Park in on street parking and use your designated parking spot for container veggies. If the other dwellers won't poach them. Contact a local garden club to pair up with an older gardener who may have to be cutting back her pursuits but isn't ready to give up gardening all together. That's win/win. Maybe a local food bank is trying to get a gardener's donation initiative off the ground and needs help convincing local gardeners to ''plant an extra row'' for them. Or Habitat For Humanity might be interested in doing edible landscaping for some of their homes and people who have never gardened before and who might need help. Lots of ways to have green fingers if you really want. If none of those initiatives exist in your community, then initiate them yourself!

Sorry I am so late coming to your site - you are an inspiration to all, homeowners and advisers alike. For your planting advice, I suggest you call Merrifield Garden Center to see if they will come out your way. They currently have wonderful garden centers in Merrifield and Fairfax (both in Fairfax County) and a new one in Gainesville, but they may come further south to wherever you reside. (www.MerrifieldGardenCenter.com) Even if they don't send designers to your area, they are worth a trip to see their huge selection for a day of pleasure and inspiration, or to pick up some plants. Most of my clients are in the Fairfax and greater Washington area, but I am currently living out west below Front Royal, VA on the Shenandoah mountainside - wonderful views. cascio.offsite@gmail.com

Hey there! You probably should've checked on what colour would've best suited your carpet colour and wooden bed before buying them, but unless you want to get a refund and further delay the curtains, maybe it'd be an idea to deal with the colour that you chose.

Get p at 2:00am on Saturday morning, do a spatial layout for a farmhouse in Mt Barker (WA not SA), back to bed at 5:00am for a lie in until 6:30 and then take the dogs for 5km walk around our excellent local park. Home to vacuum and start washing, then off to watch our grand-daughter at soccer, followed by the shopping, a half hour kip and an hour making soup. More design work on the farm house and another 5km walk before feeding the dogs and then ourselves. Finally get to read the morning paper.