Since the seat is reddish I think I would give a light coat to the back too so they would match up more & then give it some coating so it doesn't weather too badly. If it was mine I would trim the front posts back a little(too tall). I would go above where it is attached to the cross post where the upright post starts getting fat & make that into a round ball shape. I wear long sleeves or wrap a blanket around myself when I want to be out & it is getting colder.I would be "catching my sleeves or blanket on those tall posts in front. But that is just me, getting more careful outside since I took a fall a few years back. Looks like it will be a great addition to your yard! Jan

To say that I'm back is kind of overstating it. Haha. But with no laundry to do, everything picked up and toileted, and his online medical supplies order done, I have some minutes that I will spend with my friends. Rosefolly, thanks so much. If I play my cards right, maybe one of the kids will stay with DH for part of a day. I'm wondering which day would be best. Jeri, I really am surprised that the garden didn't just keel over. It's a lot more resilient than I expected. A couple of the Home Health nurses/therapists have admired it in terms that are pretty unwarranted from my view, but they say the weeds don't matter. They can SEE the English garden and love it --- but then I've noticed how encouraging they are to the caregiver so... but I appreciated their excited praise nonetheless. Subk3, I don't think that's it. Mine has purple flowers and the leaves are farther apart. Thanks for the suggestion though. I didn't know Wandering Jew was a weed or highly allergenic. Seil, thank you for the good wishes and the compliments. The garden is what it is. I'm not upset by the condition, and thankfully I don't feel stressed by it. I would like to go out and get that weed out before it eats the house but whatever. :)) Ingrid, I know you've been thinking about me. Your email was sweet and very appreciated. I wish I could have answered, but you said you understood if I didn't. That was a very stressful period so it was wonderful to hear from you even though I barely had the time or brain capacity to read it. Your caring wasn't wasted. Thank you so much for it. Molly, I'm so glad that you're glad. Things are beginning to SOUND more normal all around. Randy!!! How wonderful that you're back on the forum. I have missed you tremendously. I got the Shooting Star hydrangea at the grocery store, believe it or not. I really love it. I've been acquiring more reblooming varieties that tolerate sun, so I'm thinking some of the roses that have passed on will be replaced by them. The only thing I don't like about the hydrangeas is their deciduousness but it's only for a few months in the dead of winter so I guess it won't be so bad. I'll have to get clever with their placement, I guess. So happy you're back!!!! Thanks for liking our old photos. You're very sweet. Melissa, you nailed it. We survived, are going forward, and life can be hard. I led a very sheltered life before this. No real sadness had ever touched me. This made any previous bad times look like childish melodrama. Now I see other people's tragedy so differently, much more compassionately. Thank you for saying it so well. Thank you, Jeannie. Your kindness is so appreciated as well. What a wonderful place this forum is, filled with kindred spirits. Monarda, I like your optimism. I guess it will get whipped back into shape, but I think I also want to do some tweaking. We'll see, won't we? Can't just leave the furniture in the same place year after year, right? I know one thing for sure. Maggie is saying byebye...I think. Lou, what you said really touched me. I'm thinking the most I'll get to spend in the garden - someday - is an hour here and there. I've already learned that there are risks to being out of the room. He slid off the sofa the other night reaching for something while I was on the PC in the laundry room (doing the blog, in fact). Had to call the paramedics to get him up. Fun, fun, fun - he wasn't hurt at all. Two big hook and ladders came, no sirens thankfully. Firemen are very nice people. Kippy, MY weed used to pop up one at a time, and they were easy to pull and control. It used to be the least of my weed worries. On the positive side I have a feeling a lot can be accomplished in just a few minutes with that one. Let's hope so. Seems like several of us have it. :)) Sunny, you win the cigar! My weed is definitely Commelina coelestis, aka, Day Flower, Widow's Tears, Blue Spiderwort. If I had a bigger garden, I might keep a spot of it, but I don't think I'll tempt nature. Thank you so much for your prayers! Campanula, as usual I loved what you had to say and as usual I had to resort to the google dictionary - to find out what droll means. That was a lovely thing to say about me. I think you've got me pegged. I didn't know there was one word that would sum me up. It doesn't sound like a good word (d-r-o-l-l...comical has a nicer ring) but I think it nails me. Ha, I could definitely be a buffoon if I weren't so shy. The "generous nature" part is very kind. Such excellent words..."take it easy and just let life roll on by, carrying you along, floating, flying." Will do! And thank you!! Judith, curiously, today I noticed that my house is pretty clean and tidy. Suddenly, I'm my mother, always flitting around, picking up stuff, folding, wiping, no dishes in the sink overnight, I thought to myself, that's because I'm not out in the garden all day and because the CNA comes every other morning to give DH his sink-side bath. So glad you like the photos! Titian1, thank you. It does look like the green form of Wandering Jew except for the white flowers. Cynthia, thanks for the good advice. I, too, hope Karl is well. Andrew, thanks for the information on the spiderwort. For a minute I was thinking it's only in the beds, but then I remembered all the places it has spilled over and rooted in the gravel. Yes, thankfully no kudzu!! Hoovb, that's so sweet. You always amaze me with how much you can get said in so few words. That's definitely not my strength. :)) Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

