I really, really like hrigsby's idea with the deck. Under the deck storage can be for kid stuff--they can keep their outside playthings there, from bikes and scooters to enormous waterguns. Enclose it and make it a closet. >I was thinking of doing climbing roses and clematis on the shed, but I want to develop a clear plan before I start buying plants. You are totally overthinking this. If you want the look of a clematis and rose-draped shed, get a clematis and a big climbing rose. Go to the species forum and ask for advice, and then go and buy your New Dawn rose and whatever clematis everyone's enthralled by now. Plant them. Mulch their roots so they don't get weedy. Done. You are not going to throw off the entire garden plan by choosing the wrong rose and the wrong clematis. The rock work on the shed foundation is awesome, but as far as plants go...could you possibly do worse? >The park-like look really appeals to me with mulched burmed beds, if that makes sense. Manicured, simple, orderly. You mean commercial and/or parks-and-rec sorts of plantings? This seems to be what you're saying--shaped hedges floating in seas of mulch... This takes a lot of weed killer and a BIG budget for mulch. It also will look, at best, like a rather nice office building. I think you might need more exposure to various kinds of gardens. What you're imagining is mass-maintenance, not low-maintenance. And it's unsuited to a home, though many builders of cookie-cutter homes throw in the cookie-cutter shrubs like this. >Photos of Japanese style gardens appeal to me also. Not low maintenance. >I also love the idea of attracting birds more. I have seen blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, and morning doves. A water feature would be great but I don't think I want a pond. If you want a wildlife garden area, circle where you want it on your layout. Do you want to see it from the patio? From the windows of which room? I'd advise a prefabbed, plug-in type of water feature for low maintenance. Most are hideous. Some are nice. Eventually, you can find one you like. >We also love the idea of doing raspberry, blueberry, blackberry bushes for the kids and birds, but I hear the roots can be very invasive. Why didn't you go over to the fruit forum and ask? The very nice people there would have explained to you that you need a 2' deep root barrier for the raspberries but none for the blackberries. (The lazy way to do it is a 2' deep raised bed, but that may not be smart in your zone.) You will want to plant this either on the east or west side, parallel to the property line but with a pathway at least as wide as the mower. You want this on the OPPOSITE side of property than the wildlife garden, if you really want it for the kids. If you want it mostly for birds, there are better choices of plant--far more attractive for people. If you want several types of raspberry, each needs a 2' deep root barrier between them, or the more aggressive types will take over. The bed needs to be 2' wide. Mulch it well to prevent weeds. Each plant needs 3' of length along the bed. Put a hedge up along the other side, between you and your other neighbors, to reduce the feeling of exposure. As far as the existing arbs, I'd personally do a mixed shrub border, but I fear you will want an orderly row of evergreens that will do nothing to soften the shape of the yard and will grown unmanageably huge themselves in time. I can't really see the commercial berms and sterile plantings plus wildlife combination. It does not at all work in my mind.

I vote Coyote. Based on your location. Coyotes do quite well in suburbs where small mamals are plentiful. They are pretty elusive unless they have babies nearby. You shouldnt really see them during the day. If you lived further south, I would have said red wolf. They are similar in size to coyote, with a snout that looks very close to what your photo has. We are lucky enough to have some here nearby (National Forest just a few miles down the road), and they are on the way to recovery. Of course we also get bear and deer. If you have bird feeders near that brush, you are likely to see more wildlife like Mr Coyote - easy pickins. The birds eat and spill seed, small mamals come to eat the seed, and house cat comes to eat small mamals. Mr Coyote is doing what comes natural. If he gets close enough to get photos - I personally would relocate the feeders (if you have them)further out and or avoid throwing food for the birds. Enjoy him from a distance but don't encourage him.

I've submitted three counts so far - one of my yard for Friday, Feb. 12, one for the local marsh on Saturday, Feb. 13, and one more of my yard for Saturday, Feb. 13. These reports are as submitted (emailed back from GBBC) First Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 12, 2010 Start Time: 6:45 AM Total Birding Time: 1 hour Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural freshwater salt water Number of Species: 17 All Reported: yes Checklist: Wild Turkey - 15 Mourning Dove - 23 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Blue Jay - 5 American Crow - 4 Black-capped Chickadee - 1 Tufted Titmouse - 1 European Starling - 3 Song Sparrow - 2 White-throated Sparrow - 4 Dark-eyed Junco - 6 Northern Cardinal - 9 Red-winged Blackbird - 13 Purple Finch - 1 House Finch - 3 American Goldfinch - 15 House Sparrow - 20 Second Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010 Start Time: 2:30 AM Total Birding Time: 15 minutes Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural salt water Number of Species: 5 All Reported: no Checklist: Canada Goose - 125 American Black Duck - 3 Mallard - 2 Green-winged Teal - 3 Hooded Merganser - 1 Comments ---------------------------------------- Drive by sightings at Shifting Lots Preserve (adjacent to Ellisville Harbor State Park) ------------------------------------------------- Third Report Locality: 02360, Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA Observation Date: FEB 13, 2010 Start Time: 7:15 AM Total Birding Time: 1 hour Party Size: 1 Skill: good Weather: excellent Snow Depth: Less than 2 in (5.1 cm) Habitat(s): deciduous woods coniferous woods scrub rural freshwater salt water Number of Species: 17 All Reported: no Checklist: Wild Turkey - 13 Mourning Dove - 17 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Blue Jay - 13 American Crow - 3 Black-capped Chickadee - 3 Tufted Titmouse - 1 Hermit Thrush - 1 European Starling - 5 American Tree Sparrow - 1 Song Sparrow - 3 White-throated Sparrow - 6 Dark-eyed Junco - 12 Northern Cardinal - 7 Red-winged Blackbird - 5 American Goldfinch - 16 House Sparrow - 25 ***************************************************************************** I have another neighborhood count almost ready to submit for today, but I've emailed a few photos to a local guru for identification. There are some birds I've never seen before and I'm not sure if I've identified them correctly. Claire

Many years ago, we had a smoker and smoked our turkey all day, basting it in red wine and butter. Mmmmmm, still remember how good it tasted!! So I'm actually planning to try smoking our turkey this year, but on our gas grill! I found some online instructions on doing this, so hoping it works. Couple of obstacles, though. First is that I forgot to cover the ground around our grill before the snow, so will see tomorrow if I can shovel it out enough to get to it! We got about 13" of snow during this storm that started last night. Second is that I haven't yet checked to see if the small turkey I bought will fit inside the grill without touching the inside of the lid when it's closed. I'm thinking it should be ok, but sometimes my guess-timates get the better of me, lol. But since it's just the hubby and myself this year, there's no stress on the cooking. So if it doesn't fit or otherwise work out, I'll just cook it in the oven like usual. I like to have enough turkey leftover from Thanksgiving to freeze for Christmas, as it's nice to not have to deal with cooking a turkey on top of all the other festivities going on that day. Other things I've grilled? I tried watermelon once. It was actually pretty good! Corn on the cob is good grilled, but haven't heard of grilled lettuce before! Interesting!!