The Decision is Made

I had asked to see the assortment of knobs that we chose from in the beginning, and the contractor told me that they use the ones at a local business that I didn't think to go to, as it is clear across town, several miles south of South Street, which used to be considered way south.  So, today, after work, I took the trek, and found some knobs I like that aren't as expensive as the ones I like the best from the internet.  When I found photos of the ones I picked out today on the internet, I found that the round knob is made of brass, like the expensive ones, and the pull is zinc, and actually costs less than the knob.  I'm thinking that's a good compromise, and they are very similar to the expensive ones.  They are called the same color, oil rubbed bronze.  Each company seems to have their versions of it, but these are pretty close.

So, here they are:

I do like the other pull a bit better, but for the difference in cost, this will be fine.  Oh, and a man at the store showed me the counters and edge we had picked, and a sample of the color of the cupboards.  I couldn't remember for sure what we had picked, but did guess correctly at the counter colors.  The main counter is not one I love, but is acceptable.  I dare not see if I can change my mind about that.  It will look good with the rest of the things we picked out.  I love the counter that's going on the south cupboards, though.  Larry thought it was too light for the counter around the sink, or something.

I got the grid ordered last night, but was given a message that there was no shipping to our area.  I talked to a woman on the phone today, and she told me that the shipping for a 4 by 4 foot grid would be more than the cost of the item, but she said she'd give me the fasteners to hold them together if I would like to get 2, 2 by 4 grids.  She was so nice about it, and I didn't want to start over looking, plus, anywhere I found the larger one, there would still be the matter of shipping.  So, she said they should be shipped on Monday.  I'll tell more of the story when I post the after photo.  We have 3 weekends left to get the kitchen ready for the remodel.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions and encouragement.  Now, I can stop obsessing and focus on getting the house in order.  Maybe, I can even find some blog reading time!

Kitchen Knobs and Pulls

Thanks for the nice comments on my recent posts.  I haven't made it to everyone's blogs to return the visits, like I normally do.  Some have asked how the kitchen plans are going, so I decided to let you know what has been consuming my thoughts and time.

I've mentioned we are going with a company called "Three Day Kitchen and Bath", who will need 4 days to do all the work that needs to be done in our kitchen.  We have 3 weekends left to get everything out of the kitchen.  They are also repairing some water damage on the ceiling in the dining room, so we need to move a lot of things out of there, too.

When we chose the knobs offered by the company, I didn't see any I loved, but we picked some out that were OK.  When I found out we didn't have to get our pendant light from the company he had given us the internet address for, I also asked if we could pick knobs out from somewhere else.  He said we could, and the budget for each is $5.00.  I saw some I liked where we got the light, and found they give a contractor's discount.  I then set about looking at other sites on the internet and went to about every other place in town that has knobs.  I've driven Larry nuts, because he thought we had chosen the knobs, and now, I was obsessing over finding different ones.  

I couldn't even remember the knobs we chose, but the contractor emailed me these photos of them.  I can't tell from them whether they are the rough textured ones I decided I don't want.  I called to see if I can go see the knobs they have again, now that I've seen a bunch, and I may be able to choose one of them, or even a different color of the ones we first picked.  I do like the shape of the knob, and it's similar to one I found that I like.

I fell in love with these floral knobs at a local hardware store, but am wondering if they would be hard to keep clean.  I also wonder if they would call too much attention to themselves, and if we would get tired of them.

If we got these, I thought about using the above pull on the drawers in the u shaped area, and the bottom right ones on the drawers in the south cupboards.

I'd want to find a spot for a couple each of these, too.

After one of the times I talked myself out of the previous knobs, I decided the next ones were my favorites.  The problem with these, are that the pulls are way more expensive than the others.  This knob is a couple dollars more than the $5.00 budget, so they are doable.  It looks like I put the black one in here.  Larry doesn't like that color.

