It sounds like a reasonable idea. Covering the whole garden would be ideal but also a hassle and more expensive. If you can make a frame to just cover the plants you are worried about, then that would be the next best thing. If the birds leave your plants alone when they are bigger, then maybe using a tomato would work fine. One thing to consider though regarding your guard dog. If he isn't interested in actively chasing the birds, then they will eventually ignore him. I have a bird feeder on my deck and I let my dog out there all the time. The birds naturally fly off when I let him out. But after several minutes, if the dog lays down and stays still, the birds return until the dog moves again...sometimes a half hour or more. He will even watch the birds as they fly in and out. You need a "bird dog". Bruce

socks, I thought I'd try the shower rods first as it was a lot cheaper than buying anything else, and luckily, they work for us. raven, I was trying to keep my post from being too long, but I actually did start out doing exactly what you described with a nice piece of fabric covering the rods. Oddly enough, with fabric over the rods, my largest dog just jumped over them, with no reluctance. But without the fabric, none of the dogs are willing to go under, through or over the bars. Maybe without the fabric covering, they think the rods are electrified? peonies, I might take down the highest rod in a few weeks and see what happens. If my cocker spaniel doesn't jump over it, I'll take away the middle rod as well. Maybe I'll be lucky like you were with the piece of board and be able to remove all of them once the dogs are conditioned not to enter that room snidely, all 3 were rescued as adult dogs and 2 would surely be diagnosed with A.D.H.D. if they were human! Those 2 do not listen to verbal commands very well, and I admit I do not have the patience it would take to train them as you suggested, which would of course be the optimal solution. jannie, unfortunately, my shower rods won't be a solution for keeping toddlers out of a room as a child would probably try to scale them and could get hurt. Luckily, my dogs seem to fear something about them and won't even try to get past them!

I would hold off. Is it marble? Is it original to the house? Your house is older and the fireplace did work at one point. Have someone in to find out what the problem is and whether it can be fixed. Then think and think some more... In other words the only thing I would do immediately is get rid of the paneling (it might be brick underneath) and strip the paint off the mantle and surround, which is VERY pretty... This house needs tlc by undoing the various "updates" from past owners...

Was that Costco hoop cheese aged? Deep yellow? Or fresh and white? Hoop cheese is still made in the South and the Midwest, but mostly sold aged, and it's the fresh that's needed for blintzes. OTOH, if they have sufficient produet to stock Costco, maybe they're come up with a way to make it in bulk? L, we had a milkman too, but around here they never stopped. For awhile, it was mostly men who had the trucks and kept on delivering after the dairies were consolidated, but now, when everything is being delivered, there's a resurgence of milkmen who bring the milk into your house. But it's not the boonies. ;)