Thanks everyone for the compliments. My wife had always wanted a large patio but I kept putting it off. Our daughter got engaged in June of 2011 and advised us that she wanted the reception in the back yard. Wedding was June 30 2012. I had a year to do the patio and a LOT of extra landscaping but somehow it got done. I actually built two patios and the same time ..... my first and my LAST !!!!! I had never done anything like that before but figured it wasn't brain science or rocket surgery so I jumped in on it. Finished everything 9 days before the wedding. hoovb .... As far as the style of fence not going with the house? I actually do agree with that and I was searching for a different type of fence but never found what I wanted at a reasonable price, quantity, or ..... old. I didn't want new fence. Fist time I saw the fence I wasn't sold on it, but the more I looked at it I began to like the more open "airy' look of it than some other fencing I originally had in mind. We've been vacationing the past few years in cities like Savannah, GA and most recently Charleston, SC and has looked at a lot of gardens, fences, brick posts etc and it seems that a lot of time people used what they had or what was available so ...... we're doing the same. I think I can tweak on the brick design and landscaping and hopefully bring it together. Yardvaark ......WOW !!! I love your revision and suggestions. Thanks for that. I do like the beefier columns and brick suggestions. I'm sure the "boss" will too. Thanks everyone for the comments and help. Any additional comments or suggestions will be appreciated. One of my "during construction" photos.

To say that I'm back is kind of overstating it. Haha. But with no laundry to do, everything picked up and toileted, and his online medical supplies order done, I have some minutes that I will spend with my friends. Rosefolly, thanks so much. If I play my cards right, maybe one of the kids will stay with DH for part of a day. I'm wondering which day would be best. Jeri, I really am surprised that the garden didn't just keel over. It's a lot more resilient than I expected. A couple of the Home Health nurses/therapists have admired it in terms that are pretty unwarranted from my view, but they say the weeds don't matter. They can SEE the English garden and love it --- but then I've noticed how encouraging they are to the caregiver so... but I appreciated their excited praise nonetheless. Subk3, I don't think that's it. Mine has purple flowers and the leaves are farther apart. Thanks for the suggestion though. I didn't know Wandering Jew was a weed or highly allergenic. Seil, thank you for the good wishes and the compliments. The garden is what it is. I'm not upset by the condition, and thankfully I don't feel stressed by it. I would like to go out and get that weed out before it eats the house but whatever. :)) Ingrid, I know you've been thinking about me. Your email was sweet and very appreciated. I wish I could have answered, but you said you understood if I didn't. That was a very stressful period so it was wonderful to hear from you even though I barely had the time or brain capacity to read it. Your caring wasn't wasted. Thank you so much for it. Molly, I'm so glad that you're glad. Things are beginning to SOUND more normal all around. Randy!!! How wonderful that you're back on the forum. I have missed you tremendously. I got the Shooting Star hydrangea at the grocery store, believe it or not. I really love it. I've been acquiring more reblooming varieties that tolerate sun, so I'm thinking some of the roses that have passed on will be replaced by them. The only thing I don't like about the hydrangeas is their deciduousness but it's only for a few months in the dead of winter so I guess it won't be so bad. I'll have to get clever with their placement, I guess. So happy you're back!!!! Thanks for liking our old photos. You're very sweet. Melissa, you nailed it. We survived, are going forward, and life can be hard. I led a very sheltered life before this. No real sadness had ever touched me. This made any previous bad times look like childish melodrama. Now I see other people's tragedy so differently, much more compassionately. Thank you for saying it so well. Thank you, Jeannie. Your kindness is so appreciated as well. What a wonderful place this forum is, filled with kindred spirits. Monarda, I like your optimism. I guess it will get whipped back into shape, but I think I also want to do some tweaking. We'll see, won't we? Can't just leave the furniture in the same place year after year, right? I know one thing for sure. Maggie is saying byebye...I think. Lou, what you said really touched me. I'm thinking the most I'll get to spend in the garden - someday - is an hour here and there. I've already learned that there are risks to being out of the room. He slid off the sofa the other night reaching for something while I was on the PC in the laundry room (doing the blog, in fact). Had to call the paramedics to get him up. Fun, fun, fun - he wasn't hurt at all. Two big hook and ladders came, no sirens thankfully. Firemen are very nice people. Kippy, MY weed used to pop up one at a time, and they were easy to pull and control. It used to be the least of my weed worries. On the positive side I have a feeling a lot can be accomplished in just a few minutes with that one. Let's hope so. Seems like several of us have it. :)) Sunny, you win the cigar! My weed is definitely Commelina coelestis, aka, Day Flower, Widow's Tears, Blue Spiderwort. If I had a bigger garden, I might keep a spot of it, but I don't think I'll tempt nature. Thank you so much for your prayers! Campanula, as usual I loved what you had to say and as usual I had to resort to the google dictionary - to find out what droll means. That was a lovely thing to say about me. I think you've got me pegged. I didn't know there was one word that would sum me up. It doesn't sound like a good word (d-r-o-l-l...comical has a nicer ring) but I think it nails me. Ha, I could definitely be a buffoon if I weren't so shy. The "generous nature" part is very kind. Such excellent words..."take it easy and just let life roll on by, carrying you along, floating, flying." Will do! And thank you!! Judith, curiously, today I noticed that my house is pretty clean and tidy. Suddenly, I'm my mother, always flitting around, picking up stuff, folding, wiping, no dishes in the sink overnight, I thought to myself, that's because I'm not out in the garden all day and because the CNA comes every other morning to give DH his sink-side bath. So glad you like the photos! Titian1, thank you. It does look like the green form of Wandering Jew except for the white flowers. Cynthia, thanks for the good advice. I, too, hope Karl is well. Andrew, thanks for the information on the spiderwort. For a minute I was thinking it's only in the beds, but then I remembered all the places it has spilled over and rooted in the gravel. Yes, thankfully no kudzu!! Hoovb, that's so sweet. You always amaze me with how much you can get said in so few words. That's definitely not my strength. :)) Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

It is GOOD to be back when you all have such nice comments. Thank you! Karen - so far, when we've had guests over to try out the new furniture, they notice the plates before the furniture! So glad, I got them, still wishing they had more but maybe I'll find something similar elsewhere. Letmag - glad you enjoyed the pics - makes it worthwhile posting them! Luvs - it is now my coffee week at work again so of course, did the table (beach theme similar to one I've posted on here without the place settings) and I also made a "Pineapple Fluff" type dessert which they all devoured. The staff do appreciate it so it makes it fun. Jane - I will pass on your compliments to DM. (and the others) She will be surprised she is "on the 'net" and others are seeing her work! Jaybird - DM has about a 10 place setting collection of Silver Birch (?Royal Albert) but she says she is tired of it now. That's why she used the gold/cream plates with it on her table. I feel like going to her house to "play" with the SB as I didn't appreciate it enough when I was growing up - it is a unique pattern with the birch trees on it. DD

Nice pics of a lovely day. You look so thrilled! One suggestion: should you post others to the forum, please consider compressing them first. Each of the ones you posted came in at 4 megabytes of space. Some poor viewers with a dialup-connection will find it takes forever to load such images; even on my DSL setup the page took a while to load. The forum instructions suggest an uploaded image should not exceed about 60 kilobytes. Almost any photo editing application, including freeware ones, will allow you to compress photos, and common compression algorithims such as .jpeg allow you to post photos that don't appear to have suffered from compression when viewed on a monitor. Of course, compress a copy, not your original. You'll want your uncompressed photos for printing at high resolution.