Oh shut up!! flora uk :o), ahhh!, I am in a altered state of reality here, feel like every thing is so behind! its May and my last frost date is tomorrow that said no frost in about 8 weeks! I planted out so much stuff and appart from some over optomistic egg plants and toms, everything is doing well if a little slow!, people refer to spring here, but in my opinion, its winter 6 months, spring about 2 weeks, summer 4 and fall about 6 weeks, which I have to say was amazing like a Good British summer and I use the good advisedly, as the UK have had a run of bad! recently (I wrote we then instead of UK still not used to being away!), it is comfortably warm, the air is clear, the trees? well Amazing! so although I have attempted a "spring" crop, if it fails I have the back up fall crop, and fortunatly as a Brit, I love all that after frost, stuff such as parsnip, brussel sprouts (and carrots if not left too long!) here where I am memoral day weekend is the traditional planting time, and thats not for a couple of weeks! no other garden round me has plants in it, they are just preparing at the mo...but there again they know the area I don't! so I could be very upset soon! hope not! and I shall laugh! haw haw haw! if I get eggplant and cantaloupe...then you too will read and weep! (I just bet you have a enormous greenhouse! to foil my evil plan!)

Strawberry with Black Pepper and Fresh Mint (Source: Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber) 2 1/2 pounds strawberries (2 1/4 pounds net) 3 3/4 cups granulated sugar juice of 1 small lemon 5 fresh mint leaves, chopped 5 black peppercorns, freshly ground Rinse the strawberries under cold water. Dry them and hull (hull the strawberries after you wash them or they will absorb water). In a ceramic bowl, mix the strawberries, lemon juice and sugar, and cover with a piece of parchment (or just use a plastic bowl with a lid). Let this macerate overnight in the fridge. The next day, bring the mixture to a simmer in a preserving pan. Pour it back into the ceramic bowl, cover again with the parchment, and let it refrigerate overnight once more. (I won't tell Ms. Ferber if you skip this step and move right onto cooking the jam. On the third day, pour the mixture through a sieve and reserve the macerated strawberries. Bring the syrup to a boil over high heat, skimming as necessary. When the syrup has reached 221 degrees on a candy thermometer, add the strawberries, mint, and black pepper. Return to the boil and cook for five minutes, then check the set. Continue to boil until the set point is reached. Pour the jam into clean, warm jars, wipe down the rims, and add lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes Yield: 4 half-pints Strawberry with Raspberry Juice and Balsamic Vinegar (Source: Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber) 1 3/4 pounds strawberries (1 1/2 pounds net) 4 1/4 cups granulated sugar juice of 1 small lemon 1 1/4 pound raspberries 1 2/3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 5 peppercorns, freshly ground Select small strawberries. Rinse them in cold water, dry them in a towel, stem them, and halve them (or quarter if larger). In a bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, and let them macerate, refrigerated, overnight (or use a plastic bowl with a lid). Next day, place the raspberries into a saucepan with 3 1/2 ounces water, bring to a boil, and boil for a few minutes until the berries break down. Strain this mixture through a chinoise or sieve, pressing the fruit lightly with the back of a skimmer. Add the collected raspberry juice to a preserving pan. Pour the macerated strawberries into the sieve. Bring the strawberry syrup to a boil in the preserving pan with the raspberry juice. Skim and continue cooking over high heat. The syrup will be sufficiently concentrated at 221�F on a candy thermometer. Add the macerated strawberries, black pepper, and balsamic vinegar, and bring to a boil once more. Skim, return to a boil, cooking for about five minutes while stirring gently. Check the set. The strawberries should be translucent. Put the jam into clean, warm jars immediately, wipe down the rims, add lids and rings and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes. Yield: 5 half-pint jars

Urlee, you're welcome. I'm so happy that you finally got them working. Now, you can collect more filters, they really are fun :-) I think if you give PSP8 a chance you will really like it. PSP8 has Scripts and they are even more fun than filters. If you download a Script, unzip and add it to the My Doc.../My Psp8 Files/Scripts-Restricted...folder. Joy

Lovely bouquet! Such a pretty pink lavender.