well it's done. i'll have pics later. i ended up making kidney-ish shaped. 6 feet long, one end is 4 feet across the other end is three feet across and it's 22 inches deep. when i was laying it out, it seemed bigger than it really is. it only took about 2 hours to dig the hole lay the liner and fill with water, so obviously, it's tiny. i've traded for some lotus that are coming this week, so i'm pretty excited about that. i cut a couple plastic 55 gallon drums in half that i've buried around the pond to put the lotus in. tomorrow i should be able to get the rocks all in place before it snows again. i was still really hoping to get one butterfly koi, but i don't know if that will happen or not. i'm going to try to trade for a miniature water lily to put in the bigger part and i have a small fountain in the smaller part. i'm happy with it so far and i'm ready for a much bigger one. should i get a few snails to put in there? and if i do, do i remove them in the fall too?

I'd ask him why he thinks 6" of soil is adequate for growing vegetables in the deep south. I'd also critique his plant spacings and choice of materials for trellis construction....But, that's just me....no harm intended. EG

On eBay today, actually right now there is a 1st grade book called "Everyday Mathematics" It says 1st grade Everyday Mathematics Activity book, designed by the Univerity of Chicago. I went to eBay-found on the left side the section that says "Books"-clicked on that and then clicked on the section that said "Textbook/Education" went to that section and then on the left I typed in "Everyday Math". There is also a picture of the book, the cost is low. You might want to check it out if you think this might be the book.

While I can say I recommend hiring an architect, I realize that doing so may not be feasible for your pocketbook. We spoke to a couple of architects, and even toured some in-progress homes with one of them. The amount of design considerations they make is almost overwhelming - where living space is in relation to views, where/when sunlight will enter the house, noise mitigation, traffic flow, how spaces will be utilized, etc. It was interesting to see how different their process was from just picking out a plan and running with it. We purchased our land two years ago - a 2 acre lot with 125' of frontage and great soil. My wife and I then looked at when seemed to be EVERY SINGLE PLAN on the internet. We had bookmarked hundreds of them, and subsequently threw each one out based on them either not conforming to our lifestyle or not being a good fit for our lot. In the meantime, I started to lay out floor plans in Sketchup, which was all well and good until I had to add a second floor. W. T. F. It was incredibly frustrating. After a year of self-design, we engaged a local custom builder with a great reputation. We collaboratively designed a plan that my wife and I are extremely happy with. While we had set out to design a craftsman type home, our final design would definitely not fall under that category. We have a lot of craftsman-influenced details throughout the design, but in the end, neither of us cared at all whether it fit into some architectural category. Most people don't, so don't get hung up on that - especially if the architectural style doesn't fit your lifestyle. I also learned a lot about design considerations from reading these forums. There's a lot of good advice here. There's also a lot of very headstrong personalities here as well, so be mindful of that. It's very easy to let yourself be convinced that someone else's opinion is the standard. For instance, laminate flooring seems go get a lot of negative attention around here, but I have three young boys and a dog. Laminate fits our lifestyle a heck of a lot better than hardwood and it's inexpensive enough to change out as our lifestyle changes. My advice to you is to at least talk to an architect before going to a builder. Listen to how they designed their houses. It's truly eye-opening. It will make you swear off pre-fab plans forever. If you feel comfortable enough with one of them to hire, then go for it. Otherwise, take that knowledge and speak to some custom builders in your area and see how they work with you and don't be pressured to sign anything! Good luck!