Thanks again folks, for all your comments. Marylu.....down here, we do not have a problem of our ground freezing, therefore, I just dug out all the grass, tilled the ground and lowered it to the level I wanted, then laid the brick, swept in the mortar mix, wet it down, and Waa Laa....my path. Of course the edging was down with wet mortar mix. :) Here's the latest addition to my walkway. The lower path in the pictures above leads to a parking pad where my DH parks his RV when he brings it home. The ground slopes here, so I leveled the areas, and stepped the path down rather than have it slope. Jan

Ken, you must have read Diane Keaton's book. I have it on audio version, she reads the book herself. That's the second time you've mentioned "it ain't pretty" which is why I think you may be familiar with it. (thong was the first).....hehehehehhe Well, I'm glad you said it, because my eyes were bugging out. I thought maybe the hosta chosen were all miniature or smalls. TNC, you have been saved from a terrible heart attack when your hosta explode in the spring two years from now. Ask me how I know. :) So welcome to the forum. Ken is serious about taking a 10 foot string and drawing an arc in that corner. The hosta you have will end up making your dogwood disappear except for the limbs up top. Or almost. Google the names of each hosta and you can identify the posts related to them, read the ones you wish, and learn what happens to each plant in or near your zone. We have a few folks growing hosta in TX, so you should find something helpful about the eventual size of each hosta. Don't read the promo card, but read how big it becomes in your growing zone. What to watch for in your zone. I'm in zone 9a. It is interesting to me that more high zone folks are becoming interested in hosta. That is great! Hosta are on the move, and the direction is south! I always knew the hosta had a game plan for climate change. :)

Ohhhhh I love that one too Lyd! I remembered the one in your bedroom and really liked that one also! (you should post a pic of it) I have an old 6 pane window in our bedroom,no glass, no paint and weathered, that just has greenery and fake peach roses twined around it. I have been thinking of this old window in the garage since I painted the kitchen and just didn't know what to do with it. I just did a search for "coffee shop signs" and got some ideas, now *IF* I can find things to do it with is another story....got to keep my eyes peeled.

Thanks so much, all of you. The flowers are basic painting but the shimmer is a back to back float. The leaves are a bit of strokework because I started with a regular t-bone leaf then I knew it would take too long to complete in a 3-4 hour class so I switched some of the leaves to a double loaded stroke with a base coat of the medium hauser green. The pattern is from a picture in one of my books, I had to draw it because the box was so small. I will give you the basic painting - Flowers 1. Based coat in Soft Sage (I then used a wet dry sandpaper to smooth - two coats 2. Base in the flowers with French Mauve, the leaves in Medium Hauser Green. 3. With a side load of Mauve, I shaded around the center one petal at a time. I used a slight C shape, meaning I started the shading on the side of the petal then came in toward the center and then back up the side of the petal. 4. Shade under the folded petal tip and between the petals where one petal is under another. 5. Highlight with buttermilk the petal edges and the turned part of the petal. Using a back to back float of white, highlight the center of several petals - the "shimmer" is where you want the petal to look raised up. Add a deeper shading with Black Plum, but it should be a smaller shade down in the deepest part of the petal. 6. With a small scruffy brush, pounce in the center with medium hauser green. Pounce a little bit of yellow and white on the right side of the center. Float dark green in a C shape around the left side of the petal to make it sit. The stamens are bright yellow with Black Plum on the tips. 7. The small pink flowers are simply based in with French Mauve, then shaded around the bottom and between the petals with Mauve and again with Black Plum. The little white lacy flowers are done with a scruffy brush and white, then a few stems pulled in with one of the greens. Leaves 1. Base coat with Medium Hauser green. Shade the base of the leaf with Hauser Dark Green. With Medium Green and light Buttermilk double loaded, Stroke the leaf from the base to the tip. Then come back and stroke a vein from the base up with the chisel part of the brush. Accent a few leaves with Black Plum, add Black Plum to a few of the tips. I added a few Ice Blue accents on the bottom leaves. 2. Splatter the bottom part of the box with Medium and Dark Green (I use an old toothbrush, easier to control) 3. Fill a liner with the dark green and do a few curly q's. Add a few champagne gold comma strokes, mask off the gold band with painter's tape, then paint in with two coats. I used a compass with the pencil about 1/2 inch shorter than the compass tip. Measure where you want the band to be from the edge. Place the pencil on that area, the compass point will be along the outside edge of the box. Gently glide the pencil around the box. This is the easiest way I have found to do banding. Do the same band of gold around the sides of the box. Then with a liner and dark green make your vine going over the gold band and skipping the band a some points so it looks as though the vine went under. The doofer flowers are with a scruffy brush pounced in with French Mauve and tipped in white, I pounced in three, one to the left, one slightly higher in the center and then one to the right. After I finish painting I leave it and will come back later and add more shading and highlight if necessary. I also decided to add a few leaves for balance and then I brought a few of the small leaves from the top of the box over the lid. Hope this helps. I love teaching painting but don't do it often enough - I have to share with the other members. I originally planned to do stroke roses but didn't think I would have enough time. B