Juliet, yes, his gardens are very near Birmingham, it's a half hour train ride from there. Even in late August it should be pretty spectacular. Wollerton Old Hall is covered with buds. I've not seen a single bloom yet "in real life", so I've got my fingers crossed. I think I'm expecting something similar to Scepter'd Isle with a lighter colour. I'll post photos when it blooms. Florence, it's my pleasure, and a treat to share it with others who enjoy the roses! Silverkelt, I do appreciate how lucky I am to live so close! When I lived in California I never dreamed I'd get to visit, and now I can walk out of my door, get on a train, and be there in just over two hours. I wonder what I should do this weekend?? LOL. Jumbojimmy, the roses in most of the pictures of the greenhouses are "potential" new Austins, either for garden or cut flowers, so I'm pretty sure we wouldn't know any of them already. If you like button eyes, you should consider Sister Elizabeth and Eglantyne. I thin Sister Elizabeth might do very well in your climate, she loved my So. California garden. Krista, it was great fun. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. Hosenemesis, thanks for taking a look! Inga007, you're very welcome, thanks for taking the time to look through everything. The Bustopher, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Christina, I'm so glad the photos brought some happiness to your day! Ingrid, it was my pleasure. Thank you! Jerome, yes, I agree, I think he is a genius too. I can't tell you how much enjoyment I get out of his creations. I think we are so lucky to have him. He lives in a house on the grounds, and the tour guide told us that he still comes out every morning and walks through the gardens, taking notes, commenting, and finding improvements. He still works in the breeding and selecting and is very much the man we can thank for these roses. So.. thank you very much Mr. Austin! Kristin, I did spend hours there. We arrived at 11 and left when they closed at 5, and I still could have spent many more hours wandering around. It was really fantastic.

Well, it seems I have more "planned" than I've actually done. But here's the scoop on what I've done/am doing. 1. 8x10 size for my mom's 2nd wedding 2. Going Down Under (trip to Australia) 3. Baby's first Year (my dd's baby book) 4. Ds#2--Birth to 5 years (not quite done, as he turns 5 in 5 weeks LOL!) working on my wedding/honeymoon album just decided to do an ABC album with ds#1. He is 7 and we are homeschooling, so this is kinda his project too. I tell you guys, this is an awesome way to use up misc. photos. In the future: I will have a Birth-5 years album for ds#1 and dd. These will be their books to have when they leave home. (Obviously will also do 6-10 yrs, then 11-graduation) I will have my own family album. But when I say "family" I more mean just pics of my kids. Maybe some other family members will make it into the album, if they're lucky LOL. christmas thru the years album The Grandpa Book this will be a 5x7 tribute album for each of the kids, about thier grandpa and great-grandpas who've passed away. Summer and Winter Fun Birthdays This should take me till I'm dead!

I make scrapbooks for each of my brothers and their children, my children, my mom, dad, myself, and my bf, grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles. WHEW! I ALWAYS get douple prints, so if I have a photo of say myself and one of my brothers, I get a copy in my scrapbook and I make a page for his using the second photo. I gave each of my family members a scrapbook for christmas last year (over 17) and they LOVE getting pages added to it, as I make them. I bought a BUNCH of 3 ring binders cheap at yard sales, and put their names on the back of the binder, so when I get photos developed I put their photos in a page protecter inside their binder till I have the time to scrap their photos. When I have several done, I give them their pages for holidays, or birthday gifts. They all LOVE this. Love Penny

Hi All, Thanks so very much to everyone for their help! We finished most of our kitchen (only need the backsplash) and after the helpful debate here on this board, and working with our installer and the granite fabricator, we wound up with an incredible 6 cm, stepped edge counter! Everything fit perfectly, including the stove, dishwasher, etc. I know there were a couple of people here who expressed doubt this was possible or would work out very well, but after doing the math on my own, listening to the more supportive comments on this board (thank you!) and speaking with the team here, we proceeded with our dream kitchen counters and it worked fantastically! I spent a ton of time with the shop guys at the fabricator and detailed exactly where I wanted the cuts for the laminated, stepped edge and the average person cannot tell it is a laminated... the granite lines up perfectly and no obvious seam since it is stepped! Have a look and please let me know what you think of the outcome!