jaro - rofl! There is a wooden utility pole in the alley (just out of sight in the photo) that would look much better if it was replaced with the M. pinus. I have been trying to train a virginia creeper up it to turn it into a tower of vine, but the creeper seems to have more sense than to attach to the creosote laden pole :-) So - here's what I have there now. I'll take a look in Chinatown to see if I can find any cheap bamboo or reed blinds that I can adapt for the top. If not, Ikea is still pretty cheap :-) With the angle of the sun and the fence behind it, the area it covers is perfect. Once I get some vines growing over it and draping off the front, it will provide enough shade and I think it'll look kind of neat. btw 0 there are crossbeams near the bottom, hidden by the leaves, and it's attached to the fence behind it, so it's really quite stable. I have to post another pic of the new privacy fence I built to make up for the fact that my old fence was no longer good enough with the tree gone. This fence doesn't provide much shade, except for in the right corner, but it works out well - I now have the shade I needed and I have a more sun on my tomatoes in the early morning. I might need to rig up some sort of extension of my shade trellis if I get many more shade plants, but I can do that without affecting the 'maters. It still looks kind of messy because I haven't sorted out what plants to put into nice pots there yet :-) BP

Dan, you sound like my DH (dear husband). He’s more interested in how things function, what they are made of and how they are put together. I’m grateful for that and our choices have been guided by his ability to research and comprehend : ) We have the Fisher Paykel DD24DHTI9N model, just the one. The top drawer is taller than the bottom. The dishwasher was the last appliance we chose, and for me, the most difficult. I was leaning toward Miele until I started reading issues with them here on GW/Houzz. Which lead me to Bosch. I could not commit as it was a bit smaller than our Kitchenaide, and I'd finally gone beyond the rabbit hole and was proceeding to Dante’s 9 circles of $ell. This will be lengthy, but I’ll take you through the thought process and why I love my FP. I had a large Kitchenaide DW prior. It’s just DH and I, but I cook a lot – and many of my items are large (stock pots, et al). And I can be messy. And I use more pots and pans than any normal person should, every single day. So a lot of handwashing, which we both hate. DH found the FP drawers first and my initial thought was NO! Finally, I packed 3 large boxes of pots, pans, dishes, glasses, and whatnots and took them to the appliance store. Loaded the FP, without folding tines, adjusting anything, or removing removable tines. I was pleasantly surprised (and apparently the only person to ever bring in their cookware and dishes to that appliance store, so they use me as an example when customers ask about the drawers). I measured everything as well. Home again I loaded the Kitchenaide, and it wouldn’t hold as much as the 2 DD’s. I’m not kidding, but then again, perhaps my items differ from others. The one rack I knew I would not use in either the Miele or Bosch were the top, 3rd silverware racks. I am not patient enough to place each utensil in a slot and didn’t want to just ‘lay them in’ as I knew any spoon left upright would have a puddle inside. I prefer baskets. Everything comes out nice and dry. I hate unloading the DW as well. Abhor it. As I used my pots/pans almost daily, they didn’t get loaded into the Kitchenaide, and by the time we did fill it with other items a week would pass, and it’d take me forever to unload the darn thing. Present Day: We load the FP daily with everything (yes, they are quiet!). I primarily use the upper drawer as it’s easier and larger, and as you have one, you know how lovely it is not to have to lean so far over to place and retrieve items. Since it’s a smaller daily load, it takes minutes to unload and put items away. We run the lower drawer once weekly to keep it ‘alive’. I love that the tines are completely adjustable, those that aren’t are easily removed to make way for large pots. EDITED TO CORRECT: All the tines are adjustable (narrow to wide spacing, and the other two rows fold down, and one row is also removable). My teppanyaki and large griddle fit snugly, but fit, and if there is flow-over into the bottom drawer, no problem, we just run that one too. Life is far better in our household with the FP Double DD’s. I’ve read, over and over, in trusted posts and sites, the FP’s won’t give you issues if you have them installed correctly. DH installed ours. Love the knock to pause feature (works at any point in the cycles), and I love the way they look – less dishwasher-y. In short, I love the DD's because the top drawer is so easy to load/unload (the bottom drawer is not hard to load), we put everything in them, daily, therefore less handwashing, faster unloading. I'm limber but my back is hugely appreciative for the top drawer. Cleaning and drying is wonderful, they are quiet, they are incredibly adjustable, and they don't look like a dishwasher. And you probably wish I'd only typed that last paragraph : ) Good luck with your choices!