This pull is $15.16.  I don't know if the contractor can get a discount or not.  I don't think this is the color we both liked, either, but I do like it.

This next pull is also part of the series.  It's in the $7.00 range, so we could use these in the u shaped part, and the above ones in the south part.  This is the oiled rubbed bronze.  We both like it.

Here are a few that I had found at the design center where I found the light, and thought about using on the south cupboards, until I decided it would be too hard to match them with everything else.  There were also peas, and some cool watering cans and other blooms.  

I would welcome any opinions on which ones you like, and what you know about the different materials that knobs and pulls are made from.  If you know of a brand of knobs that are good ones at reasonable prices, please let me know.  I will rest much better after this decision is made, and be happy to get back into my blog reading.  

I forgot to mention that the contractor is also willing to put up a gridwall panel on the wall above the table.  I emailed the following photo to him after seeing it somewhere.  I can't remember the blog it was on, but I also found it doing a search of gridwall panels.  I found it at this site.

I wouldn't be able to put large things on it, but could dry flowers and herbs on it, as well as hang some of my collections on it.  Now,  I have to decide what color to get.  The chrome ones are more expensive than the black or white ones.

I hope we get some seasonal weather soon.  It was below zero this morning.  I don't think I'm getting any seeds planted inside this year.  I hope yours are doing well if you have them.  If you're in zone 6, I hope you're getting out there to plant some lettuce and such. 

(I hope the credit I gave was OK.  If anyone knows whose kitchen this is, please let me know.   I'd love to give them credit.)

Wordless Wednesday 2/24/10

A "Warm" February Day, and More Foliage

Last year, on February 23rd, I planted my first lettuce, radishes, spinach, and such.  It will be awhile before the snow in the veggie garden melts, as much of it is on the north side of the garage.  I don't know why I didn't think to take a photo when I went out this afternoon.  I'm thinking about mixing some seeds in with some sand, and throwing it on top of the snow.  I wonder if birds will eat the seeds.

FlowerLady mentioned being cold in the 40s, and Kate in the 50s recently.  Here in Nebraska, our "normal" highs for this time of year are the 40s, but we have had very few of those, with lots of days not making it over 28 degrees.  Today, it got up to 39ish and people kept saying what a nice day it was.  I did make it out to the front yard to take a few photos.  We are expecting 2 to 4 inches of snow over the next few days.

I'm thinking these are daffodils coming up in the bed on the south side of the house.  

There are still some green things, such as iris and snapdragons in the south sloped front bed.

The area by the curb is still snow covered.  I noticed someone has walked through the bed, so I later went out and cleared the snow off of the stepping stone path.  I hope it doesn't get slick.  Maybe we should put some sand in the path.

Doesn't it look like I took these photos on different days?  This is a perennial geranium that likes to spread in the raised planter around the tree.  I found out you aren't supposed to put beds around a tree like this, but my in-laws already had it there.  I don't think it's good to take it down if it's been there awhile.

I was please to see some pansies growing in a wash tub from last year have survived the winter so far.  They should be OK at this point.

This coral bell is looking pretty good.

Some of the lambs' ears look to have been evergreen so far.

I saved the best discovery for last.  I have some of my hellebores planted in the south raised bed where the daffodils in the first photo are.  These are right next to the house, so I'm thinking they could be their own little zone 6ish instead of 5b.  Most of them are buried with leaves, but these sticking out show flower buds!  I am so pleased, and even though it's cold out, I know spring is on its way.  (I wonder what has caused the hole in the leaf on the left side of the photo.)

I planted several kinds of hellebores.  I like the red on the leaves of this one, and I think that's a flower bud on the lower left, as well.

I hope we all experience nice spring weather soon, and our plants have survived and are thriving.  May all your seeds sprout and grow as well!

