Funny this was resurrected -- in the 4 years since i posted this, my vision issues prevent me from doing my nails myself (or doing them nicely LOL). I have major depth perception issues as well as intermittent double vision -- not good for trying to stay "between the lines". Still, I stick with using Vinylux Longwear Polish when I can (Vinylux also has a gel product-- i do not use it). I opted to stick with this because 1. I generally get 3 week wear when my nail technician does it (only her-- when others in the same salon have done my nails, they do not wear as long). I haven't had my nails done in ages-- and during covid/quarantine, she has had a second child. I am hoping she returns to work!! Here's what worked for me: Vinylux polish Vinylux top coat-- 2 layers 1-2 days after a manicure, I top nails again with Chanel Le Gel.. and then again 3-4 days later. I am VERY tough on my nails. I am at the computer for ridiculous hrs and i am a "hard typist" .. i wear labels off keys in no time. Again, they tend to last me about 3 weeks-- so of course, there is some lifting of the color line at the bottom as my nails grow, but the polish generally stays fully in tact, no chips or lifting. I will not use gels or dips or anything that ruins the health of my nails.

The TV show Fixer Upper did a house that looked similar to yours. The episode referred to the house as the "Prickly Pear" house. Link: https://magnolia.com/our-show/episode-11-the-prickly-pear-house/ They removed the bushes and trees blocking the house (& the prickly pear cactus near the street) and created dormers & a pergola in front -where your red trees are touching the roof)-Also- they installed 2sets of French doors to the front of the house and removed wall in the kitchen.

Good to see you back, Campanula. Your garden sounds like Piacenza this time of year: ratty, dry, mildewed, overgrown. Somehow it turns back into a marvel every spring. Like everybody else, it seems, I'm behind in my gardening. Last December's ice storm in particular has cost a lot of maintenance hours, and is still operating. The storm smashed all the black locusts, which took days to cut up and distribute, and now the damaged trees are suckering with determination, clearing them making another chore. 2017 was also our great Drought Year, running from fall 2016 to fall 2017. The good news there is that established plants suffered very little, taking month after month of litte to no water in their stride. We were about at the epicenter of the drought, so it was a good test situation. Deer, fairly recent arrivals, are horrible here, too: we have to protect trees, shrubs, and roses if we don't want them to be eaten or smashed. We apparently have a wolf population developing, too, and even my conservative dairy farmer neighbor suggested that perhaps wolves aren't such a bad thing for keeping the wild boars and deer under control. I want lynxes to make their way into our area: they're supposed to be major deer predators. Since we came here we've seen the wolves and the roe deer come: why not lynxes, too? I went back and re-read your original post: you planted R. helenae and 'Darlow's Enigma' in an allotment? Oh, my. Well, if you want more huge ramblers for your woods, let me recommend 'Treasure Trove', R. longicuspis, 'Brenda Colvin', and all the Ayrshires, which seem to be badly confused in commerce but are all good. I get the health and energy problems, and hope you see both restored soon. DH had a quadruple bypass and two further surgeries last year but has regained much of his previous bounce, so it can be done. I'm creaky, too, but at the moment feel okay. I'm waiting for temperatures to drop after having spent most of the last ten days flat on my back under the fan. The change may be happening as I write: it's cloudy and cooler this morning, encouraging me to think of getting out and attacking the chore of training R. longicuspis into her flowering ash, and continuing cutting back an overgrown locust and 'Treasure Trove' growing in it. Maybe, as long as I have the ladder out, I'll shear the tops of the yew hedge. The shade garden didn't even look like a garden anymore after a month or two of neglect, but DH and I have been wrestling it back into its form. I'm hopeful that the huge amount of organic matter resulting from the ice storm will make its effects felt in the coming years as it decomposes. Good luck!

@j williams ... I took a quick look at the article and early on found this incongruous statement, which is the central objection put forth: "Ivy has no problem climbing to the top of a 100-foot tree and completely enshrouding the trunk and main limbs. [True.] It can shade out so many leaves that the tree dies due to lack of photosynthesis. [Categorically false!] A tree's leaves are generally not found at the canopies interior -- where the trunk and main limbs are found -- but are within a relatively thick sphere at and near the canopy exterior. Ivy never grows on this lightweight wood and consequently does NOT shade leaves or prevent photosynthesis. What is so extremely annoying about these people behind an oppressive movement, is their willingness to create and propagate false information. Then they just copy and spread the lies ad infinitum, until their political movement takes hold. And then everyone else must suffer the consequences of their shortsightedness. I don't get too bent out of shape that it happens routinely in other places in the world. But the concept of inflicting unwanted views on others is wholly unAmerican and must be challenged here.