There's a corner of my garden from which I can see almost all of my back-yard. I put a bench there some years ago, and so I sit beneath a Black Pine which was among the first plantings at the house more than fifty years ago; and yet, the pine is still rather small, because it was planted in an artistic-Oriental fashion, the trunk at an angle, and it looks wind-swept. I set on the bench beneath the pine tree, whose branches whisper in the breeze in their own way, the pungency of the pine's fragrance creating its own atmosphere. But, near at hand, is a patch of the ever-neat and tidy Geranium 'Biokovo' adding its own special pungency. Above this rises a purple-leafed Crinum--right now, with our lasting heat-wave and my perhaps too-ample watering, about to bloom. To my right are several clumps of a bamboo-like species of Dianella, the polished blue-purple fruits looking like tiny balls of deeply-colored porcelain; covering the ground below these are patches of Helleborus I grew from seed, the flowers of these a deep purple. I raise my eyes and turn to the left again, and am looking down my main rose border. Behind me, in shade most of the time, is 'Smoky', its licorice-raspberry scent adding to the atmosphere's resinous bouquet when in bloom. Close at left, 'William Lobb' gangles its ample lengths of spines, some of the canes reaching into the embraces of the pine tree, others scratching at the Crinum during windy times. Further are HPs, DPs, Floribundas, Bourbons; my rose 'Papa Vibert' rises above California Fuchsia; and in the distance, several Teas, with my cherished Hemisphaerica at the far end of the yard. Tree Dahlias rise between and through purple Ricinus, tossing casually in the breeze. To my right, past my clump of 'Roger Lambelin', beyond a Fuchsia denticulata which, since a tree-like Holly was removed and no longer shades it, is rather unhappy, I see the "working" part of my yard: My "plant hospital," my propagation racks, my potting bench. A bush 'Snowbird' which thinks it is a 'Climbing Snowbird', nearly closes off my entrance to the farther part of this area; but it is an old friend, among the first roses I ever planted, and I consider it not an obstacle but rather a sentry dedicated to protecting my "patients" on the propagation racks. On the top racks, exposed to the sun, is found my cactus collection; some of my cacti--indeed, seed-grown by me--will soon be half a century old, and so are old friends as well. Back in the more accessible part of the yard, my view passes over my collection of Hippeastrum--much in my thoughts today, as the first blossom of a Hipp. x Sprekelia cross I made years ago is opening even as I type these words! Then, beyond a dwarf lemon bush planted by my father, and around the jutting corner of the garage, I see a bit of my beloved Camellia 'Shikibu'. In the distance is another rose border--'Jacques Cartier', 'La France de '89', and 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' are prominent, and 'Mrs. B.R. Cant' will also be, in due course. And so my look at the middle distance to the right reaches its end. The back wall of the house lies between what I've described to the right and to the left, the display, mostly of bedding plants, changing with the seasons and whatever notions are current in my planning. Presiding over all of this, in the center of the yard, is a half-century-old Brazilian Pepper, with gnarly branches which I've trained over the years to look rather like those of a Live Oak. Sitting on my bench, seeing all of this together in a glance or two, I feel as if representatives from my whole horticultural life are at a great banquet table with me, proposing a toast that it's wonderful to be alive. That is the favorite part of my garden.

My daughters are fairy-crazy! This year the eldest rec'd "Fairie-ality, the Fashion Collection" from The House of Ellwand (Candlewick Press) for her birthday. Its a large and very beautiful fairy fashion book where the clothes are made of 'natural' woodland fibers: pressed flowers, grasses, seeds/pods, feathers, cast-off snake skin, leaves ... so guess what we are doing with pressed flowers this year :) This spring we were part of a homeschoolers garden tour (our theme being fairies, of course) where the presented craft project was creating notecards and bookmarks with pressed flowers. Last year we collected an assortment of autumn leaves and flowers to press. Using craft paper that had clouds as a background, the girls created an 'autumn wind swirl' that we then framed for their room(inspired by the story "When the Root Children Wake Up" story retold by Audrey Wood, paintings by Ned Bittinger). As they get older (they are now 5 and 8 y.o) we may move away from favourite story inspirations. The older dd has been eyeing some of those beautiful lamp shades and journals that are adorned with skeleton leaves. She's thinking she would like to do something like that so we are thinking about trinket boxes and footstools as potential pressed flower surfaces ...

I love the idea of a house that is 'fully lived in' as sister3 says! And 'human scaled'...so much empty space in really big houses. The guest conundrum is funny to listen to...we've been lamenting about not having room for our relatives to stay when they come (usually for at least a week) and I don't think they enjoy the idea of camping that long in a tent, so its always an issue. Last year it rained 9 out of the 10 days my sis and 2 children (who fit the previously mentioned category perfectly)were here! Cramped to say the least! I think I'll not worry so much about trying to make them comfortable in the house (there's talk this year of them borrowing a camper trailer! Hee hee!) Cleaning and maintenance is definately a bonus, but like amanda I find it gets cluttered and the floor gets dirty so darn fast! But a few minutes each morning (well, ideally every morning...)seems to keep things under control. Also, we dont have seperate kitchen, dining and living areas (all one room) so our computer sits amongst it all. We got a 19" monitor so we can watch movies on it, which keeps down the electronic clutter. We even have no trouble with one phone! And heating is a cinch...in fact, right now I'm baking a rhubarb crisp, and the oven is heating the cabin nicely on this rainy, cold day! Not to mention filling it with yummy aroma! The list of benifits just goes on and on...if only people just realized!

I'm in CT. I used a medium gray plaster on a gunite shell, so the pool has a dark "pond water" type of look versus a bright blue water look. My pool (also 20x40) warms up quite nicely on sunshine alone. No solar cover, etc. Summer it stays in the high 80s, in a long hot spell it can turn to bath water in the low 90s. I do have a propane heater that can heat the pool and spa. I heat the spa, but haven't heated the pool since the kids went off to college. A 400k Raypak. I open the pool in April and close it in November. For heating the pool you'll want a 400k heater. Favorite simple things? I love the gray plaster and the dark subdued color of the water. I put turn tiles at each end of the pool for swimming laps. Dislike? The 3' wide ribbon of Kool Deck around the pool. I would have preferred to not have it and instead have stone coping, but for budget purposes I did the pool with the Kool Deck right away, as the kool deck was part of the pool package. Then the next year I installed the roughly 1800 sqft of stone patio, built and installed the 450' of cedar fence, and built the 16' by 40' pergola. Step by step. pool