Ken, no fluffing for me. I scuffed up the turf about an inch, just enough to break up the dead turf. Soil was dry as a bone and crumbly all on it's own with no mechanical intervention, unless you are counting the actual digging. The only place we get run-off here is on the driveway, 500' of packed road rock. I still appreciate the tips, for those times when I do run across such situations. Will, it is deceiving...We have a few trees, but really very little considering we are on five acres and two of the trees are not plantable under, being in the dog yard (and one being an apple tree.) We are actually very exposed here. It makes for most excellent views but does not leave a lot of room for mystery. I am making it two of my goals to 1) create some spaces that will stop the eye but not block our best views and 2) find ways to create some mystery here in the wide open. Here is another reason to be grateful for your location, none of this: two winters ago it was drifted this deep over our entire driveway for two days following a huge blizzard! This was the path I had to shovel to the barn:

Thanks everyone for taking a look. I think the DLs seem pokey here this Spring sending up scapes. The first to bloom in the established garden are Bitsy, and Stella De'Oro. Jane

Remember what Readinglady said when her Dad passed away on Thanksgiving: "Nothing is lost, it is simply unseen". Thank you for that poem, this first Christmas without Dad or Stepdad was very different. We didn't even try to make things the same, we started some new traditions, as difficult as it was. Elery got a Santa Claus suit and came as Santa, enthralling all the little kids, that's going to be a new Christmas tradition we keep, I think. Dad would have loved telling the kids how the reindeer were down at his hayfeeder, but I'm sure he was just sitting and chuckling anyway. Annie

My house really needs to be painted, but there were a couple of other projects that were immediate - i.e. garage concrete. I plan on having the budget for it in the next 2 years. I know this isn't the best angle, but here is the house: There are many, many houses of this style in my area, so I have been looking at them as I drive around, and I think the most attractive color on them is either white or green. I live across from a field - an agricultural field - so in spring and fall, when the equipment is in the fields, there is a cloud of dirt and dust floating across the road, so I think the it would be better to paint something other than white, as it shows it's dirt too easily. When there is snow on the ground, it looks positively filthy. I have read about Cape Cods that the roof color is a major factor in choosing a paint color. Every green house I see of this style has brown shingles, and more of a cream-colored trim (which I really like). This house was shingled shortly before I moved in, and will not need to be for some time. I had been keeping my eye out for a similar house with black shingles like mine painted green, and couldn't find one, but the photo below popped up in my FB feed from a local realtor yesterday. I think it's "OK" and I could deal with it a few years until the house needed shingling, but definitely think a brown roof would look better. I have always wanted a yellow house with a red door =) but I definitely did not like the yellow with the black shingles from what I've seen so far. Thoughts on the green with black shingles? Am I thinking too much about the shingle color? Any other suggestions for a Cape Cod (no beige). This is my first house, and I'd also sort of like to make it my own and give it a new look, but I do think white looks good, too.