I'm a bit south of Kathi - (above post). My usual seed starting routine is inside - with a fluorescent light under one of my pantry shelves. I start the seedlings in paper towels then plant in cups of potting mix - put under lights until a few inches tall - then move the box of cups outside in the shade still covered with plastic. When they have acclimated, they are then planted in the ground. As I use the cedar planter box - raised garden approach, this works well for me. However, recently this past summer - I let a few plants go to seed - lettuce, dill, celery, cilantro - and then "shook" the seed heads over the plantar box and allowed mother nature to take her course. I've never felt a need for a cold frame in zone 23/24 (S.D. area) but perhaps if you wanted to start some early tomatoes that way, you might get an early start. Last year, I planted some tomato seeds next to a south-facing wall (about mid-February or so), and had a few early ones, but the majority of them still waited until the usual months (warmer) to ripen satisfactorily. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

Hi Katherine, Your pool is gorgeous! I have no idea if you're still monitoring this, but I came across your post while searching for information about installing a fastlane in a niche for our pool installation. Our PB has never installed a fastlane before and they are unsure about how to cover it inside the niche. Do you have any information about how this was done with yours, and what the cost of the cover might have been? The niche and supports have been built in our pool, and the PB says they can have a stainless steel person create a cover for the niche, but they will charge us $1000 just for the cover. Seems a little high to us! Any information you can provide would be very helpful! We're REALLY far away though - in North Carolina! Hope you're still enjoying your beautiful pool.

Hi Chris, I very much like having a SWG...the saltwater is softer on the eyes/hair/bathing suits, etc. I got it as an upgrade to the original contract because everyone here seemed to like them quite well. Originally, the unit that was installed 2 years ago was a Watermaid. The Watermaid runs with a higher salt content than most other manufacturer's units (6,000-7,000 ppm compared to 3,200-3,500 ppm in most units). Prior to running into the problem with the salt water corroding the pool cover, I did not particularly like the Watermaid as it tended to develop air bubbles when i switched the solar heating on and off and the SWG would often stop working after the solar was running. The unit MV replaced the Watermaid with is an Intellichlor. So far, so good (although, truth be told, I actually preferred the feel of the water with the higher salt content). As to coverstar v. coverpools, I can't say that I can truly compare the two. MV pools uses Coverpools so CoverStar was not an option. Had I wanted to go with Coverstar, I probably would have had to have subcontracted that portion out. Because I wanted it to be an inground unit, it had to be designed and built together with the pool. The CoverStar cover I had on my last pool was a much simpler system -- it was an aftermarket, deckmounted unit. It was not connected with the sheer descents, so there were no sensors to break down, no SWG, etc. Therefore, I can't really compare the two units, as it's not an apples-to-apples kind of comparison. Customer service (Alternative Pool Systems for the CoverPool and PoolSafe for the Coverstar) for both companies is excellent, though...I'd probably say Eric from Alternative Pool Systems (the one Mission Valley Deals with) would get the nod, as he has been exceedingly responsive and was totally on top of things with the corrosion issues). As for the decking, I purchased the pavers from Ackerstone in Corona. I liked their selection much more than what I had seen at RCP and KRC. Except for Friday mornings when Ackerstone sells their overruns at a *tremendous* discount to the general public (I got pavers that normally sold for more than $5 sq. ft. for $ .80 a sq. ft (yes, 80 cents!)), they only sell to contractors. Since I was in the process of a home remodel at the time I was able to use my contractor to effect the purchase. Southwest Boulder in Fallbrook is a distributor for Ackerstone, and I also bought additional pavers from them when I purchased my flagstone (they have a great selection!) as the delivery costs were lower. The coping and most of my decking, seating and retaining walls were installed by MV's mason - Uriel Hurtado. Notwithstanding a couple of issues that arose with the retaining walls owing to an over-zealous building inspector, Uriel was a pleasure to work with. He had some very creative ideas, and was very fair with his pricing. After the remodel/addition was finished (which was nearly 4 months after the pool was done), I took on landscaping and needed to make some changes to the decking (we moved a couple of doors going out the the deck and added a door to the master bath and guest bath). These were done by my landscaper as the pool had been completed and we had since moved on project-wise.

Mark, After reading your initial comments and seeing your beautiful home, I thought of British Colonial, Tommy Bahama, a Caribbean vibe. Rich woods, plantation shutters, potted palms, higher baseboards, etc. Whatever direction you decide, please update us with pictures! As far as your dislike of the exterior color...after you have lived there awhile get on the architectural committee of your HOA and try to get some additional colors approved :)