What a beautiful job you did! I am a newbie here and a gardening newbie, as well. (I come from a long line of gardeners, but somehow it seems to have skipped me. Now I have a house with lots of land that needs landscaping). I've been trying to create a series of about four steps in one spot -------I've been finding big pieces of stone on the property that appear to be flat, that is, until I try them out as steps. My question is: what kind of stone did you use for the steps? It looks like stone that you purchased, rather than bought. Also, are your retaining walls dry stacked? I am so impressed that you did this all by yourself (without a professional)!! We had our deck extended, which in turn loosened a retaining wall which I keep trying to re-stack, and it is much harder than it appears! My stone stacks are never that sturdy. Any suggestions? Your tool shed/office/structure/little building is also quite nice. You should feel very pleased and proud!

does priscilla sing while she works .. or just whistle.. lol ... take your pix as large as you can ...then when you upload.. look for the little box.. and let photobucket upload them AND resize them ... i tend toward the 17 inch size on closeups... but i suppose 15 would be ok .. now.. as a man ... there are just to many words.. and too many thoughts to comprehend it all .. i know its a guy thing .... so i will just adjust the trifocals.. and hope i can see your minuscule pic ... and address the 9000 word stream of girlie consciousness you have typed ... rotflmbo ... ok.. wow .. so many words... lancifolia in front of the rocks ... ought to take snow plowing [driving over.. salt].. and fill in nicely.. though you may have to elevate the rocks in a few years ... #2 .. do you not know the tape trick??? on recent transplants??? no clue on what hosta it stick in there .. maybe a bigger wider look at it all might inspire me .... #3 hmmm gnome home huh???? #4 man.. or girl.. you are a worker bee this weekend .... i dont know what the plastic under the cement did for you ... i wouldnt have wasted the money on it .... what inda weeds do you have that come through cement???? and i dont know what i would do with 6 to 8 inches ... of space .... what i do like in all the pix. ... is the apparent lack of any grass .. lol ... you have plenty of time in the years to come.. to fill in all the spots you have just created ..... NEVER think you have to do it all in one weekend ... enjoy the results of your hard work .... and relax... the muses will strike when they are darn well ready .. august is a great time to start planning all kinds of new beds.. FOR NEXT YEAR ... no one said they all have to be planted .. as soon as they are made ... hoik a cold one of your choice .. and revel in your success.. forget about finishing it all.. as technically .... a garden is never finished.. dream away .. ken ps: have no insight into the quandary you mentioned previously ... still ruminating on it all ....

I agree the "Stain Test" isn't fair. I am staining / finishing a wet bar using Waterlox (as recommended on the Woodworking Forum )& the part I "frogged" was Wood trim edge against ceramic - the tape being on the ceramic. So, it's just a fun experiment. I was really disappointed it didn't work on the boat. I also wanted to repaint the Boot stripe - which is the decorative colored stripe above the waterline - the antifouling bottom paint is below the waterline. It must be perfect! I have painted it once before and if the frog tape worked it would have been such a help. Maybe I'll conduct another experiment since it is a different formula. The Frog tape chemist should consider perfecting the tape for the marine industry - we boaters always pay more for products that are sold in the boat stores, because anything that says marine / boat on it costs more just 'cuz. I got my locally owned TruValue to carry the Frog Tape - so I hope it sells for them! Thanks for your recommendation.

Thank you all for your kind words. It's always fun to show our Before & After project pics here. You get inspired and work so hard creating something new. It's nice to be able to share it . . . even if the end results don't end up in your home (LOL)! Oakley: Haha!! I don't think DD is going to want to give up all of her new (old) furniture and decs to move back into a shared, already-furnished bedroom at her sorority house next year when it's finally redone. She'll be a senior then and is already loving her home only a couple of blocks from campus. Although she definitely IS missing having someone else plan, shop for and cook all the meals (LOL)! The wall's of DD's room were already painted that color by the previous tenant and I don't have a clue what the brand name or color of it is. Sorry. Is your son going to OU? I agree, decorating a son's place is (usually) a lot less fun than decorating a daughter's. My own son's place made me cringe during his six years at OU! Arcy: I LOVE your DD's headboard. How beautiful!!! The fabric is wonderful and looks beautiful with that dark wood. This is a fun age for our daughters, isn't it? Jake: that sounds a lot like my son's rooms when he was in college. Yaya: yes, it drove me to distraction not to be able to do much of anything while my hands were healing. Although I've developed significant arthritis in both hands as a result of the surgery, the fracture and the subsequent long immobilization periods, I love being able to work with them again! Patty: DD was seven? My goodness, it HAS been a long time, hasn't it? Her desk color? Yes, It wouldn't have been my choice, but she does love it and, yes, she can paint it again someday if the mood strikes her. (Shudder) That desk (and all of it's drawers and cubbies) was very tedious and hard to paint. I wouldn't want to do that one again ever! What fun to be able to do your GD's bedroom! You'll have to share that with us when you finish it. Well, thank you all again for allowing me to share my Summer's decorating projects. DH & I have just started redoing his study yesterday. More grunt work and a lot less fun than DD's but the results will be good . . . once we ever finish! Lynn This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 23:27