Hi! purple- yes, some very cool sunrises and sunsets, have a pic of a "blood-red sunrise" somewhere here, will have to find it and show you-- it sure was purtty. When all this is said and done, we are hoping to go team driving, I need to get my class A tho, but I don't think that will be a problem. Planto-- thanks, this was my idea to do this-- keep having to remind myself of that too-- lol. Good luck with your mom's knee, it will be worth it in the end.. This knee already feels better than it did. Will get the other one done when this is 100%. and the TC cuttings? coming along real nice. Had a hard start, but once i just left them alone they started up. Still kinda small, but they are growing. seems like all my plants are growing, but so slow that it is hard for me to see it. Keep thinking they are all "not" growing till i see the few starts on them, so something is happening... just not fast enough for me is all... /sigh Marjie

I'll reinforce some of the others' suggestion, and maybe change some. If you're looking for the cheapest possible way to create a landscape, try the following: Go to your library and check out some books on garden design. While you're there, get one or two about plant propagation. Read, read, read. Take notes. Plan on paper. Keep in mind when you plan that what you're planning isn't cast in stone. If the yard is completed slowly -- to accomodate your budget -- then you'll have plenty of time to change your mind. And in the end, there's something very satisfying about seeing a plan become a reality. Also, it's not necessary to buy nice paper or colored pencils. Printer paper and crayons work just fine. Or notebook paper (you can draw lines the other direction to make a grid and use the grid to approximate space in your yard so you're not overplanning the space). And if you have a computer, that's even better: I don't know about Macs, but the IBM version of the Windows operating system comes with a very basic program called Paint which works just fine, and you can change the layout to your hearts content without throwing away a scrap of paper. If your soil is heavy, start collecting leaves and plant material scraps *now* and create impromptu compost piles. Get stuff from your neighbors: grass clippings, fallen leaves, trimmings, etc. If your yard is unplanted you have plenty of room to create piles for composted material. With time, patience, a lot of hard work, some indulgence from your neighbors, and a few large and unsightly piles, you can have a decent amount of soil amendment for cheap or free. (Though you may have to compost for as much as a year to generate enough for your purposes). I definitely second the getting-cuttings-from-your-neigbors approach. Or drive (or walk) around town and find plants that really strike your fancy instead of limiting your selections to your neighbor's tastes. And make sure you understand propagation (getting and using cuttings) before you go, not just so that the cuttings survive and thrive, but in case the owner of the plant you lust after takes some convincing because they don't understand propagation and need it explained that what you're after won't damage their plant. For pots to grow cuttings in, yogurt containers work fine, and you can pot up to gallon milk containers when you need to. The things that will be tough to find for cheap or free are the hardscape items. One recomendation I have is for mulch paths (or mulch in general): you can usually get mulch from power companies when they have to cut down brush or trees for maintenance purposes. If you tell them you want the mulch from the next job, they'll make it and drop it free of charge (or exceptionally cheap), though you have to be willing to accept an unknown (usually large) amount and you'll have no control over the timing. If you're worring about getting too much, try making arrangements with your neighbors for taking any excess off your hands. With patience, time and (sometimes huge) effort, you can have a nice landscape for the price of rooting hormone, soil-less sterile mix (for the cuttings) fertilizer, and some hardscape materials. Now, you may not want to go about it in this bare-bones a manner, but I took my suggestions to the extreme just as a reminder that landscapes do not need to be store-bought and expensive. Good luck!

Here's a repeat of my post from another thread: Posting photos is pretty easy. Go to Photobucket.com and set up a free account. Upload your pictures to that account....make sure the pictures aren't HUGE tho. Once you have your photos all uploaded, open 2 browsers...one here and the other at photobucket. In this message section, type what you want (ie. Plumeria name, etc) then from your second browser at photobucket, click the 3rd bar down under the picture you want to use...the one that says HTML Code. Just clicking on that space copies the pic. Go back to the message box here, right click and hit paste. You can do this several times. It really is easy once you try it...We all would love to see some pics! Jo

The doorway is open on the other side, no cabinets. That's good because we have a door and molding that we are going to install back to the way it was. I do know the PO that did the damage, he is our local realtor/insurance man. I am thinking of picking his brain one day, just haven't had the time yet, maybe once the kids go back to school.