My big zone push experiment is with Gooseberries and a Red Lake Currant. I discovered that the first two I planted are getting next to no sun, as soon as they go dormant, they are getting moved a couple of feet to where they can get some sun. The first gooseberry so far has grown but not set fruit but the currant had a few handfuls of tasty red berries this year. I have no expectations of huge crops, that handful made me happy. If I lived somewhere they grew I would probably be disappointed. Being in a zone they do not grow, I am happy. I think some times we have expectations that limit how much we will like a plant. If we are happy with a few blooms from a special rose, maybe it does not make a difference if we have to cover the ugly with companion plants. We might not want a garden filled with the ones that struggle. But if it is Mom's special rose, why not try it. As far as the garden and all the Austins, guessing those plants were all donated, Austin may hope that they do well and they can use that to sell more plants. Or if the first spring flush looks good, that is when they will sell tons of plants. If they later look rotten, chances are your average consumer is not going to take notes and they have already made the sales. I am going to order two plants I have been told will probably not like our garden. I figure it is a $25 lesson on garden zones and expectations. If they grow 1/3 of the typical size, I will be thrilled. I know that our lot has a variety of micro climates, so hoping they like the one I pick. Before I knew what rose it was, I moved a self rooted plant from a spot where it got a lot of radiated heat from a garage to what I thought should be a much better place. The other Iceberg roses loved it there, but this one plant turned in to a rusty mildew nasty looking thing....Guess that is the usual look for Simplicity, but the others are okay in that one special spot (not wonderful-but okay) Makes me wonder how many roses are considered great or bad depending on some minor micro-climate changes.

Here's a photo tour of how I do mine(since it's easy to show). I have a huge single file under my photos files that is labeled 'conifer collection'. This contains the several dozen genus/species I collect/grow and has individual folders leading to individual cultivars. Once in the cultivar folder, I have simply the name and then year(with special details in parenthesis). This will allow me to have a lengthy chronological sequence of pictures I can refer back to. While it's time consuming, the Winter here are horrendously dreary, and thus I am allowed plenty of time to work on it. The entire 'Conifer Collection' folder with it's 3,000 photos and 1,400 folders still fits onto a single DVD which I backup twice a year onto a disc. Someday, I'll be glad to share them with whoever asks, once I make proper corrections and have 3-4 years of growth on 99% of my plants to show people. -Will

Joann: Thank you for the design and all of the example pics. You and your DH are really very talented. Did either or you ever do this work professionally or is it a hobby? Thank you for highlighting all of the architectural details. That is exactly what I need to see. DH and I were debating about this glass as the side panels are quite narrow so your pics are very helpful to visualize the whole effect. I should mention here that this is not a fully custom shop. We basically get to pick different door/cabinet styles, wood species/stain/hardware, height/width, drawers and component configuration so I may not be able to order some of the lovely design details you incorporated, though I will bring in the pics and inquire about it on Sat. I did notice the bottom doors on the console are not full overly which it looks like you designed for the sides. I'm going to guess my top option will not be full overlay so we'll see. Also, my hinges are not the euro style on bottom and stick out the sides. Wouldn't they need to match? As the TV is 50" wide, I was thinking of having the center opening be 51". Then in the vertical direction with the TV height at 31" I was thinking we should add a bit of beathing room--say about 3" extra on top so the TV box would then be 51"W x 34"H. I think I'll check the TV specs to see any ventillation requirements, though I know DH wants some holes in the back for cables, etc. I notice hoosiergirl's TV is very tightly set into the built-in. I'll let you know what they come up with when we go in over the weekend.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my recent efforts to get a grip on organizing my photos. I had them everywhere, from old family history ones that are in print, small vintage snapshots, color slides from mid century, 4x6 from the 70s/80's, and a ton of digital images when the grandkids started to arrive. They were a mess! I tackled the printed photos first and went through them and eliminated so many non descript ones that were really of no account. I did not really even know those people in that photo, and who needs year to year school photos of cousins, neices and nephews? Then, the digital photos were the biggest obstacle. I have eliminated a lot of them, also and put the rest into files and subfiles. I have put them on an external drive and what I plan to do with them is to go through and print out a few of them with us and the grand kids and put them in a little album for them, and the rest on some sort of drive. it has taken me days and days and I am still not finished with them. One thing that I have decided is that I am putting each of my kid's photos of our family years into albums, each containing some photos of the other. I am going to go ahead and pass them on down to them. They each have their own homes and their own families now. Just like any other thing that is seeking storage, the first thing to do is to edit and eliminate the low hanging fruit. The ones that were culled have not actually left the house yet. I am waiting until I feel that I have gotten my final arrangement before that happens. But, they are gone from the assortment and it is much easier to handle them. Even many of the digital ones are still in the trash on the desktop, awaiting the final sort. My dilemma right now is to find the right sort of album for keeping what are mostly 4x6 prints. So many of those albums have such silly stuff printed on them. I want something more respectable than something that says something silly like "I believe", or "Live life", or something equally nonsensical. What a chore to corral all of the images and prints and slides!! I have mailed some out to other family members.