Great pics everyone!!! I've been slowed down a bit lately, but will hopefully catch up with the assignments soon. Xtreme, that is what these assignments are about...trying new things and learning as we go. Laurie, the solution to get yourself out of the reflection is to use a tri-pod and the timer on your camera.....or a remote cable release. Your reflection of the Amaryllis is very good....looks like an impressionists painting. We usually get that effect with multiple exposures.....who would have known a triple pain window would work as well. :) Sierra

As long as you have moist soil in the root zone, you don't need to water. (Looking at the forecast for southern OK for the next few days, I'd say you probably won't need to water since rain is likely anyway.) Just stick your finger into the soil a couple of inches beneath the soil surface and don't water unless the soil that deep is almost completely dry. Right now, more water is the absolute last thing most veggies need--they have had more than enough. If you have very fast-draining sandy or sandy loam soil that drains very well no matter how much moisture has fallen from the sky, you might need to water. But, if your soil still feels moist, then your soil really is not that fast-draining. For what it is worth, many more veggie plants die from overwatering than from underwatering. Experienced gardeners refer to the overwatering/overfeeding syndrome as "loving your plants to death". So, hold off on the watering. Corn can tolerate some very soggy soil up to a point. In fact, corn generally doesn't "need" raised beds the way some other more moisture-sensitive plants do. Whether the corn survives or thrives in moist soil is dependent on many factors, including just how wet the soil is and how long it stays heavily saturated. I have two separate corn patches--both planted at grade level in clay soil that has been amended with organic material like compost, and both of those corn patches stalled because of the recent heavier-than-usual rainfalls. The corn in the higher patch of ground started showing visible new growth and an improvement in its coloring about this past Tuesday or so. The corn in the lower patch of ground that was much more heavily saturated has only begun to show some improvement in the last 24 hours. The only issue with sweet corn/excessive moisture at this point is that severe stunting of the plant could slow down the growth of the plant to the extent that the corn will pollinate in high temperatures and, if the temperatures are high enough, you may have issues with sterile pollen. The yellowing of the corn leaves is generally the corn plants' way of telling you they are too wet and/or cannot take up nitrogen from the soil because their roots are waterlogged or because the soil is lacking in nitrogen. It also could mean that there is nitrogen in the soil, but it can't reach the corn plants at the present time because excess water is clogging up the plant's root systems. Dawn

Tankless propane vs tank style propane heater. the newer propane and natural gas tank waterheaters are required to be equipped with safety components which has driven the price of gas-fired tank style heaters up in the past couple of years. List prices around $800 for a 40 gallon good for a family of 2-3. Tankless already have the safeties in place and list for $1200 for the unit. If an "average" family of 3 uses 30 gallons of gas a month thru a 70% efficient tank style , the tankless at 84% efficiency would use 24.9 gallon of gas per month. At $2.50 per gallon of LP the savings per month would be $9.75. In 41 months the savings has paid the difference. The warranty for the tank is 6 years, the tankless exchanger is 12 years. The savings over an electric tank is vastly greater. If you burn Natural Gas, the cost to operate is even less. I hope all this helps. I have installed Rinnai, Bosch/Aquastar, Tagaki, Thermar, Saunier-Duval, Paloma tankless and Bradford-White, State, Rheem/Ruud, American, Master Mechanic, Sears tank style waterheaters for over 20 years. Rinnai excels over all the others. The vent is simple and the only caution is against a high mineral/lime content in the water. And the factory support is the best in the industry.

Without a recipe for the filling, I really couldn't say about that... But... thaw the pastry, and pat it into the tart tins...making sure to get it into all the fluted edges. Then place a piece of foil into the shell, fill it with "pie weights"..sort of metal beads...or use beans you save just for that use...and bake at 375 for about 12 minutes...remove the weights and the foil and bake another 3 or 4 minutes and cool. Now if you are useing a cooked filling put it into the cooled crust ( the filling should be cool too) then just before serving, top with the fruit....I suspect that's what the cherries were for? What a wonderful thing to do!....and now you can make tarts often ...in his memory. I am adding a copied recipe from a mag. of a lot of years ago...perhaps it will give you an idea of how he made the dough...and how you might make some when this is gone. Linda C This from Cook's magazine a lot of years ago......none better! Pastry: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup cake flour 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 pound chilled butter in cubes 2 egg yolks....and water if needed. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter until mix resembles peas. Work in the egg yolks....and if necessare to make a smooth stiff dough, up to 3T of water. Form into ball, cover and chill 30 minutes. Roll dough slightly larger than tart pan.....fit into pan and roll the pin over the edges of the pan to cut off excess dough....Chill at least 5 minutes....or over night. Fill with buttered foil weight with pie weights or beans and bake 10 minutes at 375, remoive weights and foil and bake another 10 minutes at 350. Pastry cream 2 1/2 T. flour 1/4 cup sugar pinch of salt 3 egg yolks 1 cup milk 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 T eau d'vie...or liquor that blends well with the fruit youa re going to use. 2 tsp butter. Mix sugar and salt in a heavy pan,beat in egg yolks, gradually whisk in milk, cook and whisk over low heat until bubbles break surface.....boil 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat ands tir in vanilla and liquor. lay plastic wrap on the surface of the cream and chill. Glaze 1 cup of apricot preservs or red currant jelly and 1 T water.... Heat until jelly is melted. Put pastry into shell, cut up fresh fruit of your choice ( strawberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, kiwi....or a mixture.) Brush with glaze,chill and serve