Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.... And a kind word is better spoken than left in thought only. I've stopped and complimented gardeners before. I've had people stop at my house too; it always puts a bounce in my step the rest of the week. I got a start on many of my old-fashioned perennials from an elderly neighbor 25 years ago at my starter home. I was a newlywed and working on establishing a veggie patch and flowers in my first house. Mrs. Foxwell walked down to offer advice and starts from her garden. She gave me bee balm and larkspur and irises. She continued to garden, against her children's advice, after her mastectomy. My only advice to her was to wear two pairs of gloves (surgical gloves under her garden gloves) to prevent infection. She was a kind and generous person. I say "was" as she was in her 80's 25 years ago and I moved from that town 15 years ago. I gently suggest that you take a card and/or a bunch of posies to the house of the master gardener. If she has passed on, her husband will be touched by your kindness and memory of his wife's creativity (even if it touches him to tears, it is good; memories are precious). If she is still with us but in frail health the visit will be appreciated. Every time I see a bee balm start to open I hear Mrs. Foxwell saying..."see, its the Lord's plant, the crown on his head opening to the flower of redemption." Bee balm flowers do resemble a head with a "crown" as the flower petals start to emerge. I am continuing her legacy; my niece and her friends stopped by my house after we spent most of the day a a lavender festival. I toured the girls around the yard and then gave them slips of oregano, bee balm, thyme, pineapple mint; seeds from money plant, cilantro, and larkspur; and cuttings of lavender. One of the girls went to offer me some money and I declined; saying gardening should be community in the old sense of the word. We share with each other; no sense of a favor given or a favor owed. We are community; we share.

Liking the work is one thing. Having the tools and equipment to do the work is another. Having the experience to get the jobs done is yet another. You have thought about all of those. The things that you do not yet understand is that each potential customer has a choice of you and everybody else. The three things those customers are looking for are ability to do the project with the skill equal to the task, a competitive price equal to THEIR value of the work, and confidence that you can complete the job in a timely manner. It is not how well you are qualified in each of these areas, but how well you are qualified vs. all the others out there. You will have less experience than most of the others, you will be less financially efficient because you won't have the same sources, same discounts, same credit, same organization, etc,..., you will be less likely to be in and out as fast as a well managed, well manned, well equiped, and well trained crew. Who would you hire? In other words, jobs are not going to be pouring in right away. The next thing that most "corporate dropouts for the great outdoors" people do not look at is what it takes to bring in the same net pay. Right now your employer pays half your social security, all your workmans comp (which is higher in landscaping than mouse clicking), probably all of your health care, some kind of matching to your 401k, pays your days off, vacation, and sick time. Let's use the figure of $50k as your gross income (taken directly from ... well let's say the thin air). I'm sure you hear the prices of $35-$60 per hour as the billing rate for landscapers on a job. That sounds great. You are in the south, so let's say $40 an hour is the billable rate and nine months is the working season. That is 39 weeks. If you billed 40 hours per week for that 39 weeks you will gross $62,400. Then you have to pay you ss, you still want to get $3,000 into your 401k, it rained too hard to work for 20 of those days ($6,400), you were ill for 3 more ($960), your wife wanted the week long family vacation in the mountains($1,600), you have a big gas bill from all the driving around, the city won't let you keep your equipment in your residential neighborhood (rent), Oh, you are new, so you don't have a full on going schedule of work either. So how's that $40 per hour working out? The $4,000 mower can expect three years, so there is another $1,300+ off the salary. Oh, liability insurance. Lettering on the truck (by law in many places). Three pairs of $100 boots for the year. Health insurance is a fun one too - you won't be in a group policy anymore - expect an easy $7,000-$10,000 a year for a family plan. You can usually expect a good 29 day wait after you send the monthly bills for maintenance out, and a few roll overs to the next month. Then in the fall, you'll have to be putting in serious time cleaning up. How's that 100 lawn accounts that take up the week to mow looking now that they each need a half day to clean up? That would take 10 weeks, but they all want it done in the same two week period. That will add up minutes on the cell phone bill - you need to upgrade your minutes. Yup, I hate sitting in an office clicking a mouse 40 hours a week and those lonely evenings without 12 messages on the answering machine. How much do you think you'll like to putter around in the garden when you get home after doing it all day every day? I tore a disc two years ago. If I were self employed and relying on my body for a living, I would have been in big trouble. You can hurt yourself and be out of commission so easily. When I was in my early 20's I sprained my ankle and could not work for two weeks. I was self employed and made no money (luckily I was freeloading at home at the time). You have to know the risks. You just worked your tail off and earned about $30,000 before taxes and you want to buy more equipment so you can do more different stuff next year. But, many people do it and have a great time and make a great living. Just understand that it is not the same as working in your own back yard. I never mentioned customers and all the things that go with them.

I think your pool guy is crazy :) If mottling is a concern, stay far away from colored plaster, including grey. Pebble Sheen / Pebble Tec (the real things) will both look great years and years down the road if installed correctly. It' all relative to your situation. If spending the extra is not a concern, stick with sheen. I will add that some certain projects of mine look better with a colored plaster than they do a sheen...some tuscan style homes and french chateau projects needed that old world mottling look.

The one thing to check, I think, is if the GC was trying to warn you off. Does he really want to work over the holidays? Do his subs? Are they taking their kids on vacation just when you thought they'd be working? The GC might want the job too much to tell you no-can-do, and figure he can probably make it work out, rather than being eager for your start date. If you're sure he and the subs are on board, go for it! And maybe add an incentive bonus for them to be done, cleaned up and signed off by January 25 (sooner if that's the quote), which gives you a week to get your act together before your party. Plus a penalty if it's not done by February 1. It can be done if everyone's on board. I only worry that less than 2 months over the holidays is awfully tight, if you really want them done in time for the party.