Analysis first, then plan, as Tookoo recommends. Use native plants, as neotoma recommends. Get specific plant recommendations locally, as Terri & sgelade recommend. Here is my two cents worth, for the shortterm. a. Remove and stockpile the lawn edging and most of the mulch back against the fences. b. Take a can of spray paint, or a bundle of surveyor's flag, and mark the largest circular or curved form that will fit within the fenced areas, no matter where the trees stand (inside or outside of the line) to form the temporary edge of your lawn area. See if the entire family agrees on the alignment or just do what looks best to you as the Senior Gardener. c. Add the wood edging to the new edge, or, it will look a lot better if the edge is not visible, using a steel edge whose top edge is down just above the grass roots and no longer visible, and not an impediment to the lawn mower. (when you form the plant beds, you will dig down a couple inches at the edge, where it meets the steel, and then slope the bed up from there, and the mulch will be contained at the level of the lawn, beyond) My recommendation, after you call in your landscape advisor, is to fill the beds totally with ground cover, beneath the shrubs, so no mulch will be seen after the two years of plant growth, using only a finer textured mulch which will become part of the soil bed. (Maybe the bark mulch will smell good in your new fire pit, along with the wood edging.) d. Plant the entire area with grass seed or sod and enjoy the beauty. The curved edge will make the space appear and feel larger and will decrease the maintenance of the smaller bed areas. On the subject of tree placement: analyse first, then plan. Look at all the views beyond your fenceline from all windows of the house, the living/ dining areas, all the bedrooms, to enhance the good views and to block the big, the bad, and the ugly. The large trees on your list will block views from the upper windows, The small horizontally branched trees will be a piece of sculpture in your downstairs view throughout the year, while their flowering and fragrance yet another reason to be alive. For instance, if you have an attractive small tree that has attractive flowers and foliage, PLUS has attractive bark color and has a sculptural quality in the off-season, you won't have to visit the museum quite as often, with a sculpture garden right out your window.

Grandma would say... "How are you going, Smiffy?" I thought of your friend Kate Thomas, at work the other day. There was an ad on the radio about breast screening and that led me to think of Kate and her work helping to detect disease and protect our health. Subsequently that led me to wonder if you are on top of things. I hope you are getting lots of Wolfie loves. There's nothing like the cuddles from a Wolfie to help a person to feel better. I don't know how to finish this, so..... I am sure I'm not the only one thinking of you. Please be strong.

In my opinion it's going to look like a flag , (white ,red blue. )If you want to paint house blue go darker and maybe French blue or greyish blue it's a bit more elegant and all the trims white but be careful outside all the colours look much brighter and lighter so when think it's just right go a shade darker .

Yes it’s done now. It will be easy to match the upper ones later on as I picked a neutral white. If I have the bottom cabinets removed, the new cabinets will be a different size to the existing ones, meaning tiles will have to be removed. Removing titles often causes tiles to be damaged and I cannot find the same tiles I have in the kitchen anywhere and they extend throughout the whole house with the exceptions of the bedrooms. Regardless, the upper cabinets are useful whether I find a way to repair the bottom cabinets or replace them. I have had two seperate tradesmen say it’s not possible to remove the shelves of the lower cabinet without replacing the whole cabinet.