Just keep in mindÂif your town needs to dig up the parkway to access utilities, it is their right, with no compensation to you for any plants destroyed. That is why parkway trees planted there belong to the town and not to you. ItÂs an easement. ItÂs not a big issue with daylilies, as they could be lifted and replaced pretty easily. Assuming you saw them come to dig and could get out there in time. But I would not plant anything especially valuable or deep rooted in that spot. To make sure you could call the utility companies and have the lines for water, power, etc., marked, and plant far enough away from them. That said, guess who has daylilies planted around her parkway tree But itÂs a small area and does not represent much time or money, nor is it on the sewer or water line. Also, here people feel free to let their dogs urinate anywhere on the parkway, but donÂt usually allow it on the "main" part of the lawn. I have seen this many times. ItÂs like some unwritten rule. Somehow they think it is OK. And of course the dogs head for a plant or a tree to pee on, not just "on" the grass. The daylilies handle it ok, so far.

"Am I using a bit that's too small? Too large? Am I not pressing hard enough? Are my pilot holes too small? (The last is a distinct possibility.)" All or any of these could be contributing. There are several sizes of both phillips and flat screwdriver bits, and only one that really fits any given screw correctly. Also, many cheaper driver bits are soft and wear out very quickly. You could also be failing to hold the axis of the driver in line with the axis of the screw. Practice a bit: Make sure the pilot hole is about the same size as the inside diameter of the screw threads, especially in hardwoods. Make sure the bit fits the screw really well and is in good condition. Don't rely on just your hand and forearm strength to hold the bit in the screw - get your face close to the part you're working on and position your body so you can throw some weight into it. Make sure the driver is in line with the screw. Take your time. With an electric driver, use that variable speed to start slowly; don't just grab the trigger as if you were yanking the tablecloth out from under some expensive crystal. You'll get there.

Wow, Ginn those are impressive landscape quilts on Pinterest. The problem with Pinterest is that it's just photos usually, not patterns. If you are a beginner quilter (like me), you will need more than a idea, you're going to need a pattern. The other option would be a design board where you cut everything into strips and then arrange and rearrange it until it's what you want it to look like. From the colors of your fabric, it looks like you have the right colors for a waterscape (blues) with a sunset (oranges) and rocks (the grays and blacks and maybe the dark blue). I have no idea of your location or the differences in the great lakes (I'm in Texas). I just did a search for "Lake superior, sunset and shore" and then clicked on images and some beautiful ones came up. I might try the same search with "great lakes, sunset shore". You get some different photos with "sunrise". Another idea is to look at some of the photography sites. (123rf.com is the one I use because it's cheap, but it wouldn't matter if you're just looking.) There are a couple of free ones. Most are pay sites, though. You pay by the download and you usually have to buy more than one photo. They are open for browsing, however and most of the time you can download a sample that is watermarked so you can't use it for the web or printing. It would work for planning a quilt/wall hanging, however. I'm not sure how much it costs, but if you found the right photo, you can have it enlarged to poster size at the office supply. You can also enlarge it on your printer. It would end up being in 8 1/2 by 11 pieces that you would have to tape together, but you might be able to make a pattern from it. These are some quilt searches I did that were productive: CathyGeier.blogspot.com (she writes books and has a blog) beachscape strip quilts waterscape strip quilts Be sure and let us know what you decide to do. bkay

Looks like you have a patio door and a good sized window in the room as well; so you probably have plenty of light. If you don't need a mirror, then you can cover them with removable wallpaper (essentially oversized contact paper). The only problem is that the wallpaper is not usually wide enough so you have to use 2 and match any pattern. They stuck on very well but can be stripped. We had mirror doors too but kept hearing about how outdated they are so this is what we did when we put the house up for sale. The realtor was impressed !