Thank you! Yes the property has so much to offer - it's very park-like, almost a full acre within city limits... good spacing between neighbors, and lots of trees. As far as a vision... the only thing I'm really envisioning is using the sideyard as some sort of walk-through (i.e. paths and various points of interest) cottage/cutting garden. I have a "sort of" plan I sketched on a dinner napkin not too long ago. The rest of the property is really lovely the way it is, so I probably won't do too much. And yes, I DO expect to be losing sanity a little at a time. LOL In fact, I think I left some of it among the stones of my rock wall!

Here's the recipe for the pie. And yes, I'm sure you can use pecans. It's very much like a pecan pie. I found that the center was not completely "solid" at the end of baking time, but it firms up after cooling. Deanna Honey-Walnut Pie Ingredients: pastry for 9" one-crust pie, (see 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup honey 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pastry. Beat remaining ingredients except walnuts with hand beater in medium bowl. Stir in walnuts. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate. Cover edge with 2" strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 45-55 minutes or until set. Refrigerate at least 2 hours until chilled. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie.

Like you, Kate, I have just finished piecing the center of a gift quilt. Mine is going to my DH's niece in England. She's just 2 months older than DH, so it has to go soon, LOL. They're both in their 70's. I'm halfway through making the two pieced borders for this one. I'm actually following a pattern, which is rare for me. But getting the center done was a WOOHOO moment! Let me know when the communal dancing in the streets begins, LOL. I can bring the woad! Who doesn't like a blue-painted face??

They newer photos of your paint look pretty close to my kitchen and family room walls. :-) Don't worry about the mini-novel. It's the cheapest therapy there is, and if you can get a laugh in here or there, pretty good medicine too. You're doin' good!