Thanks Orangecamera. It's still a work in progress and mud everywhere Sorry we did look at having the steps' off set' but it didn't seem to go with only three steps and a small area. And about the zen well the cats are doing that for us much to our disappointment (it's still like a litter box to them). We went to the garden supply place still not knowing what kind of stones we were getting. We stood in front of all the bins (there where many). We even looked at mixing some. The grey stones had a bin more the size we wanted but we ended up getting the golden fleck. It was a little smaller, which was a shame, the bigger ones were so mixed in their grading it looked too messy. So this is what we finished up with. It was seagardens that got me thinking away from grey and nwduck mentioning the drainage. So this has really helped. Also everyone seem to think the wooden steps needed to go a lot lower. Next it's figuring out where the large river stones should go

I am planning to add scatter cushions and think if I do a pair of larger ones for each end so they go over the arms to creat height at each end, and a couple of smaller ones, I want to bring some colour in too. I do like the idea of a larger side light at either end to, Switching the sofas is going to be my final fix if all else fails!!

My ex-husband and I had an issue with a large window that looked out over a sidewalk where people were constantly walking by and looking directly into our living room. We solved the problem by using window film that was one-way so we could see out but it was like a mirror if anyone tried to look in. There are other varieties as well. We still got all the sunshine and light but didn't need to worry about whether or not the neighbors could see me watching tv in my nightie on a sick day...It also meant the door to door salesmen couldn't look in and see that I was home when I didn't answer the door. http://www.gilafilms.com/en/privacy-window-film.aspx#.VOuUBS5vksQ

Brilliant idea! I am also a beginner gardener and have planted many fruit trees recently. Some of the tips I can offer are: Make sure there is easy walking access to each tree/area. See if you can stagger them with smaller ones at the front and larger ones at the back so they all get good sun. Even consider some of the dwarf varieties (they still produce full sized fruit) for the front. I also have clay soil, so made sure when I planted the trees I dug extra deep holes and put in some pebbles for drainage, and a good helping of compost before putting in the trees. I have also heavily mulched around them with a deep layer of autumn leaves topped with peastraw to stop the leaves blowing away - but in a doughnut shape so the trunk of the tree is not covered. I put down a bit of blood and bone under the mulch - apparently this helps the leaves to break down faster and stops too much nitrogen being extracted from the soil while they break down. Once they do break down, they will add all sorts of goodness to the soil - I hope! The other advantage is that the mulch is helping keep them "warm" through our frosty winter, and will help reduce evaporation over summer, so reduce watering requirements. The downside of fruit trees is that over summer you need to be really vigilant for pests, and treat them accordingly - I went through dozens of bottles of homemade garlic spray! The trees I planted are lemon, mandarin, grapefruit, fig, pear, apricot, peach and almond - so far so good, hoping for a first crop of fruit this summer! Hope this helps, good luck!