Foliage Follow up and Plant Census

Pam, at Digging hosts a Foliage Follow-up the 16th of the month, the day after GBBD.  I took these photos the 14th with the idea of combining this with Mr. McGregor's Daughter's Great Houseplant Census of 2010.  This also gives me the opportunity to keep track of how plants have survived the winter so far.  All but the African violets and a couple other plants will spend the summer outside.

I counted 25 pots, not including the one with the dead plants in it, in this room that used to be the computer room.  We are in the process of turning this into a play room for our grandson.  At this point, we think the east facing dog kennel these plants are on will come out, so I'll have to put an open shelf for them there.

This is a view from the side, showing a variety of textures of foliage, from the cactus, to the aloe, jade Christmas cacti, etc.

I'm not sure why I included this photo, but it shows the scented geranium is not doing well.  I need to cut it back and see if it will put on new growth.  I have never over-wintered an agapanthus, which is the plant on the left.  I hope it blooms this summer.

The air plane plants, oxalis, and philodendron should survive the winter at this point.

This angel wing begonia went too long without water.  I am hoping to revive it.

I'm not sure what this big plant we've had for several years is.  It belongs to our daughter, who has a cat and decided she didn't want the plant.  The green oxalis is not doing well.  I think I overwatered it.  The little kalanchoe and African violets will need to be repotted this spring.

Next to the south window are some of the babies of a mother of thousands that have probably grown large enough to have their own.  They need thinning.  The scented geranium below looks to need a trim again.  That's another cactus on the right.

Larry's rabbit foot fern continues to do well.

The prostrate and creeping rosemary plants did well this winter, but they got a bit dry in the last couple of weeks.  I hope they recoup from that.  I will put them outside anyway this summer, and keep them watered, because a few years ago, I had one I thought was dead, and put outside, but didn't get it dumped onto the compost right away.  I was pleased when I saw that it had revived.  I still have it, too!

I counted 3 plants in the kitchen.  I had a couple more, but they were on the hoosier, which got moved to the dining room.  When the kitchen gets new shelves, I'll put them back in there.

I counted 22 pots in the bedroom we turned into a dining room a number of years ago, which brings the total to 50 pots.  We had the east window replaced with a garden window a number of years ago.  It's not as big as I thought it would be, and has caused the room to be cold, even with double paned glass, but I have enjoyed having it.

One of the scented geraniums is doing better than the other.  They usually don't look good by the time spring gets here, but put on new growth and fare better in the summer.  The rosemary on the top right is the one that looks dead by the time spring comes, but revives when put outside.

I've only remembered to use my parsley a few times.  I am hungry for it, now.

I included this photo because the melting ice with the blue sky behind it is a reminder that, yes, it is still winter, but spring is on its way.

The River Nile begonia with the red tinged leaves had lots of blooms last April.  I'm glad it's doing well, and hope to see more blooms soon.  I've had the bay tree about 4 years.  I wonder how big it will end up getting.  It barely fits on the edge of the garden window.

The begonias don't need as much light as other plants.  The one on the left is the one that bloomed for so long.   I cut it back a few weeks ago so it would bush out more.

I cut this angel wing back, too.  I wish it would bloom.  

This angel wing had leaves on the ends, with dried up stems.  I cut it way back in hopes it would put on new growth, and it looks like it is going to be OK.

This pothos plant actually goes on the spot where the previous plant is.  I have a print with a number of things, including a pothos, that I have repeated on the side board cabinet it is above.

So, if you've been able to read the GBBD posts of those on the list near yours, and more, go ahead and check out the foliage follow up and then see how many plants people have inside their homes.

February GBBD

This Naomi holiday cactus was finished blooming a few weeks ago, but developed some new buds, one of which opened before the rest are ready, and is about finished.

I bought this kalanchoe a couple days after last month's GBBD, and already the tag is misplaced.

I'm thinking someone told me this is a type of aloe.

There are only a couple African violets blooming right now.

Thank you Carol, of May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly event.  I hope to have some outdoor blooms next month, as many of you most likely hope for as well.