Hi, I will take pictures tomorrow and you can get a good look at the site. You can see the first tier down to the burn pile and I think I can show the level area below. I am picture posting challenged but I will give it a shot. There are two nurseries that do landscaping I am very well known to both as I am a plantoholic.They have the workers and the ability to plant all the plants I propagated but they would want to take care of it. I had planned to let them come to put all the trees in. I wanted to use the Bismarkias along the driveway. The driveway enters behind the house goes across the entire back and then does a switch back continuing down the hill in front of the house to the far side and then another switchback to the burn pile across the lot again another switchback to the lower level. I had planned to put Jacaranda and Flamboyants maybe some Pauwelina down at the bottom of the lot. It is the only good soil as all the erosion for the last hundred years has ended up there. We only have about a twentyfour inch base of soil in any area of St John mostly volcanic rock and only one soil layer.I really am crazy about the Bismarkia it's the blue color and figured if I was going to look down on something it might as well be beautiful and drought tolerant. I got lost in Kendall in South Miami about eight years ago saw one on each side of an entrance gate and have been smitten ever since. Mine are really blue and are reallly anxious to get in the ground and out of pots.They hate to be transplanted but I thought it would make a spectacular alle'.We own another house here a rental villa of course it has a flat backyard. Fortunately it is always in short term rental so the opportunity to really garden there for vegies or citrus is not possible. This house is our own home where we will live full time and probably be carried out feet first. Thanks for any advice it is much appreciated.

We haven't spent enough time in Arizona to make a comparison. The house we bought is rented out to college students. So far we haven't had a problem. Our house is just a couple of blocks from the U of A. We like to be near the kind of amenities that universities offer. Of course that also means we are near a frat house and all the noise that is likely to entail. I have lived in Kirkland and loved it. The waterfront is delightful. Unfortunately, we sold to move to Olympia and couldn't afford Kirkland when it was time to move back. The house we bought for $57k is now more than a million. My daughter lives in Bellevue in a close-in location with a view of Lake Washington and the Seattle skyline. It's great, but it too would cost well over a million today. Bellevue traffic can be really horrid and it can be tough to get around - same with Kirkland. Think about Woodinville or Bothell. They are bargains by comparison. Downtown Bothell is a bus hub that will take you in any direction. If you decide you want to be further out, then I would consider the Sammamish plateau. There are lovely planned communities up there. It is no good for finding work though and the infrastructure to move a lot of traffic just isn't there yet. I have a brother in Sun City Grand. He has a lovely home, but it is all a bit too quiet and conservative for our taste. We have friends living on Dove Mountain in a retirement community and that seems a bit too quiet for our taste as well. I like that it is gated though because I just don't see how we are going to walk away from a house in the U District for the summer. We have 5 years yet before we retire, so who knows what we will be up for then. We bought the house in 2004 at the height of the buying frenzy, so we were just trying to preserve our ability to have a house in AZ.

Thank you Rosesstink. I think you are right about that. The more I do it, the easier it will become. I have to admit that it was much easier since I brought my iPod and listened to Dan Fogelberg all the way. His music soothes my soul and calms my heart. On the way back I couldn't get it to work until I left Des Moines. I couldn't believe that I missed that the Belkin thing wasn't completely plugged into the iPod! The rest of my trip home was much calmer. Wow! I'm Happy and I know It, I didn't realize we were both from eastern Iowa. That will always be home to me. We were not far enough north to be across from Dubuque, but plan on traveling further later this month if I get a chance to go. I have to work around our grandsons schedule and go on days he's with his mom two days in a row. Thank you Ellende. I was very happy that I made the trip too. It was good for all involved. Even my other cousins and bested friend were touched by my coming home for Jeannie. All who know her love her and were happy to see her so happy. I'm a changed person after seeing how strong she is in her day to day living with cancer and knowing her time is limited. Not that all our time isn't limited, but when your body is as ravaged by disease and chemo as hers, you know your limits are a lot closer than you'd like. Riosamba, thank you so much for the comment about the picture of us. I love it so much. Jeff took one of us in March too and it shows how that last round of chemo aged Jeannie. As happy as I was being with Jeannie, I think the picture taken recently shows a difference in me too. Those six months were pure hell worrying about her. Each time the phone rang and it was Jeff, I was afraid to answer. Now that I've seen her strength building since chemo has stopped I'm comforted in how better she feels. We tried to tell her, but with the help of chemo brain, (it really screws up ones thinking and memory) she thought stopping it was giving up. SheilaAus, thank you for checking in and commenting. I wasn't sure about posting more about Jeannie, as I didn't want to bore anyone with so many posts, but when I saw the thread about traveling, I thought I'd share. I'm glad I did.

ewwmayo lol! gosh I was too lazy to crop the pot out and now that's the first thing that's commented on! haha. rina Naah I've only felted twice, I still have some felt left over! I'm hoping it is happy...a sweatered cactus.. Daniel -Totally not practical... : ) It's a felted "pot cover" that I felted and tugged over the clay pot inside. Always have to be pull it out of the way when I'm watering. And I made the pot way too small so the poor cactus doesn't have room to grow. (I know cacti like to have a smallish pot for their roots to sort of reach out against...but even with that in mind I know this pot is claustrophobically small) I haven't made any other felted pots but they're definitely cute decor. For things that don't need water.. lol. mintylemonade- I definitely take things too literally sometimes.