Hi All, I appreciate your wisdom. :-) Even though I may have sounded nuts (and I was!), I realize "Rome wasn't built in a day." I'm glad I've gotten to the plantings this year and think they will help a bit in time. Heaven knows that's the truth for the house--there was *nothing* here when I bought 4 years ago. So, it's come a *long* way. But, I'm a school teacher and during Aug-May I have *no* time. Honestly-none. So, I do what I can in the summer (although we have work on prep and admin. now). While I enjoy the product of gardening/interior design, I enjoy process less--esp in the garden where it is physically hard for me to work (due to an injury that makes walking/digging painful). Soooo...I'll admit I'm looking for something that works the first time, if possible. That said, I'm not beyond moving things if I have to and next year will move 2 laurels--somewhere--as they don't work where they are. And, I do enjoy it at its core. All this reminds me of the "what I learned from gardening" thread. I do need to learn patience and to enjoy the modest things that the garden brings. :-) So, resalesally--you are right that I should just "go" and stop obsessing. HA! :-) Nell- Thanks for your comments, too. It is a great door that they have. (Wonder if I might be too lazy to clean those panes?? Hmmm....) Memo- Thanks for the awning suggestion. Trouble is, I just don't like awnings. I know I'm getting away from the authenticity of the house a bit...but based on my completely crude "paint" experiments in WORD, thing something raised a bit will help give me what I'm looking for. But...you might be right about the awning being so tiny compared to the stoop. (Man, I have *got* to learn photoshop to test your theory out.) As for the lattice...so you're saying to post it in the ground *perpendicular* to the stoop? Is that right? Hmmm...possibly. Hadn't thought of that. What do you think about covering the concrete w/ wood and a railing and giving the house a more "cottage" feel? EVERYONE - Paint trim vote for the bottom of the house?? Thanks, ya'll! Keep those ideas coming.

Yes! I was gonna put that in last nite and forgot it till after I had submitted it! Was falling down tired and heading up to bed or I would have done a second post! If you just want to see if they're germinating you can usually hold the baggie up to strong lite and tell well enough if they're growing, but if you plan to plant them in soil when they germinate I recommend you wait a little less than peppers usually take to germinate and then unfold the paper towel to actually look. To move them into soil it's easiest if you do it immediately when you see germination or else the root can start to grow into the paper, making it hard to pick up! Obviously do it carefully when you move them--you're good with Plant Things, shouldn't be a problem for you! I have a tweezers with a long, very pointed end I can move them with (a craft tweezers), but (if they're not imbedded in the paper) you can often just "get" them with the tip of a toothpick or unbent paper clip or something. Usually easier to use something besides just trying to pick them up with your fingers! And if you make a very slight indentation in the soil you can just sort of lay them in (sideways works!) and push a BIT of soil over them. Virtually all of them should make it! A couple times I've "planted" seeds in paper towels that I knew were hard and took a long time to germinate so I could easily see when they germinated and not have to try to keep pots of soil "the right wetness" for a long time--without ever knowing if I should "wait longer" or not! When I had enough that germinated and I had them successfully planted in soil, I just threw the rest out! Worked well! With that many seeds it sounds like you should easily find as many good ones as you want. But one thing I do! When I'm putting them on the paper towel I make sure the seeds aren't touching each other. Don't know if that's necessary or not, but I do it because of the "rotten apple in a barrel" effect! Good luck, Skybird

Donna - DeeMarie forgot to tell you that she is our resident motivator, butt kicker and cheerleader! I am one of the priviliged that got to not only meet her once, but twice and she has a beautiful smile and sparkle in her eyes that warms your heart immediately. Just some more insight to some of the people here, we have busy busy Jen who made us all aunts and uncle with 2 precious girls since we have known her, Tikanis although relatively new in comparison, fit in all too quickly - she is adventurous and has a warped sense of humor (that's why I like her), I don't think you met Patti yet, no matter what she is facing she remembers each and everyone of us (WHERE are you Patti & Dave?), there is also Gretchen from the windy city and she blows in just long enough to catch up and then disappears (very busy at work, etc.) but we miss her. Which reminds me Lynn hasn't been around in quite a while, I hope all is okay with her. I haven't kept track of who was mentioned, but I am sure there are others I haven't mentioned - but everyone here has something unique to offer and that's why this place is so special. I am getting sappy in my old age. Jen - I was the one to leave all my friends behind and I never thought they could be replaced - well they can't - but fortunately you find new friends and still have your old ones. I stay in touch with my closest old friends, but not on a regular basis (as they are ALL computer illiterate LOL), but when we do talk or get together, it is like we haven't missed a day. It does get better. Tikanis - Someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I couldn't think of anything - I said I felt I had all I needed and didn't want anything. I felt just like you said, thankful and grateful for what I do have. I love the gingerbread house making party with DD - those are the things I like to do. You found yourself a great place to work. Menu: B - Smoothy S - 3 bagel chips (I had an uneasy stomach from the night before) L - 2 eggs Christmas Realtors Party: S - Appetizers before dinner, shrimp & scallops wrapped in bacon, vegie skewer, deviled egg D - 2 Beef fajitas with no tortilla NO alcoholic beverages, plenty of water The night before, I thought I had 3 glasses of wine, which was bad enough, but my DH said that the waiter and a friend filled my glass at dinner more than once - so who knows how many I had and we ate very late, so we had drinks on an empty stomach. I paid dearly for it yesterday, bad headache, uneasy stomach and exhausted. I wasn't a whole lot of fun last night - but boy you should've seen me the night before. The next day a casual acquaintance, kept telling DH that he had no idea how funny I was - I don't have a clue what he's talking about - but I sort of remember it had something to do with an air guitar. Too Much Information!

the craziest thing is today-I'm sitting here, and my daughter, who's birthday is July 4, is first time not with her family, but with her friends in LA where she studies. She's a big girl now, so that was bound to happen one July 4 or another..but yes..I'd say that the craziest thing that I don't really do, but it happens. Happy Independence day, everyone! you're immensely talented (once I made a chocolate cake for DS's birthday..it took me six hours..involved some special thing from the store that cost 40 bucks alone..some essence of something..he asked me excitedly "Will I get it next birthday too?!" "No", I said. "I'm afraid not" Lol)