"side 1" the double trunk tree & a urn with something in it-boring!! Maybe 3 low growing plants hostas something on plant list that critters won't eat, daylilies if get enough sun & some bright perennial in the urn. "Side 2 of house" nice multi- trunk tree & AC ,bleak, needs something that grows about 2 ft tall to make AC less noticeable & something low & easy to care for under tree. Is that all his house? If it is he needs an arbor or trellis to break up all that space with a seating area. Chairs & table are just plopped there- think "outdoor room" need "wall"= 3-4 plants to make it feel more homey, something to make it inviting- even a piece of driftwood on the table with a glass bird from Thrift shop would help. Right now it looks more like a camp ground. If you want to do something about trails I notice there are branches down, could try using them as a border with a plant or 2 just as you enter woods. Does the guy have hobbies, into shells from ocean, hunting, etc. Find couple of Garden Art pieces that say he lives there. Frog, turtle, iron sculpture, cement rabbit etc. Look on Garden Junk site for some ideas. A rusty circular saw blade hung on piece of barnwood for guy that makes things from wood for hobby, Interesting rocks among the plants by the 2 trees mentioned above, a rusty old rake hung on a wall of house with dried flowers & rope with knots he makes hanging down. Got to give the place some sense that a warm human lives there., Is he into boating, oar hung on wall with fish netting, floats & couple of old fancy fish hooks either plastic or wooden. Etc. Good Luck. If the guy doesn't want to spend money, can you gather rocks from somewhere & give him some borders with just couple of plants each place at least looks like he is trying!!

First, I won't beat you up for having cut so much in a single cut. This is hard on the grass, but shouldn't have damaged the mower. In hind-sight, you should have raised the mower as high as possible, including putting the front rod to the highest setting of three holes, and then cut the lawn twice, first high and then lower, giving it a day or so to recover between cuts. That said, a few hours mowing, no matter how harsh, shouldn't dull the blades as you suggest. Only if you were "scalping" the lawn to rejuvenate, or cutting in very sandy conditions might this happen, and even then 3 or 4 hours still seems excessive. McLane doesn't have the same quality as Tru-Cut, Trimmer, and Locke in their reel and bedknife steel, but even then this difference is a matter of percentage, not orders of magnitude. It's possible that the cap screws holding the reel bearings weren't fully tightened, permitting the reel to gradually be out of adjustment. One end of the bearing holder is a pivot, the other end can move along an arc, permitting adjustment closer to for further from the bedknife. Bedknife could also be loose relative to the frame. If you bought machine new, I'd ask the original seller, or their authorized service to adjust the reel/bedknife under warranty. If you bought used, I'd either have the reel adjusted professionally, or if you are handy, try to do it yourself. The goal is not actual metal-to-metal contact, but rather to be close enough the strips of paper will be cut but scissor action, rather than tearing. If you adjust metal-to-metal, the reel will gall against the bedknife, and then you are looking at a very expensive repair.

Some men don't take advise well, especially use that think we know it all!!!! Smile!!! We tend to learn from or mistakes or lack of!!! Smile. So a tacful presentation may be in order to offer any advise on our saw or sawing techique. I hate a chainsaw that don't cut. I clean mine up after every use. Hardly every go pass two tanks of gas without sharpen and cleaning the bar. Course the user and type of saw depends on how frequently in may need sharpen. I noticed that small limbs or suckers you have to trim grabs dulling the chain quicker than normal and sometimes one gets stuck up in the clutch and knock the chain off I sometimes us my saw to cut out stumps, cutting a dic tac toe pattern across the stump and taking a slug hammer and knocking out the blocks. After that the Bar and Chain is pretty much trashed cutting up to 12" down into the stump. Alot of people trashed polans, but I can tell you it's mainly the owner that ruins a saw for lack of pre-ventive maintenance or knowledge. I even sometime fill the rot hole up with water to keep the most of the dirt washed out of the chain. Yes this will burn up a bar, chain and clutch which I have replaced once in 7 years. But, the little polan woodshark keeps on turning and burning even after all that abuse!!!. I think I got my 60 bucks out of it.This saw still looks like new the chain guard don't have a scratch on it from using it with a loose chain. Do I need to give my spill on how to keep a chain oiling??? which IMO is just as important as sharping the chain. to answer the question when should a chain be sharpen??? I think most saws can go for 5 hours in the right hands and other don't last 15 mins!!???

Jane, I would post the paneled office, but DH is a permanent fixture in there. He works from a home office, so it's got functional IKEA office furniture and clutter, but not much else. He's almost always working, he he. It's a room in our house that's actually functioning, so it's been put on the back burner for decorating. The rest of house needs a lot of help. As for the lemon yellow, nope, not a color I'm considering since I have a lot of golden wall tones. I just wanted to see how a bright colored table would look in a space even if it doesn't "go" with everything else. I'm working on getting a collected look, not like I ran out to IKEA or Thomasville and bought a "room". I would love a room that has interest and character. My problem is that I can't afford pricey antiques (which I would love). I've got to work with and re-work what I have. I was thinking I would post a request to see entry table pictures, but I'm pretty sure most would be wood, black or white variations. I'm certain they would be lovely, but not what I'm looking for. I'll definitely paint the ENTIRE table when I do work on it. I definitely want to get rid of all the knotty pine too. I like wood, but honestly knotty pine is NOT a favorite. I may even see if the gate-leg part can be removed since it's not really needed anymore. I just wanted to say that I appreciate ALL the feedback. Even if it's contrary to what I'M looking for. The beauty of GW is that these threads help others too. I don't know how many ideas I've gleaned from other people's posts. When the search function works ; ) I usually will check to see if someone has asked the same question before me. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good! Kathe