Let the Bidding Begin

Tonight was our Church's Fundraiser Auction. Our theme was "Mardi Gras"

Doesn't it look festive!?


We have a silent auction with all kinds of great buys - I got a pair of fresh water pearl earrings for $26!!! (thank you Theo, for donating them) Glenda is checking out some interesting items while my DH was in charge of the CD player - some blues and the sound track from "The Big Easy" - had 'em dancin' in the aisles...

while Vikki, Vern & Diane are having a heated conversation over something here :-)

I donated a set of hand made cards -


I also helped plan the menu and came up with the recipes for the main dishes. That was a stretch for me to give up control of the cooking, but Malcolm and his crew did a fine job - Doesn't this look yummy! Vikki made the most amazing corn muffins - It's a good thing they were cold - if they'd been warm, I'd have eaten "many" of them. With butter and jalapeno jelly - How good is that! Everyone really enjoyed the dinner - Then we get down to the real business at hand - the live auction.

Our auctioneer for the live auction is our minister, Rev. Nan. and we had some really special items up for auction this year - including this beautiful hand made wall hanging that Shirley L. donated and a new chalice necklace made by Allie E.

The last two years there has been a bidding war between Wanda & Jamie over some beautiful turquoise pieces - a necklace one year and a bracelet the next - Here is John teasing them with this year's piece - A roadrunner pin, Zuni style - Well, you know, two years ago, I let that necklace slip through my fingers, and I decided that this year, that little roadrunner was MINE, MINE, MINE (think the seagulls in "Finding Nemo") - Isn't he cute! Caught Jamie & Wanda by surprise and stole it right out from under their noses! I have several other Zuni pieces that John has given me over the years, so it is just perfect!

I promised Peg that I'd post my recipe for Oven Baked Jambalaya - I found the original on All Recipes.Com ( www.allrecipes.com ) and made a few changes to make it "palatable" to northern European - Icelandic taste buds (ie. it's not quite so spicy as the original) The recipe we used on Saturday was figured to serve 60 and I've reduced it down to serve 6 - as most people don't cook for 60 on a regular basis... Hope you enjoy it.



OVEN BAKED JAMBALAYA
SERVES 6

Veg. oil or Olive oil for frying chicken & vegetables

1 1/2 cups cooked ham, cut in 3/4" dice
1 1/2 cups chicken - thighs & breast tenders
1 1/2 cups kielbasa type sausage, thinly sliced

1/2 ea large sweet onions, diced
1/2 ea large Red bell peppers, chopped
3 ea stalks of celery, chopped
3 ea cloves of garlic, minced
ALL VEGIES SHOULD BE CHOPPED
TO 1/2 INCH DICE

1/2 ea 6 oz. cans of Tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp Creole seasoning - more or less depending on your taste

1 ea 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
SQUEEZE WHOLE TOMATOES TO
BREAK UP INTO PIECES
2 ea 14 oz cans of Swanson's chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1 Coat bottom of large stock pot or Large skillet with Veg or olive oil Sauté your chicken pieces just to brown them. Set them aside and brown your kielbasa sausage slices and ham - add to the chicken pieces.

2 Coat bottom of same stock pot with veg. or olive oil to sauté your onions, bell peppers & celery. Sauté until the veggies are tender, adding the garlic at the end, taking care not to burn the garlic. After a few minutes add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly. Stir in Creole seasoning blend & juice from tomatoes.. Mix & pour into a roasting pan. Add whole tomatoes (w/juice), squeezing them to break up into pieces. Add your meat and some of the chicken stock.

3 Cover tightly with aluminum foil & Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with Rice - You could also add another can of Chicken broth & put a cup of rice in with the stew before you put it in the oven so it cooks up in to the Jambalaya. To quote Rachel Ray - "Yummo"

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, those Bad Boys...

Now, do these look like Bad Boys to you?






Well, they sure do to "dad"...notice the 2x6's holding up the fence? I think it's a case of a little too much time on their hands. Maybe we need to teach them how to play poker or something - keep them otherwise occupied...Ha, Ha, Ha... ( I can laugh - I don't have to fix that fence)

We went to see DRUM tonight (www.drumshow.ca) to celebrate John's birthday today - very cool show - the story of Nova Scotia - In music, rhythm & dance - from the four cultures that define the area - Aboriginal/first people; French Acadian; black & Celtic - I checked their web site tonight and it looks like they are done touring for a few months - but if you get a chance to see them in person or TV - it is a show you shouldn't miss.


Tomorrow night is our church's annual fundraiser auction. Another gal & I came up with the menu - I proofed the recipes and some of the men from church are going to cook it. Hope it turns out OK - my rep is on the line too! We are having Jambalaya, Red Beans & Rice, Green salad, Corn Muffins & fruit skewers. There will be lime sherbet for dessert. I have made my famous "Bonnie's Frozen Punch" (thanks Pat K. - I've used that recipe for the last 25 years!) Yes, of course, the theme is Mardi Gras. I have to make 60 fruit skewers tomorrow a.m., as well as put up another 15 pounds of pumpkin and somewere in there, I have to go to the store for our weekly groceries. Ah, time it is a fleeting thing. Later, gators.

Oh, and GO COUGS!

Rain, Leaky Pipes, Renegade Plumbers and more.....

Wasn't that "What Season are You?" fun - I did a few other of their little "quizzes" - they were fun too - Like, "What Farm Animal are You?", etc.


Well, as you can tell (by my writing)I didn't drown in the rain - thought I might - I actually stooped to putting a grocery sack over my head to get to the car without getting my head drenched one day last week - We really only got 4-5 inches of rain here and the soil was so dry that it mostly just absorbed into the earth - our creek didn't even hardly come up - but so many places in the NW got 8-10 or more inches in less than three days - I think my sister said that they got 12" down in Mossyrock - could be why the river down there changed course! It was actually sunny for two days this past week - but it is raining again tonight

All summer long, I'd been noticing a "wet wood" smell in our little bathroom off the utility room - and the water heater was still running all the time - Well - I'd already spent over $2000 with a plumber last year trying to fix this problem, and it still continued, so, I was opting for the "I'll take a look at it, Honey" version that I got from John - but instead, he got the flu and then got busy with this, that and the other thing, and never got a "round tuit"- and you know, if you ignore a problem, won't it go away??? -
Well, a plumbing leak doesn't, and the end of last month, the bathroom floor started to sag...double darn - ignoring it DIDN'T make it go away after all... So, I finally got a line on someone who was supposed to be a "good guy" plumber - but I don't know - maybe it was because of all the rain - it took a WEEK and a whole lotta yellin on my part to finally get this guy to come out. I finally found out it is a "family" company and mom answers the phone for her sons - Well, "Mom" got a piece of my mind on Thursday night - I've never been treated so poorly by a service company - You can only exist on emergency service calls for so long - if they don't sharpen up their customer service soon, they're not going to have a business. Oh - and the plumbing leak? - A little crack in a little 90 degree hot water pipe under the house under the bathroom sink - $350 later, it's fixed - the jury is still out on the bathroom floor...

We were invited to a birthday party for our friend Johnny this evening - Johnny turned