longer.

I don't mind the laminate. It's a better price point than wood. It's been down almost a year now and it's holding up pretty well. I have a squeaky spot in the kitchen - I think the tongue of the tongue & groove broke when I was installing it. It's fairly easy to clean, and because you don't have a lot of water to worry about, I think it would work well for you. I was hesitant because of the amount of snow we get here, knowing how laminate warps, but so far so good.

When I bought the laminate, one o the stores was having a buy 2 get 1 free sale when you bought identical items. I bought 14 boxes but went home with 21. I still have 4 1/2 boxes downstairs for when I redo the kitchen and tear out the wall.

Even real wood floors squeak from time to time. I found a squeaky spot just outside the master bath threshold, it drives me nuts... a little baby powder helps sometimes. I know it will go away again as the humidity changes.

Love you, Ms Roo! Try not to worry.

Roo... Time goes by so fast... I am so happy you got to spend time with your family... Enjoy and remember them...
Light Oak floors really aren't any better than other stuff... Really... Mine show everything as well... Hate it...
I hate carpet, but you do the best you can... and that is all you can do....

OMG - I think their plane just flew over, the first outward plane all morning so it just has to be. Sob.

When we get rain, we really get RAIN. It is very heavy - sort of tropical - so wet days are an issue but I use heaps of towels now so don't expect to change. Originally I was just going to sand the original flooring back which is what is generally done here and stain that but then I realised I have 2 doorways I have since created that have infill pieces that would look ugly. The only other option for me would be to use a lino, there are some lovely ones I would be happy to have but they are so expensive - good quality carpet is cheaper!!! When laminate came in, it was the perfect answer for me. I note they have between 10 and 25 year warranties on them too and the tile one is one of the better ones - 25 years will probably see me out.

My bedroom hall has heaps of squeaky spots, I wanted to fix them before I laid the carpet this time but we had heaps of rain leading up to that so couldn't expect BH to squirm around in muddy crawl space. I was going to try the talc powder but wasn't sure if that was right. Discovered later that we have sarking under our flooring as insulation so I wouldn't have wanted to pull that off. Oh, well - positive side - no one can sneak up on me at night.

Not worried KD, just sad.

Patty - I love my carpet, wouldn't have anything else, but I only have pure wool, which I think is much more readily available here and is so much easier to live with than synthetic. I find vacuuming so easy to do, I don't mind if I vacuum it daily even.

I can't decide if I'm hungry... or just bored.

Probably bored. Not so good to eat right before bed.

Good thing that bad things don't live in my house. I could so have potato chips right now.

Well, it's bedtime again lovelies... have a great sleep and sweetest dreams. Ms. Roo -- enjoy the rest of your day and do something nice to treat yourself, okay? xoxo

You all sleep tight. I'm having a total sloth day - only jamies and slippers allowed, washed all the towels and that was it. Have heaps of bad things left over from the party day yesterday so I think a good pig out day in order too.