Good for you! I looked through the Nettle when we went for our walk through the woods last week and I found a Red Admiral caterpillar. He was wrapped up in the leaf most of the time I had him, it was funny! I love those walks when you find something, it makes me so happy!* Aggie

Hijack here but I am looking at a lot with the exact same issues (I think) and would love advice on who to talk to before I buy the lot. And it is possible that what my (potential) neighbor had done would work for you. Lot is .46 acre and slopes about 5 feet downward to the back and then comes up again. The neighbor (faced with almost identical constraints flattened it out enough for a pool and built a 1/2 walkout basement. By 1/2 walkout - the right side of the house basement is covered by dirt - no windows. The left 1/3 has a door and some windows. You walkout but can't really get to the flat part of the wall - they didn't build stairs. There is a patio on grade and then a sloped landscaped area - much cheaper than a wall. He built some drains underground that do dump onto my lot. It looks like I could continue the drains and pass onto the next lot (which built is as a seasonal stream with a little bridge over it). This "stream" is tiny but clearly needs to be addressed. I would like to do something similar to the neighbor with a 1/2 daylight basement. I would really like the kitchen/great room area to be level with a backyard pool. The realtor says it can be done but I take that for what it is worth. Is getting a surveyor in there the way to go? A builder - I don't have one yet? Pool builder - don't even know if I would wait a year or two on that. I would like to not be surprised like OP but I don't think I want to spend $5000 before I've even purchased the lot....

I'm so sorry about your Ginger girl. Pets are such a wonderful part of our lives, so forgiving, loving, honest, on and on. Ginger was a lucky girl to have you too. Adopting a senior is so kind. Sigh, I have a senior nearing her end of life soon. She's 14 1/2 , can hardly see or hear , her enzymes have been off the chart for years and she keeps on ticking. It will be hard seeing her go even though I've been preparing for this for quite a while. I imagine as always, time will heal the tears and our other pets will need our attention. It's still a tough time.

Good neighbours really make a difference! I live in an small apartment building (3 apts) and we enjoy shovelling snow. We do it often, just to save the landlords doing it when they come home from work. when the snow is heavy, and the landlord next door is using his snow-blower, he'll often come over and do ours so we don't have to shovel. When I'm shovelling the sidewalk, I'll often do his in front of his triplex. BTW, us helping the landlord doesn't go unnoticed/unappreciated. We got a lovely gift from them for Christmas.