Parsley is a cool weather herb in the southeast. If it dies, it's normal, so don't worry. Replant it in the fall and enjoy it through winter and spring. Assuming you did harden off the other herbs (if not, that's the trouble), the problem could be your potting soil. Herbs tend to like very well drained soil that's on the lean side nutritionally. So, if say, you used Miracle Gro potting soil with moisture control and fertilizer, the soil is staying too wet and the plants are getting too much feed. Back off the water first. Make sure the soil is nearly dry before you water. That may be enough for them to perk up. Next time, buy the straight Miracle Grow potting soil without the moisture control. (The fertilizer will leach out of the soil in a few weeks.) Arkansas Traveler is a really big tomato vine. You need a really big pot to grow it in: 18 inches wide and deep at least. If that's not the trouble, it may be hungry. Tomatoes in pots need regular (weekly or at least every other) fertilizer, and of course, they need consistent moisture. Don't ever let the pot go completely dry. The bigger the pot, the longer it stays moist... The pepper will be fine in your all day sun. Feed and water it just like the tomato. As the weather gets even hotter, it will do even better.

Laura, thanks, I do know not to put out bird feeders, if I did, I would be inviting a big black bear to come and visit Mike. Yes, I'm gonna put a couple of my Walmart specials out for a trial. One time I went so far as to put some cubes of rat poison down into the tunnels in the yard. I really don't want to do that again.

From the FPE Specifiers Manual itself... (which you'll get with your paint order! It's the dark green booklet in my pic posted in the other thread..) APPLICATIONS: "Windows, doors, trim, cabinets, shutters, garden furniture, - as a rule, ECO is suitable for use on surfaces which previously would have been coated with Brilliant or Satin enamel." (...meaning...where Oils would usually have been used in times past.) Their lead-in paragraph on the ECO page... ECO. Brilliant & Satin- "State-of-the-art odorless, water-thinnable, urethane-alkyd emulsion. Combines the advantages of both modern acrylic and traditional oil formulations. Available in Brilliant or Satin finishes, both equally durable." IMO...the ECO Brilliant white I sampled looked quite beautiful! Use just a few strokes, and walk away...DON'T overwork it. >>> RECOATABLE after 16 hours. Faron

Fifteen inch-deep shelves should be plenty big enough for children's books & a few toys, but in your inspiration picture, the seat & the shelves are the same width, and while fifteen inches is a deep enough seat for a pre-schooler, when your grandkids grow up, that seat will be way too shallow for them to get comfortable, which is the whole point of a window seat. So that depth should be extended. Also, make sure the wooden seat height is far enough below the bottom of the winndow to allow adequate clearance room for a truly comfortable cushion, not one of those thin foam pads. Also, with tha extra depth of seat, you'll probably want to make the shelves's framework deeper to match, so that there's room for a matching cushion or two to lean up against the outside of the shelves. And since that means you'll have extra shelf depth to work with, you might think about bringing the wiring up into the framing of the shelves, so that you can add a pair of sconce up above head height for someone --that is, you--sitting there to read to a young one. You need to be comfortable, too, because regardless of what they say, it's NOT all about the children. Which brings us to the whole matter of blinds-vs-curtains. On normal windows, blinds are fine, but for coziness & the kind of secure, protected nook that kids crave--think back to your own card-table-&-blankets tents, here--nothing beats an enclosed window seat with curtains (not blinds) on the room side (not the window side) of the seat, drawn tight against the larger room, as anyone who's ever read the memorable first chapter of Jane Eyre will attest. Aren't you glad you threw this question out there? It just keeps getting bigger & bigger.