Thanks, dancinglemons. Any beds are better than no beds at all, I say. Bonus that you had hubby do it for you instead of having to do it all yourself, lol. The 8x4 bed, and 2 of the 4x4 beds are only going to be 9" tall. I figured that giving myself an extra 3" on top of the required 6" would be good enough, but maybe not? I did plan on one bed having one more set of timbers, which would make it around 12" high. I'm also thinking of not pounding the rebar into the ground, and instead slipping a short length (like 5 inches, maybe?) of pvc over the protruding parts on both sides, then inserting a 10' length of pvc into each piece to create hoops to then later add tulle or plastic as needed. I'm not sure it'll work, and I've never seen it done that way, but it should be a pretty cheap experiment to test out. I figure, with the weight of the lumber, it's not like the beds are going to go anywhere. What's the point of hammering the rebar into the solid ground and creating more work for myself? Along the lines of adding more work, I'm also thinking of pounding some rebar into the ground in the middle 4x4 bed, which will be the highest, slipping some copper pipe over the protrusions, and fashioning a trellis out of it. I know it'll be more expensive than pvc, but copper looks so great when shiny and new, and keeps its interest as it ages and develops a patina. Plus, it'll last forever, and it seems like it'll be a nice, semi-non-ugly solution for climbing plants. If it works out, I may build shorter ones for the other two 4x4 beds that flank it, or give them some other sorts of support structures on the sides closest to the fence. As for watering, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do just yet. When I say I'm learning as I go, it's really true... I have NO idea how to set up a soaker hose! There used to be an automatic sprinkler system on the lawn, and I suppose there still is, but the water isn't going to go where I need/want it, so that's kind of out. I would like to capitalize on the fact that this place has a fancy programmable watering timer installed in the garage to control everything, but I honestly don't know how any of it works. I don't know where the pipes are running, or how to hook anything up to them, or anything, and it seems like it might be a complicated process. Until or unless I get things figured out, I'll probably just be watering with the hose every day.

I am really enjoying the winter photos, and Sedum, this was a great idea for a thread. Claire, I like your pictures of that old Cedar and of the moon, and the moon photos on that link were very creative. PM2, the Adirondack chair & stool looks perfect for sitting back and enjoying the gardens. I need to get one or two of those. And the neighbor's blue tarp would have definitely detracted from the picture. ;) Sorry to hear about your Echinacea - those woodchucks are a real pain in the neck. Maybe you could try some wire caging to protect them (or shoot the Woodchucks hehe). Incidentally, Juniperus virginiana has a very high wildlife value for cover and food. Unfortunately, my 2 mature Cedars are both males - no berries! But I have a couple smaller ones and one of those could be a female. The Goldfinch picture was taken after our last snow storm. I like the way the snow piled up on the seedheads. Last fall I cut the stems off the Echinacea (left a few for birdies) and every so often tape a bunch of them to the the feeder pole for the Goldfinches. I have a little flock of 10 or 12 that show up to pick at the seedheads and eat the BOSS (black-oil sunflower seed). Here's another one that was taken a few days ago -

This was difficult--I only have a fraction of the photos many of you have, and I just struggled to narrow it down to three. You see, my 15 year old granddaughter, Clare takes wonderful photos. All credit to her. Nana Here's Angel Face.

Thanks! susantiger, I checked with Lightstreams before and they make the tiles when they are special ordered. The lady was very nice but they are much more expensive and takes a long time to get. The shipping is high since we are in Orlando and they are in California. They look like they are very nice tiles though. Just-a-pb, Thanks a lot for those photos! It is exactly what I was looking for. We have built pools with other glass tile colors but not that one. I have seen the photos of your pools on other posts and you build some great looking pools! I really like how you tiled the entire inside of the spa. I am going to post a link of a pool I have on my website that we built with glass tile just in case it helps someone else out looking at this thread. The spa Just-a-pb posted reminded me of this pool. Here is a link that might be useful: Pool With Orange/Gold Glass tile