Enough with winter already. I don't know about you, but I say it's time to bring on the home and garden shows. I want to see giant koi in ponds that I'd like to have in my backyard, and patio furniture that looks like it's part of a complete set, rather than the mismatched Craigslist orphans sitting on my balcony.

There are loads of patio, pool, home and garden shows scheduled pretty much every place it's spring (that would be in March).  Getting a head start a week or two earlier than most is the popular Minneapolis Home & Garden Show, which is held, appropriately, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Check out our list of home and garden, pool and patio shows and get busy planning your yard makeovers in the coming months. If you know of a show or event not on this list, contact us!

The About.com Readers' Choice Awards have been underway for a week now, and a new category has been added to the lineup for About.com's Pool and Patio site. The category --  Best Book, Outdoor Living and Design.

Have you read a home and garden book that you'd recommend to a friend, or anyone, for that matter? Possible book subjects can include:

• Landscape design
• Outdoor kitchens
• Patios
• Porches
• Decks
• Playhouses, Treehouses and children's play structures and spaces
• Working with stone and other materials
• Outdoor DIY projects

The book nominated must have been published in 2010 or later. No interior design or gardening how-to books will be considered.

So, what are the best pool and patio products on the market?

For the second year in a row, About.com Pool and Patio is participating in the annual About.com Readers' Choice Awards. Beginning on Wednesday, January 18th, at 12:01 a.m., we will be accepting nominations in the following categories:

• Best Hot Tub/Spa brand or manufacturer
• Favorite Outdoor Toy
• Best Pool Cleaner/Vacuum brand and model
• Best Decking Material (real wood, composite or whatever else you might use for decking)
• Best Patio Furniture brand or manufacturer
• Best Outdoor Lighting
• Best Book, Outdoor Living and Design

After nominations close on Wednesday, February 15, finalists in each category will be determined and voting for the winners will take place from Wednesday, February 22, through Wednesday, March 21, with winners announced on Friday, March 30, 2012.

There won't be a trophy, prize or red carpet interviews-- just the bragging rights that come with getting recognized by the readers of one of the biggest networks on the Web, owned by  The New York Times Co. Learn more about the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards Pool and Patio categories -- all seven of them.

Reminder: Links to nomination forms will go live here beginning January 18.

My 13-year-old daughter has been talking about turning her two-level play structure / gym into something more like a clubhouse where she can hang out with friends or by herself. She wants to keep the big green plastic slide, but she and my husband have already raised the roof.

Cooler nights make you want to bundle-up indoors and read books that might contain your next spring or summer project. Check out this list of books I've compiled about DIY playhouse, treehouse, shed and backyard retreat projects that will get your mind off current concerns and help you look forward to the spring and summer. Once you've found the right book(s), you can look through the photos and plans together to figure out which project is the right one for you. Email or post your book choices or project progress in the Forum!

Photo Courtesy of PriceGrabber