Good idea! I used mod podge and glued roses cut from magazines onto clear half marbles,put them on a birdhouse outside. So far they're still pretty. I sprayed it with a clear sealer,too. That's going to be so special all done up with your photos:)

Its in St.Francisville, La. its called Rosedown Plantation. I went to see my high school friend that worked there and she gave us passes for a house tour but right when we started to go through the gardens I got a phone call that Mom was feeling bad so we had to leave. It was nice to have something fun for John in our weekend trip, lol. The nun's orchid stalks came up around Easter but it took them forever to open. I cut about 10 of the flowers for a party to decorate and still had all those in the pics left.I have it in a large pot. It was cool. Karyn did you see the last pic? I can't remember the name its that little funnel shape plant you sent me that multiplies and hangs down. It bloomed. I remembered last year it looked like it was going to but grew the tall finger looking things. This time it did and the flowers are really neat. I put plastic on the walls of the greenhouse then covered it with hardi board and put shade cloth over one side of the clear roof and it worked perfect this year. The stuff still in there looks better than the things outside. I might leave it in there and put up the shade cloth on the otherside. I have to go look at the pics to see what cement barrier you mean. It might be John's rigged up pump for the upper pond, lol. It ugly. My grandson is growing like a weed. The iris might be game cock. I bought Three different kinds on ebay last year but they all looked the same, lol. I wanted to snag some water hyacinth for my little upper pond now that I have the greenhouse to overwinter it. Mine died over the winter a couple years ago. Oh I see what you mean in the pond. It has a little channel around the edge for water to circulate that I have horse tail rush and watercress growing in. Our water has so much minerals it leaves a white crust on stuff. Its really just part of the black preformed pond. I decided to go back to my natural color for a while after I was looking at some pics of me when I was a teenager, lol. Its hard to hide the grey with it dark so don't know how long I will keep it, lol.

Hey Linda - I laid awake all night last week when that NorEaster was blowing through worrying about my newly fledged Blues and the two other birds' nests in my yard. It was terrible here. My Blues were in that MIA period between fledging and bringing the babies back to eat mealworms, so I didn't know if they were ok. My little House Finch was probably seasick from twirling around in her hanging basket, but she and her nest made it through. My Robin - not so much. And then this week my Blues came back with their family, much to my delight, but they only had three of their five babies. I guess the other two were "naturally selected" out, but it made my heart hurt. Still, watching baby birds get fed is a real cure for what ails you. Glad to hear your finally came back too.

Okay. Thanks for the ideas. Caminnc, thanks for posting that shot. I did like the room that way. Everything is shoved around and squeezed together because my son wanted the Christmas tree in this room. Yes, the TV has to stay there because we have Dish, not cable, and the wiring runs down inside of that wall. No, the ceilings are not shiny, and I will change the fixtures as soon as I can. I am totally open to taking things out and shopping my house for something better. I have a small house and I'm running out of room, and I do need to edit. Hopefully, I will be able to replace some furniture down the road. I have been looking for a round pedestal dining table, which would probably be a better fit. I have been working on making some new pillows to add some color/pattern. I considered doing some my3dogs valances, but I think the long window is just too long.