Thank to all of you for you comments. We live in the center of California, in Modesto. I hope next time I can put the photos directly on Garden Web. I just could not figure out the right way. Thanks again, Jean

I made the chocolate strawberry jam today. it's absolutely delicious, but it's not setting very well. maybe it just needs more time. 2.5 lbs of strawberries 3 cups of sugar 1/2 cup hershey's cocoa powder juice of 1/2 lemon I brain strain 7pot, seeds left in normal jam procedure, with fruit and pepper put in blender. I mixed the chocolate powder in with the sugar, to keep it from getting overcooked. it was much thicker at the beginning than it was last time I made the strawberry jam, so I added about 3oz distilled water. I can't help thinking that's where I screwed up. oh well, if it doesn't set, it'll be chocolate strawberry pepper syrup. or I could just reboil and add more pectin, as I understand it that's an option. the two big ones are for me. the smaller ones are to give as gifts this christmas. the red one at the end is just normal strawberry jam that I made for my wife, who thinks the hot ones are too hot. it's not setting well either, but I didn't put any sugar in that one, so IDK what's going wrong.

I think I'll keep the camera & dial the sharpness back. Most of the outdoor shots I've gotten from it are lovely. The hand held indoor shots are not as clear & detailed as the shots from my old 6 mp Kodak DX7630, but the Casio indoor colors are beautiful. And the crop from the sample above looks horrible, but when the photo is viewed in normal size, it's a nice looking photo. It's quite nice on my laptop monitor, less so on my HDTV. And some photos that look blah on my laptop look great on the HDTV, hmmmm... Anyway, it's a fine camera for a newbie. I'm learning a lot in trying to use it better. If I improve & still want a better camera, there will be a new crop of interesting cameras next year, as always!

Thanks Nicholas! I just viewed images of Sedum adolphii. Wow, there sure is a lot of variance in appearance and color. But, I did find some that appeared to be mine. Thanks again, Rhonda