Morning, Tiff..I know what you mean. Dh goes to work, comes home. I serve him dinner, he takes the dog for a walk then sits in front of 'his' tv w/head phones until bedtime. Plus my family and I had an argument, so I no longer call them, or accept their calls. And winter is just, plain depressing. Going on a week w/o sunlight. It seems the most exiting thing I do is go to the grocery store and doctors..and the docs isn't very entertaining..I despise going. I ended up taking most of my TC's and potting them in a hanging basket..several stems broke, so doubt they'll produce more flowers this year. See what boredom does??? End up doing stupid things like repotting budded TC's!!! Tiff, can you, your dh and dk's move w/your mom? Please understand I'm not trying to nosy myself in your business, just a suggestion. You do need others to talk to. Adult conversation, or at least people who enjoy plants, kids and any other hobbies you're into. There are many here who like talking to you, so if you ever feel blue, sign into GW.. :) Marjie..I didn't know you had twins..Oh you poor thing.. :) Twin babies? Oh Lord, when do you find time to think? God bless you, girl. How old are they? Ha, your Sadie sounds like our dearly departed, Mastiff, Sam..Forget tennis balls..they lasted two seconds..when dh took Sam to the woods, Sam saw a cute dog playing w/his tennis ball. Sam ran over, stole his ball and chewed it to smithereens. The owner laughed, but his poor dog lost so many tennis balls because of Sam. I bought a bag of tennis balls for the man, or rather his dog to replace those destroyed by Sam..lol. I love Labs..How much does Sadie weigh? Is she high-strung? I worked as an asst vet. When it was time to spay Black Labs, 'not so much neutering males,' the females needed extra sedation. Their breed was so much fun to work with..lol. j/k. Labs are extremely intelligent, loyal AND beautiful.. After surgery, Labs couldn't wait to see mom, dad, brother or sister, ready to take them home. lol. Yep, rubber rings last longest. Even w/love to chewy-teeth dogs, and mid-extra large breeds. Sam had a rubber, U-shaped band called Pull & Tug..One toy he couldn't chew to pieces. lol. Marjie, if you're serious about running away, I'll go along. As long as we can bring our pets, children and plants! We'd have to buy a couple buses though. More like five. lol. Hey JoJo..wow, a chicken named Hawk hanging around you..You should go to YouTube, seach for chicken sounds..Wonder what Hawk would do?? lol. How nice. What a lucky chicken!! AWWW, why are the other chickens pecking on her? Are they plucking her feathers? Funny she hangs with the dogs..maybe she thinks she's a canine...lol Poor kitty..wonder what's going through his mind??!! I can imagine..no wonder he seeks a higher level. lol. JoJo, only the best for our feathered/furred family, right? Bet your zoo pets are as spoiled as ours..lol. Don't blame you for investing in a jeep..Can you imagine trying to haul all that food in a Fiero? lol. I don't know much about quail. How do they behave and what do they eat? Are they in or outdoors? I remember you said you got a new turtle..how's he/she working out? I forgot, is he/she a water or land turtle? 3 dogs..wow! lol. Does your gecko have an English accent like the commercial? lol. The gecko commercial is one of a few I don't mind watching...makes me laugh. JoJo, I know you addressed to Marjie, but I too bred Betas. Wasn't it amusing watching the male spitting a nest for babies? But, poor moms. JoJo,, what type of plants are you looking for? Wow, you wake before the roosters..lol..Toni

As I mentioned above, I only know of one approved sweet preserve that calls for gelatin and is canned. It's comparing apples and oranges to think of gelatin in a refrigerated preserve (which was the original recommendation in your recipe - a Ball recipe, by the way) as opposed to canning something like venison, which as Linda Lou points out, requires a pressure canner. That's a world away from 10-minute boiling water bath. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Canned Fig-Strawberry Preserves with Gelatin

Oh, you got a deal all right! You are missing a hose for vacuuming the canisters but you can order those too. Now you need to get some bags or rolls of material and you will be set. Mustangs/Cathy has sent me some great YouTube videos that could give you tips too. You might want to look there for lessons. Now make sure it works. Check with freinds or neighbors if they have a roll or bags you can test before you invest in them. Have fun!

OK, citric acid for sprouting... ascorbic for breads. Got it. Guess I was thinking they were same thing. Oh, and that's new information for me about sprouting the mung beans under pressure. That's really interesting. I have a vacuum sealer, but I haven't used it very much. I guess I should get it out and try it. I went over on You Tube and did a search for Foodsaver and found several things to watch, also found a few on Pump'n'Seal and maybe that's where my confusion comes from as I've seen a little about both kinds and may have mingled the way the two different systems work. The Foodsaver universal lid doesn't get very high marks on Amazon, I went there some time ago when it was mentioned before. I went to Foodsaver's website and I see that a jar sealer is $9.99. So do you buy one of those for each jar and leave it on the jar till you're ready to use the contents? Or do you have a Pump'n'Seal where you use a regular canning flat, punch a hole in it to vacuum out the air, and then seal up the hole with a little piece of tape? I can see where this method would be 'way cheaper than buying Foodsaver universal lids, if it works as well as they say. Have you used the Pump'n'Seal method and if so, what is your opinion? Foodsaver universal lids cost $24 for a two-pack. If they have to stay on the jar till you use it, it seems like $12 a jar is kind of a substantial outlay of cash unless a person could stumble upon some at a garage sale or something, where the seller didn't know what they had. Or does the FoodSaver have the capability of using canning flats in a way similar to Pump'n'Seal, so that you're only out a canning flat? And I suppose the canning flats could be resealed? It's kind of hard for me to believe that a little piece of what looks like duct tape is all that keeps the vacuum intact, but maybe it does because the vacuum holds it on.... Forgive me, I'm not trying to be critical or troublesome or stupid, I'm just trying to make sure I understand as I don't know anyone personally who uses these. Thanks for your patience and taking the time to provide this information. I do truly appreciate it.