growing up we always had a bbq, the whole family together. some members would go to cemetery, but as soon as any decorations were put on graves here they would be gone the next day, so we stopped. i never went anyway, honestly i think its morbid but thats just my opinion...we always looked through albums. i know it sounds awful cold but i wont go to funerals at all. i do however think its in very poor taste when families do visit loved ones and plant something that your loved ones loved like say mums, something non invasive, only to go the next day and see a huge pile of everyones plants in a huge pile...boy that makes me madder than a wet hen!!!!

I've been reading Rosemary Barron's "Flavors of Greece" (I read cookbooks the way others read novels). In it there is sort of a Greek version of hummus that might work: Rivithosalata (Garbanzo Beans & Garlic Salata) 1 1/2 cups dried garbanzo beans, soaked overnight in water to cover 2 large cloves garlic, chopped 1 tsp ground coriander or 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 5 tbls Kalamata olive oil Strained juice of 2 lemons for serving: Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 tbls dried rigani (Greek oregano) crumbled 1 tsp paprika Drain the beans and place in a large saucepan with cold water to cover. Bring slowly to a boil, drain, rinse. Rinse out the saucepan, return beans to pan, and add cold water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil, recuce the heat, cover, and genly simmer for 50 minutes or until so0ft. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and a few whole beans for garnish. Place the beans, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender container. With the machine running, gradually add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and most of the lemon juice. Add more salt and pepper and the remainign lemon juice if desired and process until smooth and creamy. For a thinner consistency gradually add some or all of the reserved liquid (if you plan to store the salata add all the reserved liquid---it will thicken on standing). Spread on a platter and sprinkle with the parsley, regani and reserved whole berans. Combine the parprika and remaining tbls olive oil and sprinkle over the salata. To store, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to two days.

I know it's possible to pull up hardwood flooring, but I don't think it's easy and it might damage some of the boards or finish on them, so you would have to most likely reinstall and refinish. With your situation of having future construction plans with the home, I'm kind of thinking the plywood option isn't a bad idea, as it could be the underlament when you're ready to lay the hardwood flooring so you wouldn't have to remove it. I would think it would hold up fairly well for a few years with kids, pets, and construction, if you put decent poly on it. Franksmom, the paint sprayer we bought is called a Graco TrueCoat II Plus (250.00 at Lowes). It's not at all like the cheaper Wagner paint sprayers you see, it's made by one of the best companies that make professional paint sprayers. It's a handheld (no stand) airless paint sprayer so it has a paint container attached to the gun. Because it's an airless type and not an HVLP type of sprayer, you don't have to thin latex paints, you can use them right out of the paint can, so you have much thicker coats/coverage in one pass when sprayed on. It's easier to clean (IMHO) and you can work with smaller amounts of paint because it has the paint cup attached to the gun instead of of stand type where you have tubes that feed from large gallon or 5 gallon paint cans. There are different versions of the Graco Truecoat, we went with Truecoat II Plus because it has a flexible pump tube so you can tip the gun upwards or turn it sideways and the paint will still siphon to the sprayer (good for painting ceilings), and it offered an adjustable air pressure knob, so you can adjust the spray pressure for more control (a little less overspray) and for the thickness of the paint you're using. Also it is repairable, and you can buy parts for it, some of the older Truecoat models are not repairable. They do sell different tips you can buy for the sprayer to give you different spray size and for different thicknesses of materials (latex paint vs thin stain), they also make a larger container cup, a back pack attachment kit that can hold up to a gallon of paint so you don't have to use the container cup attachment and refill as often. You can also purchase more plastic bag cup liners so cleanup is easier. The cons to this sprayer are, it's heavy because the paint container is attached to the gun, you have to refill more often because it uses a smaller amount of paint at a time, and you get more overspray and go through paint much faster than you do with an HVLP sprayer because it's airless. The overspray will be decent so make sure you mask/cover things well when using. Clean up takes about 20-30 min and you have to make sure you take the time to do it properly, and masking/covering to protect from overspray can take some time, however the upside is you can paint 10 doors in about 10 min with it.

Since only the garage corners and the facade on the right are brick, you could consider staining them to change the overall color and match the siding paint to that shade. Call in a brick staining expert to consult on the stains that would work with your roof and be a color you'd like to see on the entire house. If not into staining, with your gray roof, you could lean into burgundy like the darker bricks. You could also go with a gray that is darker than the roof. I agree that your landscaping, especially the tree in front, needs special attention from a professional who can shape things up and reveal the front of your house to advantage.