Sophie, Here's the water feature. It's a bit green 'cause we need a new pump & there are no fish to eat the algae, but it's a great fertilizer! These photos were taken RIGHT after this week's hail storm & you can still see hail on the ground. You can also see some empty space, where I've been taking out the "filler" Undu. Albo's, and putting in iris, lilies and more hosta. But this is a more sunny part of the yard, and the area my mom can best see from the living room window (she doesn't get out much anymore), so I try to fill it with lots of flowers... and bird feeders! BEHIND the front garden, you can see the front corner yard, which is FULL of trees (mostly oaks) and shade. It is surrounded by an old perennial bed that I put in about 20 years ago. I'm working on fertilizing & mulching the surviving plants, and adding some others. THEN, I will be filling the entire space with plants (hostas & others). You can also see the tree that was chopped down to make room & sun for the new perennial bed I made last week. And you can see the pile of leaves that is slowly being composted in the new bins (I plan on making 2 more). I was away for quite a while, only coming back to visit. With going back to school (in my 30's) and helping mom with her health issues, it allows me to spend more time in the old yard. As long as it's "pretty", no one really cares what I do! In this photo, you can see the beginnings of my expanding the shade gardens across the driveway. Rocks are lining the basic shape & I've planted some ground covers, ferns, hosta, and other things in the rock circle. There's SO much that needs to be done around here, it's a matter of making as much progress as possible. Any ideas are appreciated!

well, there are a few reasons frogs like your yard, the biggest is water source, remove the water source and the frogs will go away. second is food source, but I do not know how to remove that without harming the frogs with pesticides or something of the sor

Oh, that would be everywhere, where the paint overlaps the tape. I was painting from 2 am to 4 am on Sat, Sun, and Tues nights. Ugggh! Thank you so much for telling me exactly what I have to do. I don't care if it takes a long time to remove the tape carefully, I want to protect my work!!! Painted rugs, hmmmmm. Right now they are in my fantasy brain. I don't dare share this with DH as we have so much on our plate already with finishing off the huge renovation job and moving by Sept 1. Then there is regular work and chasing children. So the painted rug is tabled, so to speak, until a rainy day.

Thank you all for your kind words. It's always fun to show our Before & After project pics here. You get inspired and work so hard creating something new. It's nice to be able to share it . . . even if the end results don't end up in your home (LOL)! Oakley: Haha!! I don't think DD is going to want to give up all of her new (old) furniture and decs to move back into a shared, already-furnished bedroom at her sorority house next year when it's finally redone. She'll be a senior then and is already loving her home only a couple of blocks from campus. Although she definitely IS missing having someone else plan, shop for and cook all the meals (LOL)! The wall's of DD's room were already painted that color by the previous tenant and I don't have a clue what the brand name or color of it is. Sorry. Is your son going to OU? I agree, decorating a son's place is (usually) a lot less fun than decorating a daughter's. My own son's place made me cringe during his six years at OU! Arcy: I LOVE your DD's headboard. How beautiful!!! The fabric is wonderful and looks beautiful with that dark wood. This is a fun age for our daughters, isn't it? Jake: that sounds a lot like my son's rooms when he was in college. Yaya: yes, it drove me to distraction not to be able to do much of anything while my hands were healing. Although I've developed significant arthritis in both hands as a result of the surgery, the fracture and the subsequent long immobilization periods, I love being able to work with them again! Patty: DD was seven? My goodness, it HAS been a long time, hasn't it? Her desk color? Yes, It wouldn't have been my choice, but she does love it and, yes, she can paint it again someday if the mood strikes her. (Shudder) That desk (and all of it's drawers and cubbies) was very tedious and hard to paint. I wouldn't want to do that one again ever! What fun to be able to do your GD's bedroom! You'll have to share that with us when you finish it. Well, thank you all again for allowing me to share my Summer's decorating projects. DH & I have just started redoing his study yesterday. More grunt work and a lot less fun than DD's but the results will be good . . . once we ever finish! Lynn This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 23:27