Thanks all, for the nice compliments! We had friends over yesterday afternoon and we all sat out on the deck - and I do mean ALL - humans, dogs, chickens, cats - enjoying the late afternoon sun. It's truly our little "magic kingdom" over there.
The walkways are edged with bender board but it's not wood - I heard DH gushing about it to someone - it's some kind of synthetic material that won't rot out like wood.
Gravel is a great alternative - we have it in our driveway and it makes a distinctive sound when cars drive up - kind of nice. We do have to replace it every 2 or 3 years as it eventually compresses.
I had the Chicken Emperor shirt made by www.neighborhoodies.com . I'm sure there are other places that do that kind of thing; it's just the one I've known about for several years. Takes about 3 weeks although you can pay huge rush fees and get things sooner.