Hi All, I appreciate your wisdom. :-) Even though I may have sounded nuts (and I was!), I realize "Rome wasn't built in a day." I'm glad I've gotten to the plantings this year and think they will help a bit in time. Heaven knows that's the truth for the house--there was *nothing* here when I bought 4 years ago. So, it's come a *long* way. But, I'm a school teacher and during Aug-May I have *no* time. Honestly-none. So, I do what I can in the summer (although we have work on prep and admin. now). While I enjoy the product of gardening/interior design, I enjoy process less--esp in the garden where it is physically hard for me to work (due to an injury that makes walking/digging painful). Soooo...I'll admit I'm looking for something that works the first time, if possible. That said, I'm not beyond moving things if I have to and next year will move 2 laurels--somewhere--as they don't work where they are. And, I do enjoy it at its core. All this reminds me of the "what I learned from gardening" thread. I do need to learn patience and to enjoy the modest things that the garden brings. :-) So, resalesally--you are right that I should just "go" and stop obsessing. HA! :-) Nell- Thanks for your comments, too. It is a great door that they have. (Wonder if I might be too lazy to clean those panes?? Hmmm....) Memo- Thanks for the awning suggestion. Trouble is, I just don't like awnings. I know I'm getting away from the authenticity of the house a bit...but based on my completely crude "paint" experiments in WORD, thing something raised a bit will help give me what I'm looking for. But...you might be right about the awning being so tiny compared to the stoop. (Man, I have *got* to learn photoshop to test your theory out.) As for the lattice...so you're saying to post it in the ground *perpendicular* to the stoop? Is that right? Hmmm...possibly. Hadn't thought of that. What do you think about covering the concrete w/ wood and a railing and giving the house a more "cottage" feel? EVERYONE - Paint trim vote for the bottom of the house?? Thanks, ya'll! Keep those ideas coming.

Mentally, I'm recovered. LOL. This was really devastating to me, because I'd never had such a bad year, but I think I was just overdue. The good news is that I've totally immersed myself in organic ways and have been taking crash courses. I've learned SO MUCH. (Much of it here from everyone...you all are great!) Add me to the 100 percent organic converts now. I never plan to use another synthetic chemical again. This weekend, I'm planning on building my very first compost pile! Yes I am, and I'm so excited about it. I've used compost, but it was always purchased from the store (Lowes and Wal Mart). And I'm thinking about next year. This year is kind of an experience in learning, and I've learned a lot. I had a good crop of tomatoes (Celebrity, Caspian Pink - love those - and Better Boys), but it's about died out now. Usually, I have a regular crop of tomatoes through the first frost (which isn't until Halloween or so). But the tomatoes I got were good, and I didn't have a lot of splitting for the first time ever. I credit that to the HGTV/DIY shows that said add a handful of lime when planting. My eggplants did really well for awhile, and that was fun. I still think I'll get a few more, but everything seems to be winding down. This is very unusual, but I've been hearing it from others around the area. It's just not been a good year for anyone it seems. My gypsy peppers, bless their hearts, are indestructable. They just smiled through the invasion and kept on doing their thing. Lots of wonderful peppers. Those are so fun to grow...and so prolific. My herbs all did really well and are still going. (Except the coriander, but it always dies in the heat) But my fears on the cukes and honeydews came true and they're near death. I got a good crop of cukes before the cucumber beetles invaded. (And I ended up with both striped AND spotted beetles, with a few squash bugs for extra fun) I'm sure it's wilt from the beetles. My melons were all deformed and I think had scab on them. Poor things. LOL. But I'm just letting them keep growing, just in case. I finally cut the oldest melon open, and inside was a small, deformed melon. It wasn't sweet enough yet, but it was a nice color and tasted fresh and springy anyway. I got about three nice bites. haha. I've not grown a successful melon yet, but I'll keep trying every year. Now I'm about ready to head to my local extension office, get my soil tested and see if they can help me decide what to do with my garden over winter. I'm trying to decide between black plastic (which will supposedly kill pathogens by cooking them, but I'm not sure about bug eggs), and a cover crop such as hairy vetch. I'm leaning towards hairy vetch if I do a cover crop. But I'll ask the ext. agent for his/her thoughts on our area. I don't know if the lacewings ever did their work or not. I had fun sprinkling the little hatchlings, like fairy dust. My neighbors might have had a few laughs watching me, because I did prance and sprinkle. (I thought lacewings were the size of moths in adulthood, but now I read they're tiny little things) Next year, I'm probably going to introduce beneficials early, some nematodes and ladybugs. I had a lot of different bugs this year, but my big problems were the leafhoppers (they're still hopping and sucking) and the cucumber beetles. The other good news, and the reason I went organic this year...the birdies! I haven't had tons of butterflies yet, but man do I have many hummingbirds. I finally bought a little feeder that hangs outside my front window, and they come one after another. I've got at least 6-8 that I've seen in a bunch (a gaggle?). And one in particular likes to dance with me, and with my cats, through the window. It's just amazing. I also have a family of cardinals that I've been feeding safflower seeds, and it's been so fun watching their behavior (dad feeding the wife and kids...looks like they're kissing). And one son is starting to turn red...I call him my birdie boy. The others fly away when I approach, but he stays and lets me talk to him, and cocks his head like a pet bird. My family thinks I've lost my mind. LOL. But they're indulging my bird chatter and my new obsession with a compost pile. So that was the longggggggg answer (sorry). Short answer: garden mostly went to hell, but I've enjoyed the birds and intend to keep learning about organic ways. Thanks, Kitty, for asking. ***

