My turn... with Ark's blessing I'm going to post some fall pics taken in Fort Smith yesterday. Unfortunately, the trees peaked 2-3 days before I could get the camera out and most trees lost a LOT of color, especially the sugar maples. Some pics were taken at my house, some on the side of the road and some just off the road in town. Let's start with sugar maple pics: Acer saccharum By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Liriodendron tulipifera By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 Prunus spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 The camera really did not do justice to the last two pics above. Beautiful oranges... Carya spp By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 By jp_42_82 at 2011-11-10 More coming...

I keep getting these images of Doug, Tom, and Diane visiting my house. As they walk out into my yard, Doug clutches his chest ("oh my...!"), Tom scratches his head ("I don't really know where to start,..."), and Diane starts counting the holes ("here a hole, there a hole..."). Anyway, many of my choices thus far have been based on feasibility and convienence: the fact that I am renting, I don't know where all the awesome gardening stores are located, I'm just now figuring out that I can plant veggies this late in the year, etc :) I think I will keep what I started with and see what happens. This weekend I will plant some more veggies but in different types of pots and with bark. In the mean time I will make sure that I move the lettuce into a more shady spot and keep the cucs, tomatoes, etc on the bottom. I will also start seeds in the next couple of weeks. And to top it off, I will start a journal as you all suggested. I might also have to start a dictionary for all these "fancy" terms you all throw around: "leggy", "damping off", "perched water",...

I agree Ziggy, condoms and ornaments? Otherwise sounds good to me. Beautifying a public space using his own free time and funds. He says that he doesnt bother private land, which is good, because, regardless of its state, it still isnt his. Have to admit though, I havent read many articles related to gardening that mention Che and Mao. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Hi all, Thank you all who answered this post. I wanted to give you an update since things got real crazy for quite a while. I know when I read posts, I always want to find out the resolution. This situation is that we were buying a home from a production builder. After carefully re-reading the fine print in the contract, we realized that we didn't really have much power to force them to upholding our selections and options. We were in contract with them as a buyer and seller, not as a buyer and a builder. Any customizations and selections were totally within their legal right to follow through with or not as they chose. We could have cancelled the contract but then would have been without a home for our in laws. There was not another lot left to swap to for a do-over. We decided to forge on ahead, and actually banded together with some other neighbors on the court to keep each other on our toes in regard to preventing more major mistakes happening. We know this was the best option for us and the parents. They do not have many years(if any) left and they want to spend it living in the same neighborhood as grandkids, not waiting around for perfection. Also, since we started the process pre-covid, we would have ended up spending loads more to get less of a home further away. We did have them build three shallow steps into the house from the garage and if we need a ramp in the future, they will convert it for us. They moved in May, and their home is in the perfect spot for them at the end of the cul-de-sac. They see all the neighbors and dogs walking around the loop and there is a trail that adjoins the older and newer section of the neighborhood that comes out right past their home. Due to the trails, hills, and trees, the backyard has 180 degrees of lovely trees with no other homes in sight. This was absolutely the right move for them, it just was a LOT of headache for us. We tried to not stress them about it too much because we wanted them to actually enjoy living in the home and not have a distaste for it because of all the problems. And yes, we did have a few more minor issues. The main take-away is to carefully read the contract and then determine what is worth cancelling it over. I was not familiar with a builder selling as a seller, not as a contractor, but I realize they do this to keep things rolling and to protect their bottom line. I am sure many people would not choose this set up for themselves, but for our family this has been the right choice. Overall, the quality of the build is very good so we are not concerned about things falling apart on us. Oh wait, but there's more...DH, myself, and our 15yo son have moved in with them! We decided to relocate across the country so DH can spend time with his parents while they are still with us. They are doing great and are very active and DH golfs weekly with his dad. We have made the bonus room over the garage our little apartment and son is in one of the 2 bedrooms downstairs. The other br is a guest room/office for DH to work from home. It is tight for sure, and we have two enormous storage units with all our stuff. We are in the middle of designing our forever home and we have taken GREAT care to vet the buider for our future home so we don't run into this type of struggle again. Thanks again! Juls