Not much learning curve. You'll love the convection once you have a chance to use it. You can lessen the time it takes something to bake/roast by 25%. Preheat with convection always, even if you aren't using it to bake something like a delicate cake. (My oven preheats using convection in 12-15 minutes, depending on how high I need it to be.) Don't use convection if you're baking bacon, or your oven is dirty when you want to high heat roast. It's not true that everything bakes more evenly. You still have to check and turn your sheet pans for even baking/roasting, depending on where they are positioned in your oven. Go for it. You may decide you don't like stainless after having to clean the front of it for a while, and this would be the thing to try it on. It will still blend in with the rest of your kitchen. I suspect you're gonna LOVE the oven, once you get acquainted with it!

guaralady, The Quilts of Valor Foundation accepts both "quilt-toppers" and "long-armers". They bring together people who wish to make a quilt top with those who have the ability to machine quilt quickly (NOT cheaply!). You are making a wonderful quilt top. You don't need to quilt it if this is not your talent or desire. The QoV Foundation will provide you with a long-arm quilter, if you wish. You mail it and the quilter will quilt it, and then send it back to you for binding and a label. You should name the quilter on the label, of course. Many of the long-arm quilters that provide their services to this cause have won awards at major quilting shows, so don't be worried about how your top will be treated. If you go this route, it is truly a joint effort. Just go to the website, and they will hook you up with someone willing to do the quilting. You do need to pay attention to what the long-armer wants in the way of backing fabric. Backings are bigger than the quilt tops! We do need our margins, LOL. Mary

We have had prime for years, even before they offered streaming. Somehow I received my first year free and there has been no looking back. What I like the most is not having to drive around looking for whatever it is I am trying to buy, it always seems to be a challenge. That said I do review prices between other stores/websites such as Target, and Home Depot, for example Amazon does not even come close to meeting the price I pay for bird seed through Home Depot. Even with shopping other websites and locally for many things, Amazon is a huge timesaver and worth the money for me.

It was June last year that I commented on this thread. Some updates: Falstaff was removed. I had enough after some serious pampering this spring without a single flower. I did love those (rare) flowers though. Madame Isaac Pereire died. It was in too dry a spot after all. My tears dried after putting my nose into Alnwick Castle. Evelyn. Moved to a sunnier position and they have taken off. Keeping them. Alexandra Duchesse de Luxembourg. My opinion hasn't changed. Doesn't thrill me. I don't hate it. From a distance it does catch the eye since the flowers are so large. She's in a holding pattern for now. Claire Austin was removed. I just didn't like yellow color fading to dirty newspaper color. Blech. Old Blush. it's still there. I'm getting used to those flowers with poor form and strident color. Pure Perfume. I discovered that they need more sun and water, but I have no place to move them to. Keeping them for now. Radio Times, moved to a pampered pot, grew a little, but never seems happy. Will not stay in my garden. William Shakespeare 2000. I discovered that the problem really is that they need more water. I may put them in pots. Off the chopping block. So I was somewhat right: some of the "eh" factor was due to cultural factors. But not all. These are now in the "eh" column: Sonia Rykiel. Flowers don't take the heat. Not very fragrant in my yard (maybe next year). Doesn't produce those glorious flowers that Fragrancenutter shows. Doesn't really want to grow. My second plant died and I've already replaced it with another Alnwick Castle. Dee-lish. Happy to grow, happy to bloom, lovely fragrance, but to my eye, not very pretty. Winchester Cathedral. It's there, it blooms well in the spring, with very short-lived flowers, then a few flowers here and there the rest of the summer. Weird fragrance. Doesn't wow me. In my garden it's just a nondescript white rose without a lot of flowers. Iceberg. I really like the fragrance, but after the spring show, the flower form is lost, and the leaves always look sickly yellow. I may replace them with Desdemona, or Bolero, or ...