Check out the very wonderful "Fine Gardening" magazine, and also Better Homes and Garden. They should be available locally and at your library. Browse through back issues. (Both magazines have websites that are okay) Take an afternoon and wander through a good local nursery. There are many in your area. Take a day trip up to White Flower Farms in Litchfield, CT or some of the really fantastic nurseries in the metro NY area. You are lucky that you are near some great places. (You may choose not to purchase at one of these high end places, but they have great displays and knowledgeable staff that will be a big help.) There are some terrific books too that will be inspiring and helpful. I could NOT do without "Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials", (it's far more useful than it sounds). I also love my "Creating Beds and Borders", by the Fine Gardening magazine people, "Perennial All-Stars" is a good handy beginner's guide, There are literally thousands of great books available. Clean out your current beds, cut in the edges with a spade for a nice neat look, and MULCH them. Mulching will go a long way to helping maintain your existing gardens. Get rid of the poison ivy and also possibly the "bamboo"...if it is actually the invasive japanese knotweed it is AWFUL, invasive and just awful, awful, start trying to eradicate in now or it will invade everything. Start a few containers (a good transition for a houseplant person to an outdoor gardener). And have fun beginning on this wonderful hobby. You can look forward to many more springs of "gardening fever".

I've done the slide thing on each side of my house over the 3 years I've lived here. I feel your pain. One slide resulted in a nasty sprain that took months to heal. I learned to stay off of the grass when wet and to stay off the leaves completely. Both conditions are hazardous. I live on the side of a mountain, really steep. And I'm on the north side so there is a fair amount of shade. I am slowly replacing the weeds with flowers. I use a lot of ground covers. Along side the driveway I've put fruit trees on one side and the veggie bed on the other side using 6 inch logs to create the tiers. Then I haul the compost up to them. That's been quite a job lately. The hill is clay and rocks so I dig a hole (hard work) place the compost and clay mixture in the hole use the stones from the hole to build a little edging and then plant my plants. Over all I have a ten year plan for getting the property to the place I want it. So far I'm not doing to badly at staying on schedule. I love the look of the uphill view from my livingroom. And it gets better every year. I'm no where near where others are but I'm enjoying the journey.

I love porches! I think every home should have at least 1! They are so inviting & so great if enclosed & bug free. My aunt used to use it to cool her Christmas candies & store her Christmas baking(So. Dak. was very cold back then). Grandma's lake cottage had 1 & it had a swing/bed hanging from the ceiling. That is where I spent my time when I was there unless I was swimming. At the corner before the porch turned & went across back(lakeside) was a table & chairs for dining. Lake side had several easy chairs or rockers to watch kids swim or play at bottom of the hill. You are so lucky to have another 1 upstairs!! Jan

Another vote for gingham....in yellow, or the same green, or the blue....your choice! Truly serene. And Kenny is a keeper. Does he travel for jobs? I think this entire board could keep him quite busy! ~ I remember the trials and tribulations of when you did the ceiling....and leaving for a long bike ride in the midst of it. It was all worth the effort. What a gem.