You and I both have our pears come in about the same time, which seems to be earlier than other folks. Here's what I put up, and you might want to try some of these. Canned pear halves, also did quarters and diced for other batches. Pear Honey (So Easy To Preserve, page 225) Pear Sauce (Ball Blue Book), page 22 I could live without this, but I don't eat a lot of apple sauce, either. Pear leather (after I realized I didn't care all that much for pear sauce, I used the pulp in my excalibur dehydrator and made some good tasting fruit leather. I roll & cut into tootsie-roll size chunks and wrap in parchment paper. As good as candy. Pear Jelly (Ball Complete, page 111) Very, very good. Tastes like apple jelly. Made two batches of this. Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam Pear Juice (Ball Blue Book, page 21) for drinking...and adding to iced tea Pear Preserves (So Easy to preserve, page 40), two batches Pear Mincemeat (Ball Blue Book, page 21) based on licking the spoon afterwards, will make really great pies, tarts, etc. More canned pears... And...for the piece de resistance... Upside-down Gingerbread pear cake. Wow, yummy! Still on my list...more canned pears (I had no idea I'd like these so much since I don't care all that much for store-bought canned pears), ginger pear preserves, brandied pears (the Spirited Pears recipe in the Ball Complete book), and probably some more pear honey and pear jam and/or preserves. I'm guessing I still have about 120-150 lbs of pears left to process. All picked and waiting on me. I'm pretty tired. I have also given away a few boxes of pears. BTW...I found out my pear tree is the Pineapple Pear variety, which is an old-timer cooking pear often found on old homesteads and farms. I live on the family homestead and this pear tree has been here for a very long time. Your pear looks just like mine. I beat the squirrels this year, yay! Jill

I left the area long before I could appreciate the beauty of a good sunset but let me say that I absolutely love the fall foliage between here and Scranton. I always make it a point to drive up to see my parents when it's at it's peak. I'm not sure what New England must look like if I get so excited about fall in PA. I love The Office. It took me a while to warm up to it but I love the way they try to fit the 'real' Scranton into the show instead of just using the name. It's not 100% accurate but I appreciate that they try.

The yellow stuff is PINE pollen Socks...it's so big that it's not supposed to bother peeps meaning it can't get up your nose...but it does...I was outside most of the day on Tuesday and felt soooo gritty when I came in...It's like working in a dust field and you know that can't be good for ya! This morning the count was 5695...it rained just enough to make a yellow mud mess...COME ON RAIN...We need some more to wash this stuff outta the air!!

I do hike alone at this wildlife sanctuary if I can't find someone to go with me. It's just a a short distance from my office so is a perfect retreat after a harrowing day. I feel perfectly safe there but carry pepper spray in the event a human animal gets a little aggressive. :-\ This Bobcat showed no fear and sat in front of us (I was there with a neighbor gal) for a couple of minutes before casually getting up and walking into the bushes. After crossing a small bridge (6 ft or so), my friend and I traveled down a small trail off the main trail only to discover it was a dead-end. When we turned around to head back to the bridge I looked up and the cat was just sitting there ahead of us, right where we had just passed. He was between us and the bridge. My neighbor was *very* nervous even after the cat left the trail. I stopped to peer into the bushes and saw it sitting calmly about 15 feet in, blending perfectly with a log it was sitting in front of. I hike this area at least twice a week and it was my first Bobcat sighting. Jodi-