Now that's very creative and also cute! Does that fellow make other birdie birdhouses as well? I can see crows, bluebirds, robins, parrots, storks, owls.... I'll quit now before I find myself wrapped up in another project!

Thanks, all. I just love my clematis, but they're so variable. Some take off like they're on steroids, others languish and still others die in multiples. And it isn't the same ones that always do well or ill for everyone. For me, Josephine grows like a weed, but I've lost at least 3 HF Youngs. Still, I don't usually give up on a clem until a couple of years pass with no sign of it. I've been surprised too many times. I guess I'm feeling pessimistic because so many of my Chalk Hill purchases don't seem to have made it, and they were mostly really unusual. I've given Pink Flamingo some alfalfa pellets and I'll wait, hope, and water.

Wow Sammie, that's a great little site! Lots of good ideas there. It's so hard to decide what to do, so I just started digging... I'm 1/2 way done with my 2nd garden bed flanking the front walk. It's not in the budget right now to replace the walkway. I don't think I'd like a strictly period 50's garden, seems fairly stark. And I don't like junipers much. :) We do want to paint the house this year - isn't bright teal a 50's colour? ;) To respond to an earlier email, there is no patio or deck out the left side, just a strip of land between mine & my neighbour's house. Currently just lawn and some daffodils, and a big hole that my neighbour keeps promising to fill in (from where they put in a basement suite stairwell). We do have a great big deck out back, it's accessed through a window from inside the house! Kind of strange, but luckily it does have stairs going down to the back yard so we don't only have to climb thru the window. We use the deck a lot, and I have lots of plants in pots there (carnations, forget-me-nots, catnip, mint, sweetpeas). One day when I can afford it, or when the current deck falls apart, whatever comes first, I will lower the deck so we can just walk straight out. That would also make it closer down to the back yard, currently we don't go into the back yard too much except to go to the veggie garden. I also have fantasies of putting a small patio/deck on the roof! It only snows about once a year in Victoria, and it only lasts for a couple days at most. People still talk about "the blizzard of '96" where it we ended up with about a metre of snow - I believe the worst snowfall in this area since 1916? People in the interior of Canada (ie Winnipeg or Calgary) laughed at us :) The city was totally shut down for several days. Anyhoo, thanks so much guys for all your input! I have lots of good ideas now and it's been so fun reading all your replies. I like Sammie's idea of the large paving stones w/4' gaps, and Annie I would also love to get a kidney-shaped *something* in there, but a) don't need a pool and b) don't like floating flowerbeds... maybe I can paint shapes on my mailbox. ;) Thanks everyone! :) Amy

Thanks, y'all. Your kind words are much appreciated. Shea already has plans on how to decorate her for holidays. There is a lady in her neighborhood who decorates two geese at her front door for all holidays. Well, she has competition now. Several of her neighbors have taken inspiration from her gardens and ran with it. CALAM - I suppose I could post a picture of the statue on the other side. W/do that. Ohhhhh - you don't know how MUCH I'd love for you to come visit. Gonna be tough tiling and grouting the lower parts of the fireplace. Hmmmmm, I wonder if I could teach Juan to do that too?