Our yard is "designed" for people and animals. And to camouflage homlier aspects of the property (raised septic system). We arrived at what we have because we needed to solve practical problems on a limited budget. We wanted to be able to "stroll around the grounds" when we call for the cats at the end of the day and when the dog must be taken outdoors for the first/last wee-wee of the day. Having defined "rounds" makes it more fun for us and gives all pets a chance to mark territory, "stalk" and ambush us, and the paths allow wheelbarrows and such to be easily rolled to a worksite. The plantings routinely absorb the full tilt onslaught of a 100 lb. dog and while I don't LOVE it, EH! he lives here, too and he isn't destructive in general. Neither of us complains when the dog must be taken out... it's a pleasant ramble in a peaceful setting. Even in the winter. The fact that the paths have allowed my elderly mother the opportunity to walk safely and enjoy plantings was serendipitous; but her physical and mental health have prospered because she is able to "go for a walk" several times a day. The "tabled" lawn over the septic system provides the interesting perspective of being able to look down on rather large, lush plants while the perimeter path allows you to look up at them... FUN, and again serendipitous. It wouldn't win any prizes, I'm sure. But it works for our family and isn't that what really counts in the final analysis?

thanks for the advice. We used the envirotec from Ace and it worked great. I coated the patches with a watered down coat of white glue, two coats actually. (the directions suggested doing that if you were using fabric. We will have to make another pour, those patches are thick, but we are pleased as punch with the first pour. This trash to treasure make over is turning out to be a little expensive though!!! Oh, but I do love those one of a kind items....and this one has so many memories.

interesting calcs. Also interesting is discussion I had just this week with rep from a major quartz supplier. I was asking him about this topic specifically due to your assertions that the 70/30 quartz/resin breakdown was wrong. Quartz rep readily agreed that the amount of quartz actually at the surface was less than the advertised "93%". He also commented that many colors have other inclusions which while harder than resin are softer than quartz (which is very hard). these other inclusions also detract from the effective hardness of the surface. Consider also that there are many quartz colors with few or even zero inclusions such as the solid colors. It is difficult to understand how such colors could be "93%" quartz. Interestingly, the edges on solid colors are much more difficult to finish in the fab shop to an adequate shine. Could this be because a larger proportion of the material is resin which doesn't take a polish very well? Overall even by your numbers at best 16% or more of the working surface is resin which is only a little harder than jello. regarding your comment about scratches in quartz surface: "Specialized equipment is required to form a smooth surface on a quartz countertop. Attempts to "buff out" surface marks in-situ using moderately aggressive abrasives are counterproductive, because the resin matrix will be eroded relative to the quartz grains, leaving a network of tiny channels between the quartz grains;" The "specialized equipment" is an automatic polishing line where the slabs are successively ground by large banks of (18 - 24" dia.) polishing heads with successively finer grits starting around 100 grit and finishing at 1500 or 3000 grit. During the entire polishing process the slab is flooded with water. The primary reason you can't repair scratches in quartz surface is that to reestablish the gloss or reflectivity of the factory finish after grinding away the scratch considerable heat is required. unfortunately, with quartz countertop material the heat causes the resin to soften and smear. In a shop environment where copious amounts of water can be used it is sometimes possible to effect a repair that will pass if the fabricator is very skilled. At an installed site this is impossible due to the inability to continuously flood the worked area with water. I can agree that overall quartz surface is a durable material that satisfies many consumers.

Dear Becky and Mermaid.. Thanks for your reply! Becky.. there's no Hobby Lobby here (I only wish!) but I Googled that product and came up with a number of places I can order online. It looks good! I'll check with hubby before I order it but it seems to be what I want. I hate going from store to store shopping. Hubby looked in three stores yesterday for epoxy resin (ER)and all sales people said ER would turn yellow but no one had any suggestions for him on what else to use. Mermaid.. I guess what I'm thinking is I wanted the glass to be "imbedded" in something and originally I'd planned on just filling up to the top of the lip with resin. I had bought the ER at Ben Franklin and $80 only bought me enough to come up half way up! I wasn't going to spend $160 for a second hand table top that would only hold my coffee cup and hubby's beer bottle so was trying to think how else to go about it. Thought putting glass on the top edge of the table (after using the ER I had) would protect it from gathering water after a rain and make for a smooth surface, so that started the glass top idea. Thought I should have SOMETHING holding the glass pieces down besides just the thinset under it... I started Googling for other epoxy sources and found that BF was way more expensive then what was sold at the hardward store here. That's when I started reading about ER turning yellow in the sunlight. Thank goodness I saw THAT! As noted I was "sure" I had read some of you used something like ER outside but couldn't find what brand you used.. knew you wouldn't use anything that didn't stay clear. With this "EnviroTex Lite" I can go ahead, pour to the top and won't need the glass. Whew... well, I may find I CAN'T pour to the top.. have to research more about what depth I can use this to.. but regardless I'll have my pieces secured. =) It says "two or more coats maybe applied one over the other by simply wiping the surface with a clean cloth and alcohol prior to recoating" but regardless I'll have my pieces secured. =) I know this probably sounds whacky to you guys that have been doing this. =) When I finish I'd like to post a picture. I notice the pictures on here all seem to be from "Photobucket" (never heard of that before). Can I use "Webshots" on this forum? Thanks again for your help.. I "lived" on Garden Web a few years ago when I first started gardening. It was wonderful!