Looks good except I would skip the mesh tape and use pro-bond or some other bonding agent that is painted over lath and old plaster to strengthen the bond between the old and new. Happy to report that none of my repairs done this way 11 years ago have re-cracked.

I know there are mesh tape fans who may speak up, but the down side of it is that considerable time, effort and skill can be involved in feathering out the finish coat so it doesnt look like a obvious or noticeable bump or ridge on your wall. Without mesh tape - just sand flush to the surface and you're done.

The fine "spiderweb" cracks, that are only in the white coat and have no movement, require no attention and will not translate through the paint. The cracks to worry about are ones with movement or loose browncoat.
I spray on the boning agent and work it in to the cracks with a sponge, then add mesh tape as a precaution.
Belt + suspenders, I know, but it all adds strength and we call that functional redundancy.
Casey

Well, it looks like I am going in the right direction. I will pick up some bonding agent, and think about the mesh tape.

Thanks for the input. Also, there are several cracks on the ceiling, I figure while I am at it, i might as well fix that up. Should I follow the same process for the ceiling?

Thank you!!!!

Ceiling the same as the walls, yes.
Paper tape instead of mesh, yes.

So regardless it looks like,

bonding agent is a good thing.
(mesh or paper tape) is a personal preference
(durabond or easysand) is another personal preference

Other than that the actual process is good.

I think I am going to go with the "belt and suspender" routine mentioned above, it may be a bit of overkill but It makes me feel better and honestly I have heard great results from either method.

I have read paper tape is thinner than mesh tape and easier to hide, but for some reason or another after reading everything i could find, I am going with the mesh tape.

Thank you for all your input, I will take before and after photos and post them in a few days.

There's one other variation on the mesh tape method that I've heard of (and used on occasion). Since most old walls have many layers of paint, you can scrape or chip off these layers around the crack so that when you lay down the mesh tape, its more like it's in the wall instead of sitting on the surface.... the benefit being after you put a finish coat on top you can sand it flush with the surface - it's easier to get a smooth repair. The down side is the scraping and lead paint chips to deal with.

This thread should be saved - it's a good summary of all the different techniques.

Actually, there is no paint on the walls, I guess I am lucky there. It was just nice very smooth plaster.

It was interesting to find a little history written behind the wallpaper. Written on the plaster was "this paper installed 1980 by jep", then again "this paper installed nov 1999". Dates, name of installer and everything written on the wall, I found it pretty interesting.

funny thing, I went to home depot and asked the people in the paint department about a bonding agent and they had no idea what I was talking about. Better yet, they said aren't people trying to get rid of plaster? And they told me there was no such thing, just skuff it up a little bit and add the easysand.
Well, after that debacle, I went to Lowes, they knew what I was talking about and even had some on the shelf.

Yerg!

Bonding agents are more common i the concrete section.

In a pinch you can use white glue diluted with water.