Thanks again for everyone's help. It's rained pretty steadily, and with the changes we've made, so far, so good. We removed quite a bit of dirt, and did to regrade away from the window well. However, we can only lower the grading away from the window well so far, as eventually you reach the grass, and at that point, there's now a dip from the grass to the soil. Short of regrading the entire lawn, I can't think of a way around this, as if we build the soil up higher than the grass, the soil would be above the rim of the window well. Additionally, we dug up debris from the bottom of the window well added four inches of pea gravel to the window well. We've also placed some pea gravel in the area around the window well in hopes that slows down any incoming water. However, it's definitely going to take some time to determine if what we did was sufficient. I did confirm that water is not accumulating in the area around the clay drain tile (at least not today), as the roof overhangs that area. One question: If the window well indeed does not have a drain, where does (or should) any accumulated water end up? This post was edited by heldmacm on Thu, Aug 21, 14 at 13:45

Last night I finally finished Paul Murray Kendall's famous biography Richard the Third. It was a fascinating, sympathetic biography of a controversial figure. I found myself agreeing with Kendall's hypothesis that Richard was defeated at Bosworth, not as the result of some sort of poetic justice, but rather due to the betrayal of self-serving nobles, who in turn found just as much to grumble about during the reign of Henry VII. I found it poignant how hard Richard III worked to cultivate and favor the very people who meant him the most harm. Fundamentally, Richard seemed to have an inability to maneuver and pirouette through the politics of court life. Kendall finds countless examples of traitors whose were left off easy by Richard, only to redouble their efforts to conspire against the King. Kendall raises many interesting points, but often lacks the objectivity needed in the biography of such a complex subject. In an afterword regarding whether Richard was responsible for the murder of the "Princes in the Tower", Kendall argues that the boys may have met death at the behest of other figures at court, most likely the Duke of Buckingham. Though ultimately unsolvable (mostly due to the Tudor historians who apparently destroyed countless records portraying Richard in a positive light), I still feel that he had the most to gain from the murder of his nephews.

Yes one long curtain rod. Would you be open to doing a crown molding/valance type thing there to cover up the rod. I think that would look nice. Or maybe a pinch pleat type curtain

I like solar shades for heat and UV control but still allowing you to keep the view. I usually pair them with drapes for nightime privacy but you seem to not require the control so why not just nice full drapes at least 2.5 x the width of the rod and I think if you go with something like linen you have enogh space for stackback on both sides and I would not do the drapes to the corner on the left just center the rod on the window . This is your LR so IMO drapes would be perfect .I do not think blinds are a good choice at all . You have a lovely view the cover on the porch keeps the heat and UV out so enjoy the daytime view and still get privacy at night .