It never would have occurred to me to purchase software to track my garden. Like you, I find an Excel spreadsheet to be a versatile tool for tracking the information that interests me, and a simple Word document, or file of documents, can contain any quirky info not suitable for a spreadsheet. In addition to the computer-drawn plan, I have a large-scale printout of my new garden plan with a 10' by 10' grid for a visual record of the location of specimens. The grid coordinates go into the spreadsheet, and my husband swears he's going to give me GPS coordinates for the plants. : ) I once had a paper garden journal, but my entries were very sporadic so the result is incomplete, and the journal lacked any organization beyond calendar dates, not very useful for the type of data you are keeping. These days I type far better than I write, such has been my evolution...

Thank you for this! Still can’t find an app to fulfill all my needs so creating my own one. Could you maybe expand on how you structured your various tabs in excel? For example your diary tab. Would be a huge help! Thank you!

Been checking back in on this thread with interest and hope the original poster lets us know how it might all be resolved. I have a few random thoughts that I hope doesn't put me in the grinch category: 1. Even though the mother is housed comfortably elsewhere and not in need of funds, the possessions left behind are still, in effect, hers. If she wishes that someone benefit from the sale of the things left behind, that "someone" is the person who should be doing the lion's share of the work to dispose of them in a meaningful way. If the OP is the one expected to take care of things, she should have carte blanch to handle it how she sees fit - possibly not taking the niece or brother into account. 2. Again, read up on the possible IRS pitfalls of going over the $500 non-cash donation threshhold. 3. How much time does one wish to spend going through and pricing things right down to the last Flintstone jelly glass everyone seems to have in the far reaches of kitchen cabinets? How much is that beloved family dish really worth to someone not in your family? 4. What charity is going to send a truck to pick up everything that doesn't sell? How many trips do you want to make to the dump or how many months of storage fees at a U Rent It place would you agree to? How much time do you want to devote dragging things back and forth to flea markets? 5. You need a few people to help with garage sales - someone to watch the cash box, and one or two more to see that items don't simply walk away while you're distracted. I'm not heartless when it comes to the disposal of other's things; but I've never had to do it while the owner was still living so that sense of "violation" never came into play. But since the responsibility of having to do these things fell to me and my brother on a couple of occasions, doing what was easiest and most expedient for us was the most basic consideration.

My mother-in-law is 70. My husband is an only child and she cannot support herself financially. She was not able to save for retirement. So it has always been his desire to take her in. Since her fall 2 years ago she currently/temporarily lives with her brother in his home that was remodeled for her sister (in a wheelchair) and their aging mother. We still have not figured out what to do with our home over all this time and I thought we had finally found a good solution my husband is on board with. 2 years ago we deliberated about putting on a 1 level or 2 level addition on the opposite side of our house. The architect did drawings for both. Original estimates weren’t too bad so we decided to do a 2 level addition for her and us. We were all on board with that idea as it would give all of us privacy. Then the final estimates came back and were much more than we anticipated. We scratched that idea and went house hunting. Found a house in town with an inlaw suite and amazing backyard and pool, but we didn’t love the house for ourselves. Decided to convert our first floor office and conservatory into and in-law suite for her and finish the basement for us, the architect again did the drawings and plans and we submitted them to the town for permits. As that was taking months and sent back twice my husband realized he didn’t want to convert our first floor space for her as he felt she would be “too close” and it didn’t achieve the privacy we all wanted at the start. We went house hunting again and have been constantly checking the new listings. My husband then decided that he would prefer to just finish our basement for her (which she was against) and to install an elevator. Even though she wasn’t on board with that idea we still went forward researching elevators. Eventually we realized it wouldn’t be possible for an aesthetically pleasing elevator to service all 3 levels the way our home is designed. Then we came across a house in town that structurally had everything we needed for her and us, we put in an offer and lost because we would have a contingency. Now we find ourselves full circle and looking to put a smaller 1 level addition on to the house by our garage which would help provide all of us the privacy we want. I guess I thought if I could figure it out myself we could save some time with the architect. Thank you for all of your feedback. I will reach out to the architect and request her unbiased recommendations and expertise to create the inlaw space. I guess I wanted to be in control of this project and wanted to do it my way.