Oh my yes. Back when Mary Chastain had her website for Lakeside Hostas, she had photos taken by Carol Brashear, who is a fantastic photographer. I bought a number of those Lakesides, that never looked as good as those photos. (Black Satin, Kaleidoscope, Explosion, and a few others) Some did, and my Dragonfly is precious, as is L. Paisley Print, etc, but oh, my those photos simply grabbed you and said buy me, buy me, buy me. Yes a photo can seal the deal. That is one reason I love the HL, as you get photos from people in different areas under varying growing conditions. That was not the case with the Lakeside hostas, as the only photos at the library were the ones submitted by Mary at the time. I craved "L. Dividing Line" and spent a couple years trying to find someone who had something to show other than a pic of one leaf from Mary's website. She offered it for $100 OS, and I came very close to sending for one....until another Garden Web person showed his plant. It was a white center, not just the very, very thin line shown in the leaf photo on her website. Photos do sell. Do your homework before you succumb. Or not. Just buy them and decide for yourself!!!!! -Babka

Calico, you don't have to use a hoop or frame. I think a hoop might distort the fabric, but a frame could be helpful if you have one, though not necessary! The last needlepoint I did I just rolled the canvas up to where I was working on it. As far as thread, try a small section with the floss and see if you like the coverage. Mine was a kit that came with the yarn, but if you have floss on hand you might as well try it. Do you have instructions for doing the stitches? Even though they slant like a 1/2 cross stitch, they are worked differently so that you get fuller coverage and less distortion of the canvas. It's been a while since I did mine, but I think the basic stitch is called tent stitch. Have fun!

I just returned after spending several days up at the family cottage. Having finished "House Thinking" recently, I had a look around the room with those ideas in mind. I had always considered this room cozy. It originally had two twin size beds and two toy chests. The bed covers and window coverings were printed with a pattern that resembles a quilt, with small squares of brown, green and gold. The walls are white and the boards on the ceiling are painted with a white stain that still shows the wood grain. The carpet is the speckled brown sort that hides sand. That is where I stay with my husband, sleeping in the beds of his childhood. One still has the sticker he put on it when he was knee-high. When the mattresses started to give us backaches, due to the "hammock effect" of worn bed springs, I asked his parents at the breakfast table if we could put some boards beneath the mattresses. That was my huge mistake. I should have just run out to the hardware story myself for some boards. Instead, we got something we never asked for. My MIL, who is getting more and more manic in her increasing age, decided to get a new, queen-size bed. And for some reason I cannot comprehend, other than the compulsion to have bigger and bigger parties by fitting more and more people into her cottage, she kept the two twin-size beds. So now it is wall-to-wall beds in that room. Hardly comfortable and welcoming. Oh, and there never has been a time when all the beds in that room have been occupied. So it is also useless to have so many beds in there. I now refer to that room as the "bunk house." I used to open my suitcase on the floor, and use the top of a toy chest for the clothes I'd be using that day. With the current arrangement, there is nowhere to put your suitcase, except on top of one of the unused beds. If my MIL ever does get her wish and fill the room with four adult guests, suitcases will have to be stored in the hallway, and opened in the hallway. Don't even think about the snoring situation. The dresser in there has always been stuffed full of MIL and FIL's clothes. I used to use the closet, but since this room seems to be a dumping ground, the shelves became full of old, abandoned toys that the grandkids have worn out. The hangers in the closet hold the extra life jackets that never get used, and old, dusty army jackets and rain jackets that you would never want rubbing against clean clothes. Hardly a restful place to occupy. If you get up in the middle of the night, best bring a flashlight, because you're bound to run your toe into something. Oh, and the worst was that MIL got new curtains to match the new bedspread, and they allow even more light, which makes it impossible to sleep past 5:30 am, when you're supposed to be sleeping in on vacation. After I tried to explain to her that I need darkness for sleep, she brought back one of the old curtains. I put it back up. But the two smaller ones appear to be lost. All we have are the new ones -- white and flimsy. The remaining original curtain is brown and green. A mismatch. And now that I see the white ones and the brown ones side by side, I prefer the brown ones. Why did she have to change it? We were there for nearly a week this time. I was sick of the clutter. So I did what I could. I crammed the broken toys into one of the toy chests, and played musical chairs with the blankets that had been piled on the chest. They went onto the shelves in the closet. The life jackets went into another junk closet. It will be a while before the older generation discovers them there, and insists on putting them back into the "bunk room." which also seems to serve as a "junk room." The next guests who will stay in that room will at least be a bit more comfortable. They'll have a place to hang their clothes, instead of draping them on the bed frames. So, by doing a bit of moving around, I have increased the spaciousness and utility of the room as well as I could manage. I think this is a very important aesthetic consideration. Add that to the list. "Room to maneuver." Is that one considered to be in the realm of the sense of touch? Or sight? Next time I go there, I will not have a vacation because I am going to do something about the light coming in through the curtains. I have a roll of sun block drapery liner. Instead of swimming or reading, I will be sewing, which is an OK thing, since I love to sew, and can look forward to some sleep. Oh, I have a sleep mask, but those things always slip off in the night.

I had a 6 year old Mac Airbook that I loved. However, I spilt some tea and the right shift key stopped working. I loved that computer so much that I kept using it with only a left shift key for over a year. Then the touch pad became wonky and it was getting really slow. Long story short, in January I was just "looking" at Best Buy and went home with a brand new Mac Book Pro. They had zero financing and a long try at home period. Now I don't know why I suffered so long with a malfunctioning Mac Air. To answer your original question I had always been a PC user and for somethings I do prefer a PC. If you are doing any picture editing, or art designing go with the Mac Book. My friend has a 15 inch MacBook and uses it for Photoshop but finds it too heavy to take on photo travel. He may buy a smaller 13 inch just so he can carry it on trips without breaking his back.