Hi Wellspring/Charlotte! Lots of good things to think about in your comments... While everyone's experience is going to be different, I generally find the input from someone who deals with the issues themselves everyday particularly useful in highlighting details to think about. It did finally occur to me on the weekend to search on the Accessible Gardening forum here but I didn't find much. 'Introducing' my friend to her garden by walking around it and giving her a running commentary on it is definitely something we'll need to do. She's probably still in the early stages of developing those mapping skills you have so it'll be good practice for her to get very familiar with the garden space. She's still in the process of 'mapping' the inside of the house. She does have the depth perception problem (as do I...) so we're both somewhat used to dealing with that - but have the bruises to show that one can never let down one's guard! My friend just about knocked herself out last week when she mis-judged where the bathroom door was in the middle of the night apparently! (She was still following her old 'map' from the condo when she was half asleep...) I do need to get a better sense of what a garden means for her. Other than scented things, I'm not really sure. I know my garden preferences are largely formed by the gardens I grew up with as a child. I have no idea what gardens in her original part of the world look like and what expectations she might have with respect to things like foliage shapes, flower colors etc. We'll have to explore all that. There may be some unrealistic expectations to deal with too - I remember a girl from Guyana in my university days being baffled by the fact that tomatoes had to be planted again each year! And there's lots of new language issues for us to work out together I'm sure. The garden that's at the house now largely follows the foundation and the fence line. The path to the front door has garden beds on both sides. The path itself worries me. It's narrow at the driveway end - made with ~2' paving stones - and there's a 4-6" drop to the driveway at the end. At the front door end, the path widens to a landing area made with 3-4' patio stones - which are not level! There are 2 steps to the front door and then a step up into the front hall. The steps to the door are also not level and there is no handrail to provide support. It strikes me as dangerous - but is it something that she will just learn to navigate easily/safely from habit or should they be making a new entrance a priority? Is a trench edge also a hazard - i.e. if you step into it, it's easy to fall. (That's one of the reasons I spent a good part of last summer and fall replacing all my trench edging with brick... I was thinking that would be a good idea for her for areas she's likely to be walking frequently...?) Overhead obstacles are, I think, a big future issue at my friend's house. In this TINY backyard, the previous owner planted 3 (!!) pine trees of some sort. At the moment they're still only about 4' tall but in a few years they will totally eat up the yard! I think they should get rid of them now before they become an issue, but I sense it's going to be hard to convince a pair of non-gardeners to cut down these seemingly small green things! The previous owners planted quite a few roses up against the house. I've been wondering if they're likely to be an issue at all. I've seen my friend reach out her hand to the house wall for support, fairly near the roses. How often do do entangle yourself in rose thorns?! Should the roses be moved to places where she is unlikely to accidentally reach into or fall against them? I like the idea of brightly colored pots at the end of a bench that is easily reached. We haven't actually ventured out to the backyard yet so I don't have a very good sense of the space out there yet. From indoors, it looks a bit sloped and uneven and greatly in need of a level place for sitting etc. We'll probably have to wait another 6 weeks or so to really check things out. Probably some people are thinking this discussion doesn't belong here. I don't know how to switch the discussion to e-mail... But, since designing for accessibility is an issue these days in many situations, I thought this discussion might provide some insights into practical aspects from a 'user' perspective :-) There are certainly lots of well-meaning 'accessible' alterations out there that drive me nuts - and I'm sure you find the same sort of thing. As much as possible, I want to avoid inadvertently causing problems for my friend so I value your perspective on all this. Woody/Susan

I would definitely start Carolina reaper and manzano now. Uba tuba (aka bishops crown, Christmas bell, bishops hat, peri peri etc.) grows very quickly but takes a long time to fully develop its larger fruit so you may want to start them now also. All the rest I would hold off on.

lol sue_ct: red is about the only color I don't have. although I do have one red leather chair bought just to add some interest to the great room. I don't know where to get these cabinets. they are thermofoil and are holding up great but I've never seen the exact ones again. We have rope lights above the upper cabinets and below the upper cabinets. My husband wants to add molding to both upper and lower so that will jazz it up a bit. We do have seeded glass that we just put into the pantry cabs that you see in the pictures. We're all about doing the less expensive stuff, we just haven't done the changes that cost more. I would like to get backless stools for the bar. I haven't yet because I don't know if we'll end up with a counter height bar like we have or a taller one to hide the kitchen counter. I guess I'm at a point where I'm going to have to commit to a design plan. I don't like that the microwave hangs below the cabinets. Can't duct to the outside. that's another thing I wish I had known about 10 years ago and before I knew of this forum. I'm thinking if I had an island I could put the microwave in that. I'm not sure if that means you buy a counter microwave? My dh will build out the cabs around the fridge. I'm wondering whether the fridg should be ss or remain white so as to not stand out. All white appliances except for a pro-look range? or all ss appliances. I need a plan:)

I cannot express how much I LOVE our fiberglass pool!! When we bought our home it had a very large 35 year old concrete pool (30' x 60'). After 15 years enjoying the pool (the pool was now 50 years old) we had to make big changes because the floor drain was bad. After many estimates (vinyl, gunite, fiberglass etc.),we decided on fiberglass. The old concrete pool was very hard to keep clean and it was way too big for us. We went with a San Juan fiberglass pool that is much smaller. The new pool was placed right inside the old pool and filled with stone all around. We did have to do demo work on the old pools coping & side first. We also had to put a line in to pump out if necessary because of the old pool floor underneath but in 5 years we have not had any problems. Everything was included except for the electrical work and we had our own electrician do the work for us. It included 4' of concrete surround but we increased it to 6' and added a pebble finish on top. The fiberglass is SO easy to clean and stains are not problem if you use a stain treatment at opening and closing each year and a metal treatment once a month. We have our fiberglasss 5 years now and it looks as good as the day it was put in. Each year we are amazed when we open it how clean it is. No water line marks, no algea problems,the steps are spotless and yes, the water does have a silky feel to it. We also have 2 labs who swim in it daily and other than empting the skimmer basket there is very little work. By the way, before we moved to this home we has a vinyl pool. So I have had the pleasure of taking care of all three types; vinyl, concrete, and fiberglass. Hopefully we will never move again, but.....if I had to put another pool in, it would be a fiberglass. hands down! I can't tell you enough how much we love it!