Very, very pretty love the beads with the gold. Nana, I finally found a gold flatware set that I could afford the other day, I've been looking forever. I got service for 12 and all the serving pieces for $35.00, of course it's not going in the yard. Frou

I have a problem with the camera I am using now in that I often accidentally set the flash because of where the toggle wheel is place. My camera looks very similar to yours, and I find it very easy to press the flash without realizing it. Sometimes it is difficult to turn off the automatic flash, and this is most irritating. Most of the photographing I do now is of furniture and of cardboard models of furniture that I make at work, and I really do not need a flash for this. In the past, I have photographed wall sconces for tear sheets and these were difficult because the finishes were often polished silver plate or polished nickel. I had to be very careful about what was reflected in the mirror finishes. Of course I had to be even more careful when I photographed mirrors, and I often did those on a dock with the background very far away, so that it would be blurred. That was before I could fix them in Photoshop. Lars

I always load knives point up, at the very back. Forks and spoons are alternating as others have suggested and my DW manual suggested to prevent nesting. I had a brief period where I loaded knives point down, all I ended up with were duller knives and broken points. I will continue in my method of ALWAYS unloading knives and other sharp/breakable items first but I won't change my DW loading method or switch to hand washing.

We know that you like how these look. Do you like how they feel in your hands? These are very trendy. That means they won't be around several years from now when you need to replace the piece that some fool bent in the garbage disposal. Will you have moved on to something else by then or do you need to buy an extra set now? I'm really picky about how utensils feel on the lips and tongue, but I know that's probably a little out there! Prices: You can buy a 5-piece place setting of sterling at Replacements for $200 up. With daily use almost any sterling will outlive modern stainless, but the patterns tend to be traditional. A 5-piece place setting of Onieda's better flatware is in the $40 to $70 range. The pattern you like is by Cutipol. Goa (gold and white) is $90 at ABC carpet and home in NY. It's on backorder. Crate & Barrel has Aero (black and stainless or all stainless) for $60.