Thanks, Malcolm. I envy you the visit to Andre Eve's nursery and private garden. Wow. Also the Bagatelle judging, complete with champagne. I was very lucky to be able to attend the conference myself, and have some photos on my Picasa album of the Day of the Rose at Chaalis before the conference began, and of Prof Joyaux's gallica collection in Commer. I broke my camera during the conference so it's nice to see your photos, Malcolm - I didn't get very many. It was fun to see a photo of me, Sherri and Judy. I had to laugh at photos of Betty under a drippy umbrella - is it ALWAYS raining when she's visiting gardens? It certainly should whet appetites for the conference in Lyon. Are you planning to go, Malcolm? I will have to miss it -- Anita Here is a link that might be useful: Day of the Rose

I wouldn't say I'm an over achiever, but I do like lots of detail so I'll go with Colleen and do both. Plus since I haven't participated before, the more info might make it easier on my partner. Please tell us a little about yourself and your eating and cooking style. Who lives with you, favorite colors, hobbies etc. I live with my DW in an old [circa 1825] house with our dog and 8 cats. We've been together 31 years. In one of my several incarnations I was a chef so our cooking depends mostly on how mobile I am. Sometimes I do quite a bit of the cooking and at times most is left to Christy. Luckily she's learned much during our 31 years together. I'm half Italian so I do cook lots of Italian, but love non hot Mexican, regional American, French, Chinese, etc. My favorite color is purple and the non color black. I'm also an artist and draw, sometimes paint watercolors or sculpt. I crochet in a very basic manner and know only basic knitting stitches. Love to garden but can't do too much anymore. Luckily I'm surrounded by the best of the Garden State for food needs and also lucky that I concentrated on perennials when I did garden more. Your favorite cookbook. Types of cookbooks you always look at. Do you like to write in your cookbooks when you find you need to alter a recipe to make it work or do you believe books should not be written in? My favorite all time cookbook is James Beard's American Cookery. Good recipes but I love the way he wrote. I have a extensive cookbook collection and love all types of cookbooks. Favorites are the old time pamphlet cookbooks, to the many incarnations of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. I too read cookbooks for pleasure. I do write in them and love used cookbooks that others have written in. Do you like jam? Love it. Do you like jelly? Very much so. Apple is a favorite. Do you like marmalade? Not so much. Do you like pickles? Not spicy but do love dills. Do you like spicy food? Well spiced, but not hot. I don't eat black pepper if I can help it, but can eat a bit of cayenne much easier. What are your favorite fruits? Any you do not like? Love fruit and can't think of any I don't like... ah.. except cantaloupe. Do you have a strong sweet tooth or you more of a savory person? I do have a sweet tooth. 1. Where do you live? I live in a tiny town in rural New Jersey, surrounded by farms of the horse, tree and food varieties. 2. Do you grill/eat outdoors often? Do you pack up a picnic basket or typically eat in the yard or kitchen? We grill fairly often in the summer but then eat indoors. 3. What colors do you use on your porch/patio/outdoor eating area? Not really any particular color. 4. Do you use your regular dishes or do you have special dishes/serving ware for outdoors? Or are you a paper plate/paper napkin kind of girl/guy? Depends. I don't like using paper products too much but when I'm not getting around Christy likes to use paper plates so she doesn't have as much to wash up since we don't use a dishwasher. I do use cloth napkins though. 5. Are your summertime gatherings more casual or formal? Casual. 6. Do you like to try the latest kitchen gadgets? I love gadgets and have lots. I like to collect old/antique gadgets too. 7. What are your favorite summer drinks? Desserts? Snacks? I drink seltzer as my continual drink. Raspberry. Unsweetened only. I have a 2 gallon crock that I make iced tea for the summer in or lemonade. Neither of us really drink alcohol any more although we keep some around. I'll drink Asti or champagne but don't like other wines. Desserts we eat mostly fruit, but I do like to bake and we like most anything with lemon, chocolate or other fruits. We make ice cream fairly often in the summer. Snacks consist of dark pretzels or a hunk of very dark chocolate. I don't care for milk chocolate, plus the dark doesn't seem to affect my glucose levels. Smiles. 8. What are your favorite summertime cooking/eating/entertaining activities? Do you spend time boating, at a cabin, around a campfire....etc.? We haven't been doing much the past couple years but we like to rent a cabin on a lake or down the shore when finances allow. Mostly we just love to lounge around and read, eat Jersey tomatoes and white corn and play with our animals. 9. Do you garden and/or grow your own veggies and fruits? Are you one who likes to can and preserve? I love to garden but don't do much anymore. I do have several friends who have produce stands on their farms so it's easy and close to get great veggies and fruit. I like to can but have done more freezing lately. I plan to get out the big pressure canner this year though. 10. Barefoot or flip flops? Always barefoot whenever possible and sometimes when not advised. Smiles. I've been known to run outside in the snow barefoot for a few minutes. We always kid about how hard it is to get me in shoes. I like to say my feet are claustrophobic. Smiles. Hope this helps.

It looks like a couple of our more knowledgeable members have tried to help with your problem, Connie...but in fairness to all who have tried to help...you need to give us all more information about your system. Like... Did you have a previous IE-11 home page? What was it? It may be the source of your problem by blocking any attempt at changing it. If not...what appears when you open IE-11? Blank? What internet security protection do you use? With what little I see...it would seem that something is blocking the option. Perhaps some App you downloaded. Perhaps your existing security software. The possibilities are many. If this is a possibility...you need to identify the blocking source and unblock the IE-11 homepage option. Having had my share of aggravating MS problems in my younger MS days...I understand your apparent frustration more than you can imagine. Please help us help you by providing more info.

The bear stories just keep getting more scary, Lynn. I hope your bear moves on. We have coyotes, foxes, turkeys, and the other usual assorted small wildlife and that is enough for me. Several neighbors keep horses, and the hay and feed for them can attract wildlife as well as the bird food. Black bear have been sighted in parts of Alabama the past several years though, so maybe it's a matter of time.