I love this forum and the fact there are so many very intelligent members sharing opinions, facts, life experiences. Thank you, Florantha, for taking the time to share with us. I hope you will forward this to the highest levels at HD. AND share their response with us. HD had my respect years ago. I shopped at what I think was their second store in 1981 and in the following years. Continued for many years until I came to my senses. No more on that - not the right place. My hat's off to you! Rosie, in Sugar Hill, GA

Joaniepoanie, try Lancôme Absolue foundation. It is by far the best foundation I've used. I actually used it before I turned 50. The coverage is fabulous. You probably won't find it in department stores anymore though. I buy mine from Lancôme's website. I absolutely love makeup in a jar as you don't get a big spurt of foundation like in the pump bottles. I use every precious drop of it. I started using Alexandra de Markoff's cream foundation before using Lancôme. I loved it but it was impossible to find locally anymore (before internet) so I changed to Lancôme, now the same thing is happening to it but thank goodness for online ordering.

Re: painting, just remember this is not a room it is your exterior. Whatever color you paint it should go on your other exterior (non brick not trim) surfaces unless you close it in and screen/wall it. Just for fun, I really love this where steps go all the way around instead of railings. My deck is like this, I love it. It would look great in brick like this, with the brick pillar as well. Also like these, although any work like this seems like a great opportunity to face the stairs to the street as has been mentioned : ^^ no double columns for you (too fancy) but I love the brick walls and stair railings ^^Forget the style of the beams but the brick pillars at base of stair with white/cream railing returning to simple white posts would be nice What not to do: bulky pillars are all wrong for the house^^ ^^awesome with simple railing

Jules my friend has a similar area - in shade almost all day and then wham! That hot, relentless, late afternoon to evening sun. Full shade plants keel over and die. Full sun plants die a slow death because they don't get enough sun and then get blasted in their weak condition. Over the years we tried several things that just didn't work, at least not for more than a season or two. Our latest attempt is sedum kamtschaticum. I have it on a very dry, hot, full-sun, southwest facing slope at the edge of my yard along the street (no sidewalks - in addition to sun the heat just radiates off the asphalt all day) and it does well there. In her yard, her situation was an island bed in the middle of the yard, with three large oaks, surrounded by grass, and as I said, in shade almost all day. There was just this southwest end of the bed that got hit with the sun in late afternoon. The soil is much richer than my poor lean, inch-of-soil-on-solid-ledge slope. So I was hesitant to try the sedum. But it's been about 5 years and it's doing quite well. The bloom might not be as prolific as mine but I happen to love sedum for the foliage anyway, and having a green groundcover is better than bare dirt, lol. Good luck with whatever you choose! :) Dee