I love it!! I've been Postcrossing since early 2011. I've sent over 400 cards and gotten just as many. It is a great hobby, I can share a part of my world with others and also learn about other parts of the world. I've gotten postcards from France, Germany, Japan, China, Russia, Pakistan, the USA, Netherlands, Finland, Australia and many, many more countries. The stamps are always interesting to see, the postcards can be beautiful scenery or pretty flowers or a holiday postcard and the messages from people around the world are great to read. Here is my profile if you want to see my postcards. Marie I'm not sure what you mean by has anyone come to your house, real name. Here is a link that might be useful: Postcrossing

socks, you can keep a library (Overdrive) sourced Kindle book and keep reading it on a Kindle reader for months and months IF (and only if) you turn off your data signal (whether Wifi or through a cell carrier). It's through that sign on that the Amazon site is contacted and the deadlines for library downloads are enforced and overdue ones get deleted. How you make that work is by downloading several books at a time, read them all with the data signal off, then connect and download several more. Repeat as desired. chisue, while there are Overdrive apps for different tablets and PCs, you can only check out library books from libraries where you have an account. But different libraries have different/nonidentical Overdrive subscriptions so you're likely to find books on the Hawaii Library Overdrive site that may not be available from your home library and vice versa. You can download Overdrive material from anywhere. Several of my kids have spent time living abroad and they were able to continue to download Overdrive-sourced Kindle and audio books using their US library accounts.

Great house! I am particularly fond of Victorians, and yours is lovely. I agree with mnwsgal that you want to be sure that shrubs get placed far enough from the building. If you look at the shrub around the side of the house, notice how large it is, but is still almost brushing the building, so the beds need to be deep enough to accommodate the grown size of what you choose plus enough room to walk behind for painting, washing windows, etc, usually a minimum of an extra 2 feet. (This also may help decrease pruning if the plant gets larger than expected, though checking with a botanical garden like the Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder as to ultimate size works better than relying on the plant tag which usually gives shrub sizes at 5 years.) To me, with a house the height of yours, a deep bed also balances the house better than a skinny little strip along the front. So I would make a deep bed of a minimum of 6' deep, though better 8'-10' to give you depth for a couple layers of shrubs and perennials, improve the soil with compost or manure, and then add an edging, either a well-buried strip of metal or plastic made for edging, or a deep cut edge, V shaped in cross section. That will keep out the grass and keep the bed looking tidy. Finally, add a layer of corrugated cardboard over the surface and cover it with at least 3" of mulch. This will keep the weeds down while you are adding plants. Having good soil is a key to a good garden, and this will be the foundation of the garden. (I know it's not the fun stuff, but it's worth it!) When you are ready to plant in a particular spot, push aside the mulch, cut an X in the cardboard and tuck the ends under, and plant. If you can only do one side of the house this summer, that is fine. You can prep the other side in late fall or next spring. Sources for manure or compost that are free or inexpensive might include your municipality's yard waste recycling facility, a local riding stable or a neighbor that keeps chickens (needs to be composted first) or rabbits or a pet guinea pig. Frugal sources for mulch include the line clearing crews or tree crews that are running chippers (if they are in your neighbor hood, dumping in your driveway often saves them time and dump fees) or if there is a local woodworker using a planer or lathe. I've only rarely needed to pay for either beyond my own labor. If you do need to buy them, getting a truckload from a local place that delivers by the yard is far cheaper than getting bagged materials. If there are still some funds available after getting compost and mulch, you can add some sun-loving shrubs and hardy perennials. Be sure to check water daily by sticking a finger in deeply and watering when needed. Then start annuals from seed that will grow large enough to add some presence and volume to fill the rest of the bed for this year. You can get packets of tall marigolds, cosmos, cleome, calendula to name a few, or if you want you can get them as already started 6-packs. You may find some perennials in 6-packs as well, particularly at small neighborhood nurseries. I've gotten several different types for prices ranging from $3.50-$12.00 per 6-pack, which is a good price per plant for perennials. Small new perennials won't probably bloom a lot this year (hence the annuals) but will in future year. Look around your area for plant swaps or sales, either posted in the mid-Atlantic or Virginia forums here on GW or else locally, often coordinated by garden clubs. In my area, new gardeners are always welcome at plant swaps, even when they can't bring any plants; gardeners are generous IME. In fall, spring for some daffodils since they will give the biggest bang for the buck in bulbs IME - the critters never eat them and the clumps expand a bit each year. Just plant them behind perennials so their dying foliage is hidden by emerging perennial foliage. The small shady area on the left can get planted with shade plants, but the rest of the front and the side will need to be planted with plants that like full sun - morning shade doesn't really count here since it will get more than 6 hours of full western sun during the hottest part of the day. So no Hydrangeas or other shrubs that will suffer here. I mostly won't make specific plant suggestions since your area is too different from mine, but will second the suggestion to look around for what appeals to you in gardens, not in pots at nurseries to begin with. Look for plants in full sun. You may find ideas in your neighborhood, or in demo gardens at nurseries, or at botanical gardens, or even at commercial businesses. If you take photos you can post them on the Name that Plant forum for ID. Consider all 4 seasons - flowers, leaf color, fall leaf color, leaf size and texture, as well evergreens (either shrubs or perennials) and colorful bark or berries for late fall and winter. Do you want to plant for hummingbirds or butterflies? Do you want plants to string holiday lights on? One of the advantages of using mostly annuals the first year is that you can look for plants that are at their best in fall and winter to extend interest. I will suggest that if you are interested in roses, look for ones that are disease resistant in your area (demo gardens may help here). If you like clematis, look for ones that say they are type 3, hard prune plants. They will be easiest in your hot and humid summer weather and only need a hard pruning down to a couple sets of buds once annually in late winter.

Reading these stories made my day! I retired (early) in September. I used to have teams all across the country while working. Some days they did incredible things to make sure our clients got what they needed, and other days they had terribly long, hard days trying to achieve the same thing. I buy Lindt Truffles bulk, and whether it was a great act of service, or an 'I'm sorry you have to work so hard', I'd send them a box of truffles that I'd make up, with all the flavors Lindt makes. They were so thrilled - it's amazing what chocolate can do for people. Now I keep a stash of them with me while I'm grocery shopping or whatever. When the deli person hands me my cheese, I hand them back some truffles. I go into CVS and bring a pocketful, and give them to the cashiers and people behind the pharmacy counter. I was in a long line at Joann Fabric, where they have a candy display, with the truffles they sell at outrageous prices for one. The woman in front of me had a young boy who wanted one badly, and I caught her eye and told her what I had in my purse. She said yes, and they both were so happy to taste a flavor they'd never had before. The cashiers at the check out get a compliment and a truffle. The person driving the 'rescue dog transport leg' to meet me for leg of the journey gets truffles, as do the UPS folks and the mailman, and the woman who draws blood for tests after a doc appt. It makes me so happy to see them surprised and happy that I keep ordering the truffles in bulk. :-)