Wow, thank you for all of your comments. ncrealestateguy, the house was listed up front as a "notice of default opportunity". From my research I've gathered that her mortgage company issued the NOD in 2017 and there is an NOS that was issued in January 2018. I'm not sure if this means the foreclosure process has officially started or not. I'm assuming she is trying to get the home sold on the market before that happens. Denita, I am not aware that the seller is contesting the lien, but it was only disclosed to us on her counter offer, and all the line item said was "Electric solar system through the HERO program". It didn't ask us to do anything with it.

Yep, I only water "new implants",and last time I was there I did test the soil with my moisture-reader of a couple of them, and the soil still registered as "moist" ,so I haven't yet started watering. In any case, this year there's only 15 new ones,since I could only start gardening after Christmas, due to the hip operation. What's more, I do have quite a lot of water stored up out there; it's just that, as a principle, I like to always replace the water that I use as much as possible. But these past 2 years have been so hard: last summer, since I was doing chemo, I had to break my rule and use water without replacing it,my water-catching rooflet fell down, and un-wisely, I put off filling up one of my 5 big water tanks-I didn't forsee my car having problems. So, things are far from "desperate", lol-it's just frustrating. For at least this up-coming week, I may have to avoid trying to go out there;the forecast is so bad! extreme heat, no favourable wind (for me, favourable is south-west ; makes it bearble temperature-wise and keeps the mosquitos, flies, etc away). Among my future projects is to build myself a sort of gazebo, so I'll have a place to sit in the shade and just look. Also adding trees, though it's tricky. The view is so beautiful, and I don't want to block it too much, but it is towards the south-west . So I am trying to guess spots in which I can put trees that won't block the view completely, yet will provide some protection from the afternoon sun. But I get so little morning sun, and I don't want to block that. I'm also trying to think of ways to shade the roads that I must use to get down to my garden. For the main one I'm going to try to plant tall -growing climbing roses that I can train over rebar bent to form arches, in the hopes to create a sort of rose tunnel. On another path, within the garden,I've decided to not replace the roses that I removed -they were doing so poorly!-and instead put in a redbud or two. I've got 2 wisterias planted that I'm hoping will help shade the entrance gate as well. Gotta build support structures for these things, though...so much to do! but for now it's best that I just sit tight, and try to be patient.

I also considered having three smaller pool areas that overflow from one to the other to the next. Kind of like larger scale Green Infrastructure. And, while I still like this idea, It feels like a lot of work and maintenance. And I want something that will be able to exist pretty much on its own with minimal care from me once installed.

This seems like a great idea. Just keep the rain garden away from the slab of the garage - 4 feet or so should do it. Have fun!