3 is enough

I have a pretty substantial list. In my defense, DH and I have moved a lot and are on our 6th house so I know what I want by now. Kitchen: No open shelving. It must be a pain to keep clean, and who has time to arrange their dishes perfectly every day? Stone or quartz countertops. Butcher block, while pretty, requires a lot of upkeep. Also tile backsplash vs beadboard or wallpaper. I want something I can easily wipe clean. But my biggest kitchen must have is a hood or downdraft that vents outside. I think in the pediatrician episode the range in the peninsula had neither. NO WAY. Bathroom: No wood floors (worry about water damage), and no freestanding tub /handheld shower without a tile surround and just the circular shower curtain. Again, water damage. Just give me a fiberglass shower instead if money is an issue. Rest of the house: No carpeting. It looks nice and feels good underfoot, but it traps dust no matter how much you vacuum. Minimal clutter. And no random old pictures of strangers on the walls. Erin did this in her powder room. Just no.

My guess is that a lot of stuff does not make it to the final cut. Possibly more interaction with the homeowners. Erin uses some of their things to decorate, so she has to have some meetings with them. And I would not be surprised if the homeowners go to have a peek when filming wraps up for the day. I would. They film 3-4 episodes at a time, so they aren't there all day working. They film their scenes, and move on to the next place, leaving the contractors to finish. I remember reading somewhere that these reality shows use about 10 hours of film to make a one hour episode. Multiply that by 13 episodes and that's a lot of filming! So no way they are actually doing the work on every house. Erin has talked about Ben working late at night finishing projects after filming wraps up for the day, so I am pretty sure the Scotsman pieces are really his handiwork. Personally, although I appreciate the look of older houses, I would be a bit OCD about what is going on behind the walls. I would want to make sure the plumbing, HVAC, wiring were all up to code. I would also check the foundation, roof and windows. I've watched too many episodes of Property Brothers where they find surprises lurking as the work progresses, I guess. I assume they check for these issues, but just don't waste screen time on them. Otherwise it would just be like putting lipstick on a pig. I seem to remember an episode where some sort of repair ate into the budget and they had to get more creative with the finishes.

That's kind of disappointing. I was hoping they would hold off for a little while, but I guess there's no escaping the programming that has been drilled into them since birth. Poor Michaela. I can only imagine how difficult it is for her to hear that yet another sister is pregnant.

I do think they are perpetuating the whole "All Irish people drink like fish" stereotype to a certain degree. And Jamie's full name is Jameson, like the Irish whiskey. I think that was mentioned in a past episode. Just saying...

And once again there is green grass and trees in full leaf in Pittsburgh. In February. For God's sake. There are winters with little to no snow, but the trees are bare and the grass is brown. Hey show: just don't film outdoor scenes when it is supposed to be winter. Kevin's relapse made me sad. Kate and Randall bugged me, especially when the nice people let them in the house and they had that Pearson moment. The only saving grace was that Nicky did not have a miraculous breakthrough and fairy tale ending. At least that was realistic. This season is not doing much for me. I will continue to watch, but it just isn't the must see tv it was in earlier seasons.

Totally agree! Also the air intake inside the upper kitchen cabinet looked SO FILTHY. I really hope it was cleaned before the cabinet was installed. I liked the house, and what they did with it. The couple was cute, and they seemed a little shy and reserved. No jumping up and down with these two! I fell asleep last night and re-watched on my computer this morning. Watching on a super high def computer screen is a real eye opener, I have to say. You see every flaw. I noticed a substantial crack in the brick around the beautiful side door, some gouges in the brick floor leading out to the courtyard, and some odd discoloration on the roof which may have indicated some issues with the shingles. I realize that there are budget constraints, but those are the kind of things that would worry me.

I feel bad for them. They must be heartbroken. Even though I don't share their beliefs or think it is a good idea for a 19 year old woman to have a baby, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I really hope they weren't pressured to share their experience. It has been a few months so hopefully it is a bit easier to talk about at this point. But these are the Duggars, so who knows? I will say one thing : It is never a good idea to ask anyone when (or if) they are going to have a baby. As someone who struggled with infertility for 3 years before I had my children I can tell you that it hurts. A lot.

Yet another detail which is not factual: Queen Victoria did not have a West Highland White Terrier (Westie) She had a Skye terrier. Just saying... Also, the vile Duke of Monmouth is a fictitious character. There was only one Monmouth, and he lived in the late 1600's. I have no issue with a non-historical character, but why couldn't they have given him a fictitious name? At this point I have decided that the only thing which is truly historical is the stream of pregnancies...

I brought up the shower stall because they did not talk about it- just matter-of-factly showed it being installed. When they do tile they usually talk about it more ( episode 1). I just got the impression that they were running out of money at that stage of the renovation. A couple of houses ago we had a fiberglass tub and surround that looked like tile. It was in the kids' bathroom, and I absolutely loved it. They do hold up beautifully and no issues with caulk and grout. We have to redo a shower and I am seriously considering going that route.

