While I would not describe myself as "pro lawn" I have nothing against lawn if one goes about it in the right way. I use a mix of lawn and flower beds in my garden. I like the look. I think lawn can tie the landscape together nicely. It gives visual relief between flowers. Lawn makes a good path. A little lawn also helps to tie the garden to the surrounding neighborhood, which is mostly lawn. And if you use the "Freedom Lawn" approach, lawn is environmentally friendly too. The lawn in the pictures below has not been fertilized or irrigated or sprayed or otherwise treated in over five years. I don't rake up the clippings. I don't even bother raking leaves. Because I mow high the leaves and clippings work their way down into the turf and eventually feed the grass. Yes, if you look up close, there are weeds, and several types of grasses mixed up, though it's mainly bahia. But from a distance, it looks neat, neat enough for me anyhow. Having a blend of grasses and weeds prevents bare patches. If one thing dies, another fills in. The trick to the "freedom lawn" approach is mowing. You want to mow frequently, every four days or so during a rainy summer. You want to set the mower as high as possible, at least 4 inches. You want to keep your blade sharp. You want to edge. Yes, it's a lot of work, but no more than most parts of my garden require, and a lot less than some. (And my garden has lots of native and Florida friendly plants). In your place, if I wanted to keep some lawn, I would overseed with bahia (Argentine is best for most of Florida). Follow the instructions on the bag or bucket. Give it one feeding to help it get established, and keep it mowed. Now's a good time to do it, with all the rain. I wouldn't bother with much weeding. I'd tear out only the biggest and ugliest ones and mow the rest. I would replace the lawn in areas that don't get enough sun, or where it's difficult to mow, or where foot traffic is just too heavy, or where you just want something else. I would avoid tearing out or smothering huge areas of lawn at once, which can be overwhelming. "> "> Bill

Here's what we've decided. First try: We sprinkled baking soda and kitty litter on the stain and replaced the mudders' protective paper. We'll sweep up and replace those two things every couple of days for the next few weeks and see what effect it has. If the odor persists that long, we'll try sanding and sealing. If it's still there, we'll bite the bullet and replace the plywood; if it's gone, we won't. We have about 6 weeks till carpeting goes in, so in that time we should have a good idea of what's happening. Thanks for your help!

I know how you feel. Believe me, some people hired out to do this can be so messy. They got diamond brite all over my decking. They even dumped one whole wheelbarrow load onto the deck. They splattered it here and there in different areas too. I should have said something to the PB, but I didn't want to nickpick. Sometimes I get so mad at myself later for not speaking up when I need to. Anyway, my pool is only 7 months old and we are now in the process of painting on a kool deck product called 'deck renew'. Its very time consuming because its so, so thick. Like a shake from McDonalds. Try rolling something on that thick over kooldeck with all of the high and low areas. We started Sunday and are 2/3's of the way done now. I don't know what to tell you to do about the coping. Maybe very carefully acid wash? They got it on my coping too, but my coping is natural brick. I acid washed that and sealed it before starting the 'deck renew'. I don't what to tell you about the fence.

Bonjour to you all this morning, Thank you for all your posts. Very interesting. This happened to me Friday night. It's late and i'm just about to go to bed when the phone rings. I answer and this is what i hear: I am so sorry i did not call you for your anniversary last night. You night i always call you. but i was so busy all day -going to school, rush here, rush there, go to work at night. Believe me, i am really, really sorry.! And i said ; who is talking please. And my youngest SD said it's me.(she said her name)! I couldn't believe it. I didn't even recognized her voice she was so much in a panic state like. I truly, truly felt she was honest and that she hadn't had the time to call me the night before. Oh well, better late than never. I knew there must have been a good reason for my youngest sd not to call me. After i hung up, i lit a little candle and i thank the lord and i said i was sorry for jumping up to conclusions so fast. The oldest SD was right there when the youngest called. I could hear her and her children in the back. She never wished me a happy birthday! I really think it's her lost. As far as them coming over ever tuesday nights, i really don't care anymore what hubby does. I've made plans to go to the library and to aqua fitness class on tuesday nights. I did that last week, and i truly, truly enjoyed it. I'm leaving everything to DH for the supper, etc. When i did mention potluck, he thought that was funny but i know he will never mention it to them because first of all its the ex-wife who is paying the food for the youngest SD and also for the oldest SD who is living there with her two children. I'm reading The Secret. It helps. Aisha, i love to read your comments. Have a nice day you all.