That's weathered/aged hay you are looking at( I bought this couple of bales last fall and used them for the Halloween display and I spread it over the beds during the winter after I had worked in a cover crop and added a bunch of leaves). I get my alfalfa and coastal hay from the New Braunfels feed store. I have never had problems with weed seed or herbicide contamination from this source. From all the dire warnings I have read about hay mulch I have not seen an issue since I began using it and adding it to my soil and compost and mulching with it. I am thinking that the quality of the hay is very important. High quality horse hay is usually very clean. Of course I have seen those hay fields that are mostly Johnson grass too!! I also use pecan shell mulch. you can get it for around $16-17 a yard at the maldonado nursery in new braunfels. Pecan shell mulch not only makes a great mulch I think of it as a soil builder. Many of the processed shells still have bits of pecan in them.

Let's try this again.. Testing to see if I can post some pics Supersonics from our farm garden Mix from my personal garden: Golden Rave, 4th of July, Razzle Berry tomatoes with peps Some ready for sale Some containers Some cedar board raised beds/boxes One more batch for sale

I think the "distortion" are really neat -- gives them an artsy effect. I wish all fireworks were outlawed, except for "shows" put on by professionals who are licensed for it. Half of our backyard and most of the fence burned down a few years ago because of a fire started by neighborhood kids playing with fireworks. And that wasn't the first time that we suffered fire damage to the fence/yard because of kids and fireworks. Unfortunately, it's a regular enough occurrence that we never go anywhere on the 4th.

Come back to the forum after 17 days of sick kids to my post garnering more attention. Arg-Thank you for your comments. They were not different from what I expected except that you would go ahead and send those "difficult" clients to the drafter. I am not sure you would enjoy working with me. That is fine, not everyone is a good match. I would expect to be presented new ideas and have my ideas challenged (which you do). But I would also be quick to turn down things that I already decided I didn't want. Since we have had our land for longer than most, I have had a long time to think about so many of the things I wanted/didn't want and how I would like furniture to sit in the room...etc. My husband is quicker to not beat around the bush. But for a female, I am very quick to make decisions. If it isn't how I want it, I know. Virgil-Also well said. Oddly enough, my room locations were very much dictated 1st by the lot. I had a completely different bubble diagram for our original house site. You are right that I have very set ideas about how I want things. I don't want a door in the middle of the wall straight across from my bed for example. Not because I spend all my time laying in bed looking directly ahead of me, but because it is not the more pleasing location. I also am not just looking at the floorplan/2-D spaces. My husband is a big picture guy and think about the details later. I like to think about the details in order to make sure the big picture works. I guarantee you I won't get done with my house and then try to figure out where furniture goes. In fact, the fun of decorating may not happen as so much of that has already been brainstormed. PG-Thanks for your comments. Yes, I was given some great advise and a lot of attempts to fix my plan. Please understand that so many of the fixes were things that I said from the get go wouldn't work. I get the desire to have the master bedroom in the corner. For my lot, it is not the ideal location. Plus, I wouldn't put windows on 2 sides, simply because I don't want windows behind the bed or on the wall straight in front of the bed. And having the bed face the door to the outside is odd (and against fung-shui). While I would never have a corner fireplace in the living room, I really want one in the bedroom. I gave careful thought to furniture layout, etc. But when you look at the fixes, nearly every one changes the fireplace location. I am very glad that you were able to find someone to work with that could help create you vision. CP-First, thank you again for the work you did trying to come up with a solution to my plan. I think we all have preconceived ideas (unless we just got land a month ago and haven't had much time to figure out what we want!). I have saved tons of ideas..so many of them repeat the same thing over and over. When I have saved every bedroom corner fireplace, I probably am not going to switch when the internet forum attacks me for it. If my bathroom is going to cost me $20,000+ not matter how it is arranged, should I really do a freestanding claw foot tub when I don't like the look? Yes, I may be quick to say I don't like something. But it is not because I want to turn ideas down. Rather that I have seen the idea repeatedly and don't prefer it. I think it is really interesting that comments have gone the way of "so and so made a good plan, you should build that". It is not so much that it is a bad plan, just that it is not the right plan for me. Can I take bits and pieces or get new ideas from plans shown..YES. But to be told that I am in the wrong for not going along with a plan is very strange. My husband is not every going to move...so I better darn well like the house. Otherwise, there will be a huge remodel in 20 years! (There probably will be a remodel in 15-20 years as I will be sick of whatever cabinets/counters/finishes I choose whether they are still in style or not!) I posted my plans knowing that they weren't quite right. I really have appreciated all the helpful comments. But man, to weed through some of the other non-sense was very exhausting! If I felt my plan was it, I'm not sure I would've posted. Honestly, yesterday, I did come up with the right plan for me. It can still use some tweaking. But I sent it to my draftsman so he can draw it up. I am literally pinching myself I am so excited. Took me over a year to create the main floor of my dreams. Not the same floorplan regurgitated in 90% of new builds. Every space in it is like a dream. Only one odd thing that I don't love....can you imagine...only one thing that bothers me? I call that a win! Would you believe that the closet entrances are between the bedroom and the bathroom? Not in the bedroom and not in the bathroom. I'm like a gardenweb wish granting genie on that one. Everything is quickly accessible. Even my little laundry space is fantastic...even has a window...and vents directly outside! And my closet, DH closet, the toilet closet, tub, and shower ALL have windows. It's like a dream. I would post it, but it is on my graph paper. I'll wait until the draftsperson draws it up...so I don't get comments that the spaces don't work because my walls aren't drawn in properly. I may start a new thread when I get it back. I know the exterior walls will be neat...just have to get the dormers/roof/materials right. I also need to get the basement floorplan done.