That's my pet peeve too. I wouldn't want to live next to a store either. But realistically, the historical district in Laurel is probably quite small, and houses don't come up for sale often, I would imagine. Depending on how long the show runs they will eventually run out of picturesque properties to restore. At the end of the day it is a small town with limited employment opportunities. There can't be an endless stream of new residents. I liked the house. I did notice they saved money with the fiberglass shower stall. It looked perfectly fine, but I'm sure it was significantly less expensive than tile. I do appreciate that they try to stay within budget. Did anyone else get the impression that the husband was not totally thrilled to be so close to his in-laws? He was very diplomatic, but I bet he would have preferred if the house had been a couple of streets over.

CrazyInAlabama, my point was that as Canadian citizens who own property in the US they would not be entitled to Medicare. Now, if they were to get green cards or citizenship at some point that would change things.

That was fast! Although I guess it was filmed in the fall. I notice they mentioned it was featured on Home Town. The same thing happened with Fixer Upper houses and eventually they made a condition that if you were on the show you could not use their name to try to rent it on Airbnb. I don't see Ben and Erin doing that but you never know.

Realistically, it's a small town, and she is the girl with the weird brother. Pretty sure she has heard more than a few things about her family. The "mean girl" persona probably helps her cope.

Sounds like it to me. Because here's the thing: if they want to retire in Laurel they would have to spend 6 months plus a day in Canada every year to maintain their eligibility for healthcare. And of course they would not be eligible for Medicare. That's why there are so many "snowbirds". They only stay for the winter and go back to Canada for the warmer weather and to protect their coverage.

I could be wrong but from Jason on down all pretense of home schooling had been quietly dropped and those kids were basically just plunked in front of a computer and left to learn by themselves. IIRC, Jessa "supervised". Maybe when Tabby Paine and then Laura came in later things got better.

I have a vague memory of the Duggars making a big deal about Jessa graduating. Possibly with a high school diploma as opposed to a GED? (not that a GED is not legitimate). Maybe she took finals at a local school? It was quite a few years ago... And she was the "teacher" for a while until Ben arrived on the scene. I also seem to remember that James had some learning issues. Will be interesting to see if they make a big deal about him graduating. I don't remember seeing anything about Jason graduating. I think he is overdue.

I did not like Sheldon in this episode at all. I think previous episodes have shown him to be a bit more of a confused child figuring out how to navigate the world. Yes, he is a genius, but he also is a little kid, and "book smarts" don't always translate into "people smarts". In this episode he was an obnoxious brat. Period. Loved Missy and Connie as always. I thought the expression on Missy's face when Connie told her about Mary climbing the tree pretty much explained how she got into the house. Another mystery solved. I wondered how someone who had Connie as a mother could grow up to be so straight laced and religious. Now I know.

I don't think so. Otherwise they would get lots of cut marks on them. I think they are gorgeous, but not as practical as quartz or granite. You can't put anything hot on them, and I imagine too much water is no good either, so around a sink might be problematic. I like it when they have a smaller island with a butcher block top and stone for the rest of the counters.

I checked, and for the first 2 seasons the finale was mid March (13-14). This year if they continue without interruption the finale will be on March 26. However, that coincides with March Madness, and if I recall correctly, competing networks typically do not schedule new episodes to go head to head with the tournament. Guess we will just have to wait and see.

In a town of 18,000 people there are only so many houses to choose from, so it stands to reason that some of the rejects would be picked eventually. I saw something on Instagram about a season finale party on April 8 which would make 13 episodes. That's a total of 33 houses redone so far. Honestly the "pictures of wood" thing- I bet they said it as a joke and someone on the production team thought it was clever and encouraged them to repeat it every time they came across laminate. Kinda like how they always had to say "ship lap" on Fixer Upper. I don't think the possibility that it could come across as sounding a bit elitist even occurred to anyone.

I enjoyed last night's episode. I am also originally from Quebec so I was very curious as to how the Guays ended up in Laurel. Loved how Ben said "Bienvenue a la maison Guay" during the reveal. He did a pretty good job too! I noticed the kitchen ceiling was still textured and the tub just had shower curtains around it instead of any tile. I guess that the unforeseen structural issues took a toll on the cosmetic repair budget. But they can always add tile at a later date. $147 K does sound like a good deal but you have to remember that the homeowners actually spent closer to $195K because the Canadian dollar is currently worth about $0.75 US.

So since The State of the Union will now be on February 5, will they show the new episode tomorrow?

Neither did I. I wanted to see what he looks like in real life and google gave me this interesting fact.

The actor who plays Francatelli is Ben Kingsley's son.

I should have clarified: I meant the portrayal of Feodora as the evil scheming sister is pure fantasy.