My mom has the purple one, and she always said it was a trumpet vine and I thought she was wrong, but now that I see yours I am going to have to eat crow on this one. I love this vine, do you grow the purple trumpet vine in the shade or sun. my mom grows her's in half sun half shade. Where did you get yours my mom picked her's up at Home Depot but it has been some years now since she purchased hers, I want one. I need some color in my garden in the summer, it is so plain right now, I guess I should ask does yours bloom in the summer, I can't remember if my moms does or not. I see the orange ones quite a bit at at Home Depot but I have never seen the purple ones. Thanks Carrie

This is a most riveting subject, and a most interesting thread. I think there is a little bit of truth in many of the posts so far and I've changed my mind on this one at least five times. The actual print inside the frame gave me the impression of a photograph because of the fine white line like old photos get when they are damaged. That being said, one can take a photo of a drawing and parts of this picture are without a doubt hand rendered including the background and that could very well be a studio backdrop. My impression at this point is that this is likely a studio portrait and that it is in essence a composite with the facial features being the true rendering off a negative and the rest a lot of touch up and very poorly executed outright embellishment. If you'd like to see an example of a turn of the century hand painted studio backdrop, I can show you a large portrait of my great-grandfather and his brother sitting in a real chair, but with a very fake staircase behind them. LOL It was not an unusual practise, clear on up to the forties and fifties for some photographers to take portraits in black and white and hand tint and retouch them in the dark room. It wasn't because of the cameras not being able to, but the studios having the equipment to develop them. So seeing 'sketch marks' doesn't prove anything but the skill of the craftsman who took and developed the portrait because you're just as likely to see the editing on a real photograph as not. I have a portrait of my g'grandmother I'm inserting here because judging by her age it would have been taken about 1918-20. It has been hand tinted, and if you look at her blouse, it has obviously been hand retouched for detail and the bottom darkened out to extend the photo as much as possible to the paper to fill it. I think this is what happened to the boy's dress......it was probably enhanced by hand and the chair by imagination and lack of artistic ability. Even poor people scrounged up the money for portraits in the old days, God knows my ancestors weren't rich people and we have them to pass along. But they certainly were special enough not to be done on a whim. One portrait my g'parents had taken in the twenties was of my little aunt who was expected to die at birth, but lived until two years. So, they coughed up the money, even with ten kids, to have a portrait taken of her. I'm no expert and I'm not pretending to be but before I'd blow this one off as a fake, I'd have it checked out. Regardless of how it pans out, and even if it turns out to be a Cracker Barrel nostalgia shot..........it's a Jim Dandy and worth hanging on a wall just to see the mug on that kid.

Funny this thread should surface now...we finally took the long-awaited "family photo" last Friday! I had them do a group photo of all of us, one of all 4 boys, then 1 of the 2 DSSs and 1 of our 2 DSs. I even ordered a 5 X 7 of DSSs for BM! I cannot imagine DH would ever go for a photo of us and our 2 DSs w/o the DSSs. I would feel guilty even for suggesting it. Planning is still a nightmare, even more so, as you may have seen from my recent posts. Just trying to get the picture in was a struggle, giving that BM kept changing when she wanted DSSs back from T'giving visitation (which by Ct. order was to last 'til Sunday but got cut short on Friday, another story!) DH is coming around to doing things like taking trips w/o the SKs but he is only willing to do that if it is unavoidable. That is the best I think I'm going to get. Also, for the question of why was DH checking DSS's e-mail. He was checking it b/c, suddenly a boy who has been nothing but talkative, outgoing and happy-go-lucky his entire life was quiet, withdrawn and like he was in pain the whole time he was around us. We feared he might be using drugs or involved in some other destructive behavior. I have always thought that good, caring parents keep tabs on their children in ways like that in times like that. I don't think 13 year-olds have an expectation of privacy when it comes to things like that. I would much rather find out if something is going on and have him upset that we snooped than remain in the dark and accept his blanket response of "nothing" every time he is asked what is wrong. I bet every parent of a child who has committed suicide has wished they had snooped a little more (recognizing that sometimes it would not have made a difference, but sometimes it might have.) I say that as an adult who attempted suicide as a teenager almost 30 years ago. I certainly wish my parents had paid more attention to what I was doing and how I was acting and had investigated it more. I thank God that I wasn't successful. I think DH did the right thing, and I will do the same thing with my DSs if the situation warrants it. I am no expert on this, but I do feel strongly that it was the right thing. However, I would be interested in hearing other opinions.

I'm not sure this is a discussion I should jump into, because my mind is a jumble of 'ifs' (and a jumble this week, in general), like IF it goes with the style of the home and kitchen, and IF it coordinates nicely with other elements...and it's all personal opinion/judgment. A concern: I do worry about hearing things like putting it in the middle of an otherwise neutral field of backsplash, because I think it should relate to the rest of the backsplash...not just sit in the middle of something that's as plain as possible. That's a hard call, though, without seeing all the materials together. Worth the money or not: Such an internal thing for each person. I am terminally practical, but also artsy, so might splurge for something that I would LOVE each time I walked in the room, but whose price would not overshadow that love. I also understand the value of compromise, but again it so depends on the feelings of both people involved. Will DH complain for a few minutes, then forget about it while you LOVE it and him for the rest of your kitchen days? Or... Will you be just as happy to see something else for the money saved and to have a happy dh? Only his and your hearts know the answer to those things. If you're going to compromise, I think it'd be safer to NOT try to copy the exact look. I really wanted some beautiful painted tiles for my baking wall backsplash, and I wish I had the inspiration pic to show. But the colors I wanted didn't seem to exist...for any price that was anything close to reasonable. Instead I chose to do a pattern myself of small mosaics that gave me an intricate pattern and the richness of color I was after...Overall, a similar impression without being a copy of the painted. I'm not trying to say this is what you should do, just that I felt it was safer than trying too hard to get the look without spending the money for the 'real' thing. I still spent more for those colorful little mosaic marble tiles ($25/sf) than I would have OK'd as a price for tile anywhere else in the house...Because the color and overall look was crucial to my vision of that area. For the approx 15 sq ft area, and in the scheme of things, it was worth it to me. Plllog, in particular, has said a lot of things I agree with here, but these 2 things really stand out for me, and would be things I would have said: 1) There's thrifty, like not throwing away perfectly good bags that can be reused. Then there's penny wise/pound foolish. There is a difference between getting something cheap or at a good value. Value has to do with quality and how much it means to you for the price, a cost for the life, not just how many pennies you have left after leaving the cash register. 2) I would much rather do something bold and dynamic that I loved than ever be stuck with boring. YES! ;-) Best wishes. Most of us have had to make similar tough decisions (because 'pretty' is important, too) and completely understand the related...