Howdy, I too have an 8x12 green house. Wish it was larger, or better yet, a solarium built to the house. Inside are larger plants that no longer fit in the house. Citrus, Agaves, a few Aloes, Olive tree, variegated Ginger, and a few other odds and ends. Plants are kept in the gh during winter months..once temps warm up, plants are set outdoors. With utility prices, why pay extra when plants do well outside, not to mention easier to manage...? The first year it was erected, 'December, Christmas present,) on the coldest night of the year, the heater went out. In the process, I lost either 32 or 37 plants which froze. I cried, literally cried. After that dreadful night, we figured the problem and made sure the gas heater was working. We added an electric heater in case something went wrong with the gas again. We also purchased a temp/guage/alarm. The guage displays indoor, outdoor and gh temps and humidity. If temp drops to 45F, the alarm beeps. The guage is kept in the house. Mike, although Feb is cold, 'usually the coldest month of the year,' the sun is stronger and will burn certain plants. I hesitate adding shading since most plants are sun lovers, and eventually adapt to strong rays. During summer, gh temps reaches 117F+. This last summer, especially July, temps rose 140 and higher. Even with two opened vents and the storm/screen door ajar. Although my gh is on the small side, it's great having extra space. Don't know what I'd do without the extra room. It's a great investment, especially for those of us who have, more than a few, plants. lol. Toni

If you don't need space for socializing on the deck, I think you would be better served by a simple, 6' wide runway deck/walk that hugs the house and then devote the leftover space to planting. Split the steps with half at the deck and half at the entrance to the walk (from the drive.) It would seem a lot more luxurious to you if you made the step-treads 16" (front-to-back depth.) Use a conventional railing instead of seating. (You can't post photos by embedding code, but you can upload them directly from your computer by using the "Photo" button at the bottom of the window where you create the post.)

I don't really know very much about them but my SIL just had them installed in her weekend house and they are quite pretty, we were there last night and tonight (clamming). Hers are a slatted blind style that look like fabric, almost like silk (but I'm sure a synthetic that would be sun fast). My SIL doesn't appear to know much about them either, she told her contractor what she wanted, came back from her winter vacation and found them installed ;0) I asked her the brand, and she didn't know. The remote though says Somfy below the controls. Attractive and they appear to work well but she's spent exactly two nights there since the installation....

VPN is a virtual private network - think of it like a restricted "tunnel" though which your internet activity passes. It's not open to being viewed by everyone who may be watching what you're doing on public wi-fi. A VPN is often used by people who tap into their company network from a laptop in remote locations. There are VPNs for mobile device internet use as well. I'm not familiar with the Verizon Hotspot.