There are lots of decent photo printers out there. Which one you pick depends in part on how much you want to spend and in part on how large your DIL will want to print. If she's doing photo shoots with clients, my guess is that she'll want to have the option to print big. I have this one, and can recommend it highly. It prints up to 13 x 19". Because of this, the printer itself takes up a lot of room. It wouldn't do for a small desk. The Canon line of photo printers has a good reputation. You might do an Amazon search and check out the different models and reviews. Epson has a good rep, too, but I don't recommend it because of so many reports of ink clogs if the printer isn't used often enough. I had an HP photo printer for years and was happy with it, but I don't know anything about their current line. One possibility is that your DIL might want to print her own occasionally, and for casual photos, but send the pro images out. That's what I did when I was exhibiting, uploading my image files to Mpix.com. They do beautiful work. You sound like a good mother-in-law!

Our two Mini-labradoodles (2nd generation)have different types of hair from each other. Our female, Andi has wiry hair on her back but her legs, head are soft and wavy/curly. She doesn't shed hair on our clothes or furniture but when you comb her, especially on her thick back fur, you will get it in the comb. Amos, our black male, has more poodle like hair, soft, its wavy to thick curls. We cut his hair about every other week to keep the mats down, which was a real problem when he was swimming this summer. Now it is not such a problem and we let him go a little longer. I do find little curls like on the carpet where he scratches them out, mostly from around his neck or ears. Either that or his sister pulls them out playing! Our breeder did not promise that they wouldn't shed at all, but that there would be less than other breeds like our Brittany. We certainly have less shedding than with either our Brittany or our Cockapoo. Hers was more like fuzz when she shed. He did tell us that they would need combing and that daily would be the best route to go. Luckily, they both love to be combed and its part of our nightly routine while we are on the floor with them. I agree (QQ know this) that they are very sweet, lovable, and smart.

Seems no matter how much I get done, there is always more! Have had other things besides gardening to do - granddaughter's 7th birthday today, and have been picking her up after school this week, tomorrow, am going to Houston to the wonderful Southwest Fertilizer store - this week, all rose products are 15% off and I buy my Mills Magic Rose mix, etc. there. It is a Neiman Marcus of fertilizer stores and I just love poking around and seeing all the different products! Roses at nurseries are 15% off too, but wont have time to go to any and besides, have ordered from too many online ones! Edmunds order just came in, and I picked up my David Austins last week. Our weather will be 34 in the morning, but after that, no more low temps or so the weatherman says. Wish I could share some of my compost with you Moses! I have plenty and its made fresh daily! We just had bitterly cold weather last week.......but now I see the leafless canes of the roses starting to swell with leaf buds and even a few green leaves coming out! I can prune starting Valentines Day......and cant wait! I will fertilize with organics then - so exciting! Judith

I'm not sure why my earlier post vanished, but it happened after I attached a second picture. It could be I started typing too soon before the pic had loaded. This time I'm posting the pictures first and I'll comment below. This picture shows how organic fertilizers work. Thank you to mrmumbles for posting this several years ago. He dropped a handful of alfalfa pellets on his zoysia lawn in mid May and took the picture in mid June. Organic fertilizers take 3 weeks to show improvement, so that was part of the reason for posting. Anyway you can see the improved color, growth, and density. I see the same effect using alfalfa pellets or with corn meal. These are plain grains out of a 50-pound sack from the feed store. This year corn costs me $10 and alfalfa pellets are $14. Your prices in Escondido will be different due to shipping. Call all the feed stores in the area to get availability and prices. If you don't have many feed stores the only one I know of even close is near Temecula on the road to Palm Desert, and that was 15 years ago, so it's probably a subdivision by now. The application rate for these grain type fertilizers is 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You seem to be familiar with organics, but if you have more questions I can help with that. Surprisingly, wild animals are not usually attracted to these grains. My dog, on the other hand, loves this stuff. But he can't eat much. This next picture shows the difference between daily watering (the norm in California and Florida) and deep and infrequent watering. Thanks to morpheuspa for posting this pic several years ago. His is the green lawn. Photo was taken in July, so summer. All the lawns in the neighborhood are KBG in eastern PA. Everyone uses chemical fertilizers and waters daily in the summer. Morph uses only organic fertilizer and waters deeply and infrequently. In our terms, deeply means 1 inch every time you water. Infrequently means once per week in the hottest heat of summer (temps higher than 90). With temps between 80 and 90, then water once every 2 weeks. With temps between 70 and 80, water once every 3 weeks. With temps lower than 70, water once every 4 weeks. Usually you cannot change from your more frequent watering to infrequent watering cold turkey. You have to wean yourself off of shallow and frequent watering by going to deep watering first. So deep means 1 inch. You can time how long that is with your sprinklers by setting out several cat food or tuna cans. When all the cans are full, that is your watering time from now on. With my oscillator sprinkler, hose, and water pressure it take 8 full hours to get 1 inch. Your system will probably be much less than this, but 45 minutes seems a little short. This approach works in Phoenix (where I first got the info) and in Vermont, so it should work for you. Start with these temps and times and adjust (slightly), but in Escondido you should never be watering twice a week. It's April in Texas, and I have not watered my front lawn yet this year. If you have really mushy or really sandy soil, adjust. If you have half a day of morning fog every day, adjust. If you have dense shade, adjust. Deep and infrequent watering is the single most important thing you can do to help your lawn. It will help with nutrition, disease prevention/avoidance, weed pressure, and will cure arthritis. Well, but it really does those other things. Hard soil is a sign that your soil biology needs a boost. A healthy soil becomes soft to walk on when it is moist and returns to firm when it is dried out. You should see that when it rains and sometimes when you water. Right after the rain or deep watering, the soil should become very soft to walk on - like walking on a sponge. The easy way to restore the health of the beneficial microbes is with shampoo. Professionals use a version of this which costs $70 per gallon, but you can do it with any clear shampoo. The application rate is 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. For example if you have 2,000 square feet, then put 6 ounces of shampoo into a hose end sprayer and fill the bottle with water. If it has a dial, set the dial in the middle. Spray the entire lawn evenly until the bottle is empty. That will have put exactly 6 ounces on 2,000 square feet. Follow that up with 1/2 to 1 inch of water to get it down deeper into the soil. It takes 3 weeks before the microbes fully respond to this, but it will open your soil whether you feel it or not. You cannot overdo this. People have tried. You could spray 64 ounces per 1,000 square feet and it would not hurt the lawn. In the shade of your oak tree you might have thinner St Augustine. My live oak was 70 years old with a canopy 30 feet high. It cast shade on the entire yard. The grass was not nearly as dense as it was in the back with half day of full sun, but it was not bad. It always gave full coverage of the soil. Get the leaves out of the turf and find some herbicide with atrazine. Most of the major brands have a version. Now is the time to apply. Careful about overspray, because it is death to everything but St Aug. Then encourage the st Aug by fertilizing it frequently but not the weeds. Do this by hand for the stringers. Actually I do my entire yard by hand because alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow sized) don't go through my spreader evenly.