We are finally fencing in our corner lot. We've had it opened for the 9 yrs. we've lived here, but the neighbors we used to have are gone and I would feel safer with a fence. Now I'll be able to landscape the backyard and not worry about anything "walking away" like my St. Francis statue did. We've decided to wait till the fence is done to see what is left in the budget for our new backyard. Also getting a new AC system, so budget might be tight. Denise, I'm trying to keep it low maintenance, too. I just can't physically do it anymore. I'm going to let the plants in the front of the house stay there and be happy. No new plants there. I'm going to concentrate all my energy on the backyard, which we see and enjoy. We have a nice fountain in the front, which we are going to move into the back and try to get rid of as much grass as we can. Hoping to do something with pavers, but that might have to wait till next year. Carol, I was exhausted just reading your list!lol Good luck with it. Julie

Most of mine entails seeing the world: Japan and finding my mom's family, Alaska, Scotland, are the big ones. I also want to go back to Italy some day, especially Rome and the southern part of the country, where I've never been. Alex didn't want to go to Japan, but I guess he was talking about it to another friend of his and his friend wants to go with us. Not sure if I'm taking anyone with me, though. Going to Hawaii this summer alone...it was on my dream sheet when I was in the Air Force and I'm finally going to see it.

I am laughing because I was just thinking to myself, gee, I am posting a lot of questions this week. Glad I'm not the only one. I wonder if you could find something close to the right size, then tailor them a bit? You know, if the new cushion is a couple inches off, you could have someone alter it. (I say "someone" because I don't sew, but maybe you're more handy than I am.) I also have found decent cushions at Home Decorators, and also Ballard.

we had a stager(accessories etc, no furniture involved, since we had ours..got a bit rearranged), but I didn't find it helpful. the house was not sold faster, or for over asking, or even at asking price. The realtor said it's the first time in 30 years of work that she didn't sell a staged house within first two weeks since the listing. She was very upset. Well i was too, only I thought that staging was really useless. While the true reasons were: a) we listed at the worst time possible, right before the elections. People said they'd like to wait with decisions. Also, rains started..quite heavy ones..suddenly it was a normal winter again, albeit Californian one..we had a drought for years before last winter. b) while people loved the community(the house was a townhouse), and the location of the community, which was truly great-they weren't necessarily in love of the location of the house within the community. It was close to the entrance and next to the pool. I loved both being close to the entrance and next to the pool..it was convenient, cheerful as the landscaping was great, and-it will sound silly-but I liked seeing all the architectural details of the house it being on the corner..:) So I never even thought it might be a detriment. The pool was mostly quiet and very nice. I loved seeing it, being next to it. Yet to many others it turned to be a thing that made them unsure. After all, how they were supposed to know it's quiet? They were told so of course, but it's not like they lived there. c) HOA didn't help in that sense that right before we listed, they suddenly decided to improve landscaping(they were constantly repairing, maintaining, beautifying I must say), and they cut two big nice trees right next to us saying trees are not that healthy. Less trees-less privacy. they also decided to replant the grass right in front of our entrance..yellow taped around it and all. That was maddening. They replanted it because they wanted a new grass that bunnies-presumably-wouldn't like Let me tell you as somebody who looked out of these windows every day and night..the moment the grass finally appeared, bunnies found it very much to their liking lol (they also repainted all the community in some dark beige without really asking us, under the pretext it's a trendy color..wut? I've nothing against dark beige..but it looked so much better being warm white as it was years beforehand. it looked just beautiful. Why to fix what ain't broken, and why not to ask the people who pay these HOA fees every month? I don't believe that influenced things in terms of sale..but it did influence me. we wrote angry letters but it was too late) So the staging didn't play any role..except for I had to pay 2 K or something just to do all the touch ups since all our art was banned from the walls. I'm not stupid, I'd take portraits etc away..packed breakables, collections..but I don't see anything offensive in landscapes, cityscapes, still lives etc. Especially as I do have art that's amateurish or can seem amateurish, but some artists whose works I have are not only listed, but highly regarded and all. Highest awards, international exhibitions, etc. Why this Home Goods stuff that was brought instead was better, truly beats me. The house was squeaky clean(except that I drove myself crazy with finding yet another spot! was cleaning constantly) and I kept it ready for showing every moment. Our realtor was truly impressed with me..:) Anyway. Bottom line-it was the house being a condo, highly affected by previous comps(two latest ones were lower than usual due to sellers' circumstances), the location within the location, and the market as it was at that time-pretty dead in our price range. Only three homes were sold in our price range in our and neighboring cities during the time the house was for sale. So we got 9 K less than I wanted(why I wanted nine? because it's my lucky number lol), and sold to very nice people, from that pool of buyers who liked the house right away and then said they're not sure that's the right time to buy, with elections going on etc. Then they came back and still put an offer in, when they felt they're ready to make their decision. They impressed us as serious buyers who obviously gave a lot of thought to things (that was the second offer we received..the first one gave us a totally different impression so we didn't make any efforts to meet in the middle or something), and we went with them and didn't feel sorry for a moment because they were reasonable, non fussy, and nice. Staging payed minimal role in all of that, if at all. I never asked for it too..it was the MO of the realtor, we wanted the realtor, it was how she worked. Next time, which I hope won't be too soon. I stage everything myself, thank you very much. I'm totally capable of presenting my own house. Ah, and the pictures were awful. If you ask me. Wide lens, everything unnaturally bright.. No. We loved the realtor, she was an exceptional business woman..but stager and photographer, I could do without them both. So. it's a house itself, where it stands, and when it's being sold. And a little bit of luck(c)..or vise versa.