Ordinarily I would find myself in agreement with almost anything Gardengal would recommend, but not in this case. Setting concrete stones at or slightly below the level of existing grass is going to result in constant dirt washing onto the soil with a sandy soil mix, and in a high desert with the constant need for irrigation for a lawn, it will also tend to wash the dirt onto pavers. I personally wouldn't want all that lawn in a climate where it will increase your water bills so tremendously, but recommended mowing heights for a Tall Fescue/Blue Grass lawn mix will be 3 inches, so having it slightly raised about 1/2 to 3/4 inches isn't going to create problems for the lawn mower. Don't forget that when rain does tend to come, as infrequent as it is, it can be the season total all at once, again likely to wash soil onto surfaces that are set too low. As to a pathway set right up against the house, it is a more common design detail in contemporary as well as spanish influenced designs, and can be a classic Spanish/Californian design detail. A desert garden doesn't lend itself to the PNW garden style with tons of foundation plantings; more widely spaced plantings and more sculptural plants placed in a more architectural or natural to the desert way seems more sympathetic to the surroundings to me. I can understand the desire to have a large green lawn in the high desert, especially if you are used to British Columbia conditions, but it is not practical in the long run, and lawn substitutes make more sense. I guess you will have to suffer through ever increasing water bills and constant battles to keep the lawn alive and looking good to understand the potential wisdom of working with your climate instead of against it. A Kentucky Blue Grass lawn doesn't even make much sense here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they tend to want to go dormant in the summer heat and take much more water and care to keep looking decent than other lawn grasses. I'd suggest that you look into real water miser grasses such as Buffalo Grass for the high desert. Admittedly it will go winter dormant in your area, but it fills in quite quickly with desert heat, and needs hardly any water in comparison to cool season turf grasses such as Tall Fescue or KBG. If your area has a good low water demonstration garden to visit, I'd recommend a visit. Most California Water Districts do have such a display garden to show the merits of plantings that take less water and care. There is a very nice Display garden in Las Vegas, which isn't exactly close, but is similar in climate to your conditions, and illustrates the wealth of plants that actually make sense in your climate.

Hello Marshall, Brandan and others, Thanks for your interest in Whole Systems Ag and I am glad you enjoyed Dr B's paper. I think it's one of the best I've seen on oaks. Yes, I've visited the Santa Barbara museum many times when my family was living in Thousand Oaks. The botanic garden was a particularly nice attraction because, at the time, I was doing a lot of work with native plants. I checked out the PGI and that looks like a kind of Jungian place. I had a big interest in that stripe of psychology at that time too. At present, my work on the farm and with the tasks in front of my nose keep me from the more academic pursuits I once enjoyed. The garden at Pacifica sounds like a wonderful endeavor. Indeed, I'd be delighted if you should come for a visit. I seldom leave the farm so one time is about as good as another. It's easy to find just 6 miles or so north of the San Joaquin River on Highway 41 toward Yosemite. Send me a personal email at daddyoat@netptc.net and I'll return detailed directions.

Pricing an appliance is way more complex than the stuff cost me X, the labor was X, overhead was X, marketing is X, and I want X margin and profit. Antss: Why? Spacecraft and rocket bids are priced that way. What makes an appliance more complex than a space vehicle? (I could speculate on an answer since you say it is, but I'd like to know what precisely you believe makes appliance pricing so complex.) And, chipshot, Mercedes is trying to overcome the "damage" they did to their profile when they proferred versions to cater to the large mid-range market. Across the board they're now doing things to reverse that impression that this is anything but a top-dollar exclusive brand. Now, not all of their advertised efforts are anything more than mere market-mouthing rather than real engineering enhancements but the fact remains that this correction is something Merc is actively engaged in. Not, mind you, that I decry them either their lower end lines nor their marketing attempts to re-establish their exclusivity - after all, the Merc-McLaren (okay, so it is now defunct but whatever) or the engines they make for Pagani Zonda should absolve them of all crimes. No? ;-)

I can’t imagine moving elsewhere — we have too many friends and connections in our current town and I don’t want to start over socially. We just moved to our “empty nest” home in the same town we’ve lived in for 22 years. (Still have one out of three kids home, but she will go to college next fall.) Even though we‘re in the same town, our location is a bit more urban feeling, which is what we wanted. We are very close to the post office, library, shops, etc. I love it, even though it’s been a little crazy as our house has been under construction (mostly exterior) for about 6 weeks now. There are a lot of couples nearby who are similar in age — some we already knew, some we’ve met since we moved. The house is really too big for just two of us, but will be perfect for when our kids and eventual grandkids visit. And will prevent DH and I from killing each other in retirement. (We need our own space.) Once we are in full retirement mode, I can see us spending summers at our beach house, a month or so someplace warm in the winter, and most of the rest of the year at our “main” house. DH is planning to retire next summer (at age 57) but I can‘t see our full retirement mode kicking in until our youngest has graduated from college.