I bought seeds last May from Territorial Seed Co and from Baker Creek. That was after my experience with 110 Bhut Jolokia seedlings. I only planted twelve each, of Lemon Drops and of Melrose Pepper. All of them came up and were planted in the garden. Mary

Here are two recipes that I really like. This first recipe is from allrecipes and it got rave reviews when I made it for a dinner party. I left out the pecans because DH won't eat them. Pecan Pumpkin Dessert by Sue Williams 2 (15 ounce) cans solid pack pumpkin 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix 1 cup butter, melted 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans FROSTING: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed Line a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan with waxed paper and coat the paper with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Invert onto a large serving platter; carefully remove waxed paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Frost dessert. Store in the refrigerator. This second recipe is one that I've posted before--I got it from a low carb cooking site years ago. I think another poster or two may have this same recipe, so maybe they know who gets the credit for it. Spicy Sausage and Pumpkin (Winter) Soup one 15 oz can of pumpkin--do NOT use pumpkin pie filling! 4 C chicken broth 1/2 C minced onion 1 C finely chopped mushrooms 1 C whole milk or cream (or 1/2 c half &half mixed w/1/2 C water) 1 clove garlic, minced 2 T each of finely chopped fresh parsley, oregano and basil 8 links of your fave sausage, diced 1/2 C shredded parmesan (1 T. per cup) for topping salt/pepper to taste Optional suggestion: skip the milk & substitute a can of diced tomatoes for one of the cans of broth, or use one can of broth and one can of water to adjust for the saltiness of the soup. Brown sausage and then add the onion, garlic and herbs. Stir in the pumpkin and mix.. Stir in the broth and mix well. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Stir in the milk and simmer on low another 10-15 min. Serve topped with shreds of parmesan.

I love all the lights... All of them. The black chandy, Mitch's cool kitchen chandy that can extend, redroze's bathtub chandy, the black bat, nicole's drum shade, deborahnj beautiful chandy... all amazing. And Okaleyok thanks for this topic. Seeing so many lights is giving me some great ideas for my home. I have the ugliest lights imaginable. I won't even disturb you by pasting their image. But here is a beautiful one that I dream of. If I could have any light in the entire world this would be in my home. ~boxerpups Murano Venetian design

Hi texasfern, thanks for the info - I know what you mean about heat. It's blistering here in summer too. The two bowls I am doing are also ceramic bisque fired. I got them at the thrift shop and just couldn't resist them since they were a nice big size of 15 inches in diameter. I didn't know what cone I could fire them to so I couldn't glaze them for fear they'd melt. So I decided to mosaic them. I should have used a plumb bob when I marked the center instead of just eyeballing it from above the rulers. I'll do better next time. I also work in ceramics - handbuilt pieces from slabs to Cone 10 thus far. You can see some of my work at the link and I have a ceramic blog under the same title. I took a ceramic bead class - now that's really fun, because beads are small and easy to deal with. Right now I am getting my kiln (skutt) connected up so I can do the ceramics at home instead of just at the college and a friend is building me a slab roller, but that is a whole other topic I guess. Do you seal your pieces after you grout them - particularly the birdbath? If so what do you use to seal them? How do they do holding water, does the grout stain or get any algae buildup with use outdoors? You've given me an idea about going to the tile store I used for remodeling my house (2 bathrooms and our living room) and seeing what they throw away. They threw away 4 pieces of slate when I did my living room right in the trash can - I wasn't doing mosaic then so I didn't even think about it. I could have done something really neat with all those pieces. And I have a wet saw - not sure how easy it would be to cut the pieces real small with a wet saw though - I might try it though. Well I have all my ingredients and tools set out to start grouting the turquoise bowl - so here goes. Wish me luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Blue Starr Gallery