ladylotus Z3/4 Thanks so much. I just downloaded the manual for my camera. My husband wants to read it. He's the techno-nut here. If there's a hidden macro setting he'll find it. I built a website using Netscape composer in the past and uploaded it without a problem. But I had Bellsouth then and they gave free webspace with the account. It was drag and drop the files - every easy. Not all ISPs supply you with space. My first one was 17 pages with loads of pics. It took ages to make. I'm not even sure if my new ISP gives us space. If so I may make another website one of these days.

To summarize, the "basics" are selecting the right rose for the right climate. Climatic suitability. Learn from the rose, know what the thing will tolerate. NO book can teach you that. No person can, either. Observation. Look at the danged things. Learn to read them. Learn their language. They'll tell you if they're not happy and often, just what the dickens is going on with them. Yes, reading (IF you are one of the intelligent ones who WILL read, unfortunately as uncommon as "common sense") will direct you toward what is suitable for where you are and what type of gardener you are or will become, as will simply walking around where you are and talking to people who seem successful at doing what you hope to do. If you read a book or someone's post, find out where they are. British rose books are glorious to read, but they have NO relevance in Southern California...PERIOD. Peter Beales and Graham Thomas proclaiming New Dawn and Ballerina to be perfect roses, the most successful and wonderful plants of their types are pure misinformation in warm, long season climates. Austin's original writings about his Graham Thomas being a "mannerly, five foot shrub" makes sense in a British season, but NOT in California where it can easily be a twelve to fifteen foot climber. Unless you take the initiative to find out where the information is relevant, it is worthless. For me to tell Elmire that tender Tea roses are the best roses around is cruel and ignorant at best because they are very likely not to be where she is. For her to tell ME to grow Rugosas is the worst advice anyone could provide as they are not happy here, period. There is tremendous information on line and, if taken with the knowledge of where it originated, can be invaluable. Pruning advice, particularly. In my climate, most roses do best with little pruning other than to remove what is no longer healthy or needed. Lyn must snow prune her roses or the weight of the snow will do it for her. Others must whack them to fit the winter protection they require. I know I irritate those who write me for advice about how to winter protect as the only response I can give based upon my experience is to continue dead heading and make sure they remain watered sufficiently if it doesn't rain! The right rose for the climate, positioned in the right spot for the conditions, planted acceptably and permitted to do as it needs to with suitably benign neglect will often become a weed. "Weed" is the highest praise I can think of for any plant as they succeed in spite of us. What could be better?

Second time around for me in 5 years so I have the benefit of hindsight also popping in and out here and reading. What's most interesting is how much is new. OTOH new isn't always better because, in the end, the service issues can be very affecting. I'm still having them with a built in fridge f.ex. 5 years later. Physical restrictions helped this time. Things had to fit in certain spaces, space is tight and certain things will and won't work. I spent 2 weeks looking and researching. I've got quotes and made my decision, which won't change. I did drawings of the new plan and had a virtual rendering done as well to see how the new color and tile and counters looked with the appliances. I'm very pleased with choices. What helps is knowing what you want and being able to budget around that. What I didn't find helpful was info/judgments given to me by salespeople. I spent time emailing folks here on old threads to see what their experiences have been over time. They all answered quickly and were incredibly generous in their comments. Having the same input from 2 or 3 people you don't know but who say the same thing more or less based on their every day experience was the most helpful to me in my decisions.

It's very in fashion right now to have a contrasting grout with subway tiles but if you want to minimize the grout lines, then use the french vanilla. I have it both ways in my house - my kitchen has white subway tiles with white grout and my bathroom has white subway tiles with grey grout (I wanted to emphasize the pattern in there on the floor and wanted the walls to match) and I love both. It just depends on what YOU like but I would not use a lighter/contrasting grout on the deco strip. I have black trim tile in my bathroom and the light grey grout really pops the lines a LOT. I don't mind it in there but in your case it would be worth it to mask the deco from the field and apply a grout that will be closer in color to the deco so you don't emphasize the lines. I would do the line between the field tile and the deco with the darker grout because the lighter grout would emphasize any uneven edges of that listello. I'm also talking from the point of view of someone who has been remodeling her bath since last thanksgiving and just wanting to get it done. If you DO have extra you should certainly identify the worst and replace them though, no reason to not take advantage of that "easy" fix if it's available to you. The extra pieces won't do you much good just sitting around ;). In that long shot there is only one "bad" one that stands out to me, the 4th from the left on the bottom. The rest look okay and will look even better once grouted. Grout just kind of pulls the whole thing together. It seems like such a minor detail but it really isn't. Your color palate is gorgeous and warm, the decos are beautiful and rich looking. When the paint is as rich as the decos are I think you will be happy with the final product. You're just suffering from a bit of remodel fatigue and sick of looking at it all. I can't imagine you not loving it when it's all together.