Marci, is that a trick question? I can't see any animal! The pictures are just magnificent. I have to agree with everyone else. The eel gives me the creeps. Maddie, so glad to see you again. I am happy that everyone is on the mend. OK, so Paul McCartney was amazing!!!! He is 67 years old and sang for 2 1/2 hours without taking a sip of water or a break. His band took a break and he pulled out the ukelele and kept on singing while they were gone. I loved Fenway Park. It was my first time there and I think my heart skipped a beat when I first walked in. It is beautiful. I am definitely going back for a ball game! Speaking of Lobsta! Tonight we are having some!!! Our first this summer. We are going out on the boat with some other couples with their boats and will raft up and have ourselves a feed! I am looking forward to a great evening. Suzanne, love the fox. You take the best pictures! My mom says she has one that has been coming around her house and she is concerned about her cat because she sleeps out on the deck all day in the sun. Dee I laughed right out loud with Marci's comment about the monkey looking in your office window. Being the animal lover that you are (NOT!), I would love to be a fly on the wall if that were actually to happen!! You know we love you, right? I should get off of the computer now. I only have about 1 million things to do today. Have a great weekend all! (((HUGS))) all around. oxBesh

Riesling Poached Pear Frangipane Pie Directions: Crust 1 9-inch Hannaford pie crust Poached Pears 4 cups water 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 6 pears, ripe but not soft 2 1/2 cups late Riesling wine 1 1/2 cups Hannaford sugar 1 lemon slice Frangipane Filling 1 cup blanched almonds 1/2 cup Hannaford sugar, divided 1/4 cup Hannaford flour 6 Tbsp. Hannaford unsalted butter, softened 2 large Hannaford eggs 1 tsp. Hannaford vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. Hannaford imitation almond extract 1 Tbsp. reduced poaching syrup 1. Bake pie crust according to package instructions for pre-baking an empty crust. Cool. 2. Prepare poached pears. In a large bowl, combine water and lemon juice. Peel, core, and halve pears, and place halves in lemon water. Set aside. 3. Combine wine, sugar, and lemon slice in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Once this syrup mixture boils, reduce heat and keep it simmering. 4. Drain pears and discard lemon water. Add pears to syrup. Poach for 5 minutes, turn pears over, and continue poaching for an additional 5 minutes, or until pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove pears from syrup and place on paper towels to drain. Continue simmering syrup until reduced to 1 cup, about 20 minutes. 5. While syrup simmers, prepare frangipane. Combine almonds with 1/4 cup of the sugar in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add flour and pulse until combined. 6. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium high to beat butter and remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated after each one. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts and poaching syrup. Reduce speed to low, add ground nut mixture, and mix until just combined. 7. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread frangipane in pre-baked pie shell. 8. Slice 1 pear half into slices 3/8 to 1/4 inch wide without separating slices. Slide a spatula under pears to transfer without separating. Fan pear half by pressing on stem end. Slide fanned pear half on to frangipane slowly so you can place it correctly. Repeat with additional pear halves until frangipane has pear fans evenly spaced over it, with space in between. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes, until frangipane is puffed, golden, and solid to the touch. If crust edges start to brown too much, cover them with foil. Cool on a wire rack. 9. To serve, slice remaining pear halves in half. Place a quarter pear on a plate, drizzle with poaching syrup, and place a slice of pie beside pear. Extra poached pears may be refrigerated in an airtight container for three to four days, covered with any remaining poaching syrup. APPROXIMATE NUTRITIONAL VALUES PER SERVING: 450 CALORIES, 62G CARBOHYDRATES, 6G PROTEIN, 19G FAT (7G SATURATED), 60MG CHOLESTEROL, 100MG SODIUM, 6G FIBER

Thanks again guys... I took the Bernina in and they made and adjustment right on the spot and even gave me a free pack of needles and it worked fine there... of course the minute I try to use it at home, well... we'll see what happens. The lady told me not to threaten it or use bad words because the machine will misbehave even worse! I'll try to be good... I ended up not having to work the second job last night... another guy showed up because he misread the schedule and since he doesn't have a car and I do and only live 15 minutes away, I let him stay and I traded days with him :o) Lars, I know enough to know that Mr. Foxworthy's first name is Jeff and not John :-p Nice try though.... maybe you were on coffee break when you had your redneck training session... I bet you also missed the lesson on how to spit tobacco into an empty beer can and how to keep your double wide on the ground during a hurricane as well :o) Partymusic, I'm sorry nobody has done anything for you in the last 7 years... sometimes I wish we here on the CF could start our own neighborhood or compound or something so we could all be together and enjoy and celebrate and all that happy stuff :o) Ellen, I'm going for LPN... some hospitals aren't hiring them anymore, but it's a stepping stone to get to RN. The RN classes here are hard to get into and have long waiting lists and one is more readily accepted if they are already and LPN and do a bridge program... I have to take an admission test in January and I've already purchases a huge thick study guide so I can brush up on all the stuff I forgot since high school... at least there are things called Youtube tutorials now :o)

Happy Birthday Luvs! Went for a check up for a sore on my nose that wouldn't heal and while talking to my Dr., same one for over 30 years and I worked for him, anyway in his ramblings about one thing or another he called me elderly! ELDERLY!!!!!! I gently reminded him he was only 10 years younger than me and I would get even! He got even right then, had to go to a dermatologist (sp) and they removed the sore and froze several non cancerous sun spots and let me tell you that hurt! Anyway, hope your special day was just that, very special for a special lady! Anj.....I went back and posted on several of you projects I missed in the gallery....you are so good! And it sound as thought you are as busy as ever! And isn't it just totally unfare for the kids to get older, or maybe not. The problem and challenges are still there, just different ones. Don't know how you do it girl! And your outdoor activities, could you come for a visit? Any time would be fine, well maybe in a month when you don't have to wear rubber boots to work through the yard. And I love Peonies are so pretty and really good slug bait. Luvs....read about your photo project....Wow! That is something I think about doing, but there are so many pictures. I did sort them with the help of my daughter and we put names to everyone we knew, but didn't break them down to time and places and in some of the old pictures, that is unknown. So Luvs, did you use the shutters? We are still in the winter mode here, although my water iris are showing green and the roses I didn't trim back are showing leaves. So many things in the yard I usually do in the fall didn't get done and I can't just blame the shingles, it was more like being lazy! Just doen't seem to be enough hour in a day. It was nice to see Punks post, and she is as talented as ever. As to what I am doing in the paper craft world, I use more cutting dies and stamps than my Impression machine. To my way of thinking the cutting machine is more of a scrapbook tool than card making, atleast most of their cartridges lean that way. Which is great, but I want more lacy cuts and lots of layers. So it dies, punch's, inks, and lots of paper. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, new camera = worse pictures! This is one of my favorite digital stamps, I used Copic markers to add the color....markers are a new challenge! These little boxes hold bite size pieces of candy and the photo doesn't show the glitter and bling. Were really fun to make! Anyway....I will try to visit more often and post shorter posts. Take Care All! Belle