All this bug talk, Anne-Marie! You've got me inspecting everything now! I went out to look at my HH carefully after reading your post. I do see some leaves chomped so I bet it's the JB's! You can see the leaves to the right have holes. I wonder if my toads eat the JB's? (Lots of toad this year)! I'll have to relocate some around them to see what happens. Can't say that I can stomach picking off bettles (especially before breakfast)! The plants are budding now. They are so pretty - looking forward to seeing them bloom. My sweet pea climber didn't make it from the swap :(. I'll have to move the arbor over so it will look like the HH's are climbing up it. I'm having a heck of a time getting something to climb up that thing. My Clem on the other side hasn't done much in the last 4-5 years. Anyway, back to BUGS. My Goat's Beard is in bloom and you would not BELIEVE the bugs all over the flower. They are little tiny black things - they seem to hop but not fly around. I'll see if I can get an up close shot of them for you tomorrow. Here it is in bloom. Very airy - reminds me of an astilbe. Do you have any of these in your garden? I also noticed a ladybug today sitting on a perennial sunflower waiting to bloom. The aphids always move in a day or two before my Rudbeckia starts to bloom. As soon as I see them move it - I know I'll be getting flowers shortly. You have turned me into a bug lady!

Thanks guys, we had such a great time! We were so stuffed Mom and Dad were afraid to drive home with food coma! Karen thank you for all the support and advice you are amazing! I couldn't have been the support system i was without your help! Mom told me to say thank you to you too. So Gratiam habeo, that's catholic school gratitude! ((((((((((((((Riv))))))))))))))

Finally, I'm back! After I had dinner with Nancy and Kim we went to Ohio to visit Elery's Dad. Elery just left this morning and I came back to work. First, I have to say that Nancy and Kim are perfect, wonderful, gracious hostesses. Oh, and Roxie makes the perfect "greeter". (grin) Elery really enjoyed meeting both Nancy and Kim, and had a very nice chat with Kim about making wine and fishing in Lake Erie while Nancy and I were discussing cooking, the forum, the upcoming November get together in Tennessee and, well, everything! And no, Kathy, Elery doesn't think these get-togethers are weird, although he still smiles when we start taking pictures of the food, LOL. The croissants were to die for, they were so good. The wine jelly was really good but the croissants didn't need one darned thing. Elery ate two, and he never does that, although he loves bread of any type. The lake perch, well, it's my absolute favorite food, bar none, and this was fresh and perfectly cooked by Nancy. I don't need tartar sauce or lemon or anything else, just the perch! The risotto was very good, done in the oven and so were the snap peas. The pumpkin strudel, though, that was exceptional and thank you, Nancy, for posting that recipe. Elery doesn't eat dessert, but he sure liked that one and said it was a lot easier than the pumpkin cheesecake he usually makes for Thanksgiving. I think that strudel is going to make an appearance at his family holidays this year. We sat around, ate, gossiped, talked, drank, ate some more. When Elery finally interrupted Nancy and I, talking over coffee, it was nearly 10:30 and we'd spent 5 hours with Nancy and Kim. The time just flew by. The food was great, of course, but the company was the best part. And yes, Sherry, that jacket does fit perfectly, doesn't it? LOL It was a gift from Sherry at the Michigan Run! As usual, the photos are blocked because I'm at work and their firewall doesn't allow anything from photobucket, but I'll check them at home. I'm trusting Nancy not to post any pictures that looked bad. (grin) Thank you Jessica and Diana, for the compliments. I gotta stay in shape, you know, if I'm gonna come to California in February and wear all those summer clothes! I'm really looking forward to seeing Jessica again and to meeting Diana. Elery thinks this is great fun, and since he loves to cook, he feels pretty much at home in the conversations and likes the idea that I have friends all over the world. Annie

For one thing I could never let the hair on my legs get that long! As I have gotten older I don't have to shave my legs as often as I once did but I can't stand it when it starts to rub the bed sheets.I have been known to get up at 2 in the morning and shave my legs because of it.LOL Waxing would just take too long in my opinion.The few times I have used hair removal products on my legs there were hairs left that I had to shave anyway.I can shave my legs a lot faster and with a lot less mess.I found a hair removal product from HSN that I have used on my face and arms.It is Serious Skin Care Liquid Laser.There is a formula that is for the face.I love this product.My face is sensitive to a lot of cosmetics but this works great with no irritation.It sounds a little pricey but it is well worth it.You can go to HSN and type in Serious Skin Care products and find it.