More like...stick something in the ground. Does it die or not??

That's gardening!

I grew up with the whole digging twice, amending the soil, etc. process and, you know, sometimes plants just die even if you do everything right and sometimes they thrive if you literally stick cut stems in the ground and water them occasionally (literally how I grew my california lavender out front, it is taller than me and trying to take over the walkway). Don't let how you should be doing it stop you from half-assed gardening if that's all you're really up for. It can be very rewarding.

There's a furniture refurb place here that does things like that, maybe there's one around where you live.

If it were in better shape, I prbably would, but it's been picked on by the cats and is definitely showing it's age, so it probably mean repair and slipcover. I think we're starting to talk more money than it cost.

Jesse, are you planning to grow veggies? You might want to get the soil test for lead content. (The soil around here is high in lead, so I built raised bed for veggies and added all new soil.) Otherwise, I would just buy bags of compost and add it in to your new soil.

gardening 101. It said to start with testing your soil and then digging it all up

Yeah, no. Sure, test your soil to make sure it wasn't a dumping ground for a 19th century paint manufacturer. But if it isn't half cadmium and half lead, put in some two-foot high walls on it, fill 'em with good soil, and plant there. Less tilling, less bending, and if you stay on top of mulching and water right (at the roots with a drip hose, not a sprinkler), less weeding.

I have a wonderful old leather sofa (12 years old) that needs repairing DESPERATELY. The middle seat has several small tears and one great big one (like 4") right in the middle. I bought one of those home-repair kits and it was a disaster so I know I either need to suck it up and pay a professional, or else just replace it.

Uhg, I don't think the weather is going to be conducive to starting on building a wall around my postage stamp. It's nice enough now, a little cold, but no bets on how long that lasts. And I don't even have the blocks yet.

Ah well, I can scope out Home Despots options and get varnish anyway.

I do want to grow stuff to eat, and I actually know the soil is totally full of lead, so I think raised beds are actually the way to go, but I am thinking about containers as a starting point. But I'll need to do something to the rest of the floor. I mean, ground. Outside! What even is that?

ION, I'm watching more Friday Night Lights, and hey! It's Mike Ross from Suits!

More like...stick something in the ground. Does it die or not??

Totally how I garden too.

Counter offer. What to do, what to do???

$4500 above my offer. Do I try to knock that down $1500? Or just go with it? I don't want to upend things.

Sitting here, I feel like I would counter-counter, but in real life, I dunno. Is the $4500 more still doable for you?