sphinxie's Profile

I would suggest hiring someone for the first mowing, using an electrical or gas mower. After that, use a push mower. Any time the lawn gets out of control, repeat.

It sounds lovely, and I've lived in situations more or less like that. The buggy detail ended up being walking back and forth on cold and rainy days in the winter. So I'd be happiest in a series of attached buildings, I suppose.

Very formal style. The bedroom is gorgeous, the kitchen is very nice, but the other rooms need a more warm human touch.

Oh, I wanted to read about why you were going to miss it, what it was like while you lived there!

I love desserts, but my spouse and I are both supposed to keep our sugar intake to a minimum. So it's easier if we just concentrate on good non-dessert food.

For the fences, plant whatever nice vines you can get ahold of. Morning glories are a great place to start. For year round cover ivy works well, but it does take over. A clematis here and there growing amongst the ivy could probably do well, that way you'd have year round cover and flowers too.

For the concrete... it's not incredibly budget friendly, but with my decently sized patio I've come to the conclusion that it's worth it to invest in large rectangular planters. Start with just one, with the option to buy more of the same kind if you like. Plant whatever you want in it, you'll learn from experience. A hose will make watering easier, especially if you expand beyond one planter, even if you need to hook it up to your kitchen sink.

So with those planters you could have bamboo or a similar tall thick plant to add visual variety. Or you could have a mini vegetable and/or herb garden. Or you could plant flowers. The individual planters can be like miniature gardens. Since you'd start with one, while large good quality planters aren't cheap, if you add one per year or something, the cost is spread out.

You could also use earthboxes or make your own planters by taking a box of whatever kind and making drainage holes.

Bright colors. Blue would be great. Red would be overwhelming, but would go with the cabinets. Not orange, and yellow would be difficult. Green and purple would also be a bit difficult to pull off.

Well--are the pencils good quality? How good?

That is an ugly fireplace. You could put a shelf over it, and then hang attractive fabric off the shelf and to the sides.

I'm ready to believe that MSG is not as bad as it's reputed to be... but I have had the experience of eating (almost always at Thai restaurants) and saying "Wow, this is so incredibly delicious!" and gobbling up the food... then about fifteen to thirty minutes later getting a very particular kind of headache that is just in my temples. It's possible that it depends on just how much MSG is being used.