WOW... active seismic zone, and there's FRAMING/strapping issues, in what I assume is a FRAMEd house? Surely, by now, someone has coined a catchy acronym to describe the now-proverbial "So-Cal-nightmare-hacked-together-during-boom-by-illegal-labor-with-no-meaningful-inspections-by-AHJ..." ;') In most states the current owner would have legal recourse against the builder for 10 YEARS, but it's 40:1 odds this shoddy builder has folded shop and vamoosed, circa 2005-07. It's not hard to imagine the FOUNDATION/soil preparation was done with similar "quality". If this dubious house is really a contender, it would be cheap insurance to hire a licensed Geotechnical Engineer, who specializes in foundations, to do "the kitchen sink" inspection, including drilling core samples, peeky-peek with a borescope, etc. Oh yeah. Knowledge is power, not to mention further negotiating leverage, buyer's market and all. At the very least, determine other homes in the 'hood built by the same hosers, and talk to the owners, especially original owners. OTOH, I do envy the apparently significant legal liability HIs work under in high-tax CA. Here in corrupt ol' low-tax FL, the HIs are on the hook ONLY for the price of the inspection--at most--I kid you not!

Try Natuzzi. Long wait (exactly 3 months as far as I remember), but they deliver it the day they promised to deliver it:) Lots of choice of leathers/fabrics. You specify what you want. They have some nice models. Not sure about the price. Here's their US website, with all the models and specs, and dealers: http://www.natuzzi.us/en-US/collections.html Of course I'd attempt to try different models first. It's amazing how uncomfortable can be even very expensive sofa..)) and Natuzzi was reasonably priced. Not low, but reasonable. I used to have them when overseas; then we had to get new furniture, and went with Italsofa(cheaper Natuzzi's line)..well I can't say it's bad, it's pretty comfy and all, but it's not as good as original Natuzzi either. The price point is obviously better though. Macy's Home carry these. I don't know whether you have a store called HD Buttercup in your vicinity; but I remember myself being pleasantly surprised with some comfortable armchairs there:) Interestingly, now I'm surprised much more when I find a sofa that's actually comfortable. Than 20 years ago. Lol. So tibbrix's suggestion can be very good too. Even no need for an antique-20 years ago they were better made; if you go 40 years back-probably even better..:) Of course there are great sofas nowadays too; it's just that they rarely cost 2000. In my limited experience, at least.