"If my reward for that kindness is to have to deal with unscrupulous creeps who feel entitled to do as they please with my work, then something needs to change." But, it really is the bad percentage that we often react to, isn't it. I'm sure you've had a ton of profiteers stealing your work, but are they really the majority of people using your work? (and by using, I mean, visiting your site, reading your site, looking at your photos.) I would guess the majority, were people who -didn't- take your stuff, and just really enjoy your website. (How many hits does your site get and how many instances of copyright violation are there?) I can totally see how you'd get tired and frustrated from having to protect your copyright. Your site was one of the first that I found when I was looking for more information on Old Roses. (Google quite likes you as I'm sure you know.) And it's your choice. So please don't think I'm blaming you. But something doesn't necessarily "need to change". It has to change for you because that's where you're personal line of "enough is enough" is, but it's a choice. All the emails I've gotten over the years, and the friends I've made from being online and the unusual opportunities,... those to me outweigh my personal profiteers. Everyone has to make their own choices as to where that "worth it" line is. Like I said before, I have friends (who are artists) who don't post their work online for these reasons. campanula - I think if someone owns the copyright to something, it should not be stolen, according to the legal rules of copyright (whatever that is in each instance). I don't think that it's related to how famous or even how talented the owner of the copyright is. I don't really understand why we even have to argue the worth or how "professional" something is. If you create a work of art, you own the copyright. Even if it is hideous or amateurish. on the notion of taking photos of people's private gardens without permission. I must admit that over the past few months, when I drive by a house with a particularly beautiful garden, I stop and quickly take a photo. I've been saving these photos in a private folder on my computer. At one point, I'd thought about posting a thread sharing the photos so that other people could admire or be inspired by them, but then, I was also worried that perhaps by chance, one of the garden owners might see the thread and somehow be annoyed that I'd posted a photo of their garden without permission. So I haven't, and probably wont.

My handyman, Sean Dyar “screwed” (sorry for the language) me out of $3,000. Long story but I want everyone to know. He lives in Canterbury Courts in Carrollton, TX. He is a proud dad of 3 & enjoys everyday like it is his last. He is known as Sean, the main Grunt & passed out flyers in my neighborhood. He did some smaller handyman things for me & it was great. Then he suggested I paint the exterior of my house. I took his advice & paid him $1500 to start. Then he complained that he needed Hernia surgery & bc he was a friend now & met my children, I felt sorry for him & paid him the entire $3000 he quoted for the job. I have waiting since April 2021. His Fiancé, Beverly even called me (no caller ID) & asked if he & I were having “relations” bc she couldn’t believe I paid him in advance for the job. (Never, never). I was not interested in him that way. NEVER.......Yuck. Shame on me for being a nice person trying to help their fellow man. Because I paid him “cash”, I have no way to retaliate or sue him. Super stupid on my part, I know so.... I just don’t want anyone else to be taken advantage of like he “screwed” me. TMI & I shouldn’t post, but I have to bc he took advantage of me in such a bad way, I have to do something...... What comes around, goes a around. He will receive his in another way. I believe in God & being a good person. Thank you if you read this post & sorry so long. Melinda B Walker. 😡

Kristene asked me to post this picture for you so you can see what the block that you send to her should look like. You are only doing the first part of the instructions for her block. She will work with the block more after it has been received. I'm not sure if the instructions ever reappeared on the internet. Anyway, as Kristene explains this: __________________ This is Stage 1 of my Butterfly block that I am asking quilters to do for me. I've been trying to upload onto GW forum to show others what a block would look like, but have been having trouble. Would you be able to put it on the GW site for me please? The outer squares can be in any warm mid green - either Japanese print, Batik, tone on tone or solid green. All 4 squares can be the same or do 2 the same and 2 different or all 4 different. What they send to me is a 14" square. After I finish going through the rest of the steps, the blocks to be joined will be 12" ________________ If you have any questions, please e-mail Kristene and ask. It's almost midnight here, but I have my fabrics washed and pressed and am planning to make Kristene's block before I head up to bed. Remember that it will take awhile for mail to reach her. Happy Holidays and I hope many of you are more ready for the holidays than I am... whew... always seems to be last minute for me! Jeanne

Thank you very much, Mike. I was hoping you'd respond & were closer to Monmouth County. I'm in eastern Monmouth County but not beach town. My neighbor downstairs who bought the NJNG system gave me copy of her paperwork. They had "special" which says she got furnace for "free" with purchase of Trane XR13 A/C. I wouldn't tell her I thought overall cost of $5,500. was an awful lot for just that A/C model if that was predicate for getting "free furnace". When I looked on Trane web site it said the XR13 a/c unit is 2nd from bottom offered. Nothing wrong with that if you have set amount to spend for okay performance but I get bad feeling when they seemingly dupe people with "free furnace" language. When I asked about matching A/C & Furnace, as I've seen on manufacturer web sites, the salesman said "they're all made by the same company". I know there are only a handful of OEM corporations but if a company says this matches that I'd think they should quote that way. If there's one thing my late father taught me....ask questions, get answers in writing, compare written info and don't believe BS sales pitches. I do my best to follow his sage advice but it's taken me a while to figure out HVAC components & what their specs mean. He used to take care of making inquiries of this kind for me. I was spoiled by a great father! I know I don't need a gold-plated system but want to get best I can for reasonable cost. I went through my later father's files & found name of independent HVAC company he used for years (for sizable center hall Colonial) after much investigation and comparison. They're sending someone over on Wed. to review situation & give proposal(s) for couple options. Don't know if it matters to people more familiar with HVAC but their installers are NATE certified which I believe requires continuing education. Hopefully they already got common sense at birth! It didn't dawn on me until later that my outdoor utility room must have some insulation because it also holds the hot water heater and pipes which don't have external insulation but haven't frozen in 27 years. A condensate pan under furnace is probably more prone to freezing due to lower depth & possibility of other things freezing along the way. I just know it's not very cold in there during winter but one could presume that's because the furnace is blasting! It's difficult for me to deal with a tradesman once I get a feeling I'm being given a blatant pitch or blown off for asking questions. Every purchaser can't be well versed in HVAC so I'd think a lot of people ask lots of questions. Thanks again for your help. Stay afloat with heavy rains out your way. Leslie