roo, I'm so happy for Miss 6! That's the thing about kids, we worry like mad and they heal so quickly. She'll be the best in her gymnastics class, you'll see. I will have to pass on that walking bridge, or you go first, ok? judy! A mosquito! Too funny. How did you presentation go? Did they LOVE the wallpaper? MP, great job on the midget's walls! Who cut all the wood? It does look really good, has boo mappin seen it yet? I'll bet she loves it. Olldtrazz, sorry, I know nothing about sisal rugs. But I know about flokati rugs and I want one! I can't imagine how one would vacuum a flokati and I do know the dog would eat it so I don't think they're practical.

Astraea, when I emptied mum's unit, I just absolutely turned everything upside down and inside out. Luckily I found money in the first drawer I opened that put me on my guard. Talking about going out in the car reminded me - mum had a disabled parking sticker that had to be attached to the windscreen if the car she was in was parked in a disabled parking area. When she came to live with me I kept it in the glovebox of my car at the ready, but somewhere along the line when mum had first got the sticker someone must have given her very clear instructions to ensure she kept the sticker with her at all times as they were readily stolen. Obviously whoever had explained said that it had to be displayed on the windscreen when the car was parked, but mum, in the fog she was in by this time, didn't get that bit. One time I had to go to the RTA to have mum's address changed to mine so of course I had to take her with me for her to verify things. I parked in a disabled spot as they are wider for wheelchair access, put the sticker on the windscreen, got the wheelchair out of the boot and got mum into it, not taking any notice of anything she was doing. We got into the RTA, took a number and waited a while before we were served, then I took mum over to the counter and explained the situation, whereupon mum pulls the sticker out of her handbag to show the clerk. Of course I freaked as they are very quick to book you if you are illegally parked in these spaces and told mum she wasn't to take it off the windscreen again. Mum felt she was really going to get one up on me as she was always going crook at me putting it on the windscreen for people to see it and break into the car to steal it, and told the clerk to tell me the rules how I wasn't to leave it in the car. I think the poor woman wet herself seeing the comedy side of it, but trying to keep a straight face while she tried to get through to mum that it had to be on the windscreen. Of course mum just kept arguing with her then that she knew better because of what she had been told. In the end the clerk told me to get back to the car before I got booked but said to let her know if I was and she would try to clear things for me. Fortunately I wasn't but after that I had to be so careful to ensure I put the sticker on my side of the car (which it wasn't supposed to be) but it was the only way I could stop mum getting to it.

Louie - pretty well I think. See my latest renditions below. I have been playing around with how to screen off that toilet/shower area from the living room. Not only would it be preferable to keep the toilet out of sight, but it would also be nice if people pop go down and up the stairs to visit the toilet or shower without having to do a short "walk-of-shame" past the potentially occupied living/dining room. I was thinking a of having a partially-drawn pair of curtains or perhaps one of those dangle-y "fly curtain" type things to disrupt the view a bit, but then I thought a set of swinging doors with tinted/diffuse glass in them, because: 1. You can charge in and out of this busy area by just pushing through the set of doors, and letting them swing back in to place behind you (like saloon doors) 2. The glass panes will still allow the person to see if anyone is on the other side, so they don't bowl them over. Will also let natural light in. Also means could do away with the laundry door perhaps, since it will be kind-of redundant (main purpose was to eliminate washing machine noise in the living area) 3. The doors also stop heat from the fireplace drifting up the stairs on cold winter nights when the fire is going. Not a crucial thing at all, but a nice additional benefit Thanks for sharing the floor plans - it's given me a much clearer picture of what you've done with that pole house...looks fantastic! brizcs - great point about the chair by the window, that's really struck a chord with me so I am toying with ways to do this. One idea I had is in the plan below: Rather than put a narrow table hard against the glass, maybe swing the kitchen table 90 degrees, make it longer, and have people sit along the south side looking out the windows most of the time. When it's night time or there are lots of guests or whatever just drag the chairs to the other side and you're back to the conventional set up. If a table where flush against the windows it would mean a lot of direct sunlight on its surface throughout the cooler months, due to the low angle of the sun (glare might become a problem?)

the first variation feels very cramped and number 2 is more comfortable but, given enough space, you could consider another option and adding furniture helps understand the spaces better but maybe the bed would be better along the back wall so that you could have a view to the deck from in bed..but that could mean rethinking that extra window ..perhaps a tall narrow window behind the chair? (nb dimensions are only guestimated and the plan suggests that a liitle extra could be taken off the bedroom to make the ens and wiw wider to allow for bigger bath and/or wider and/or twin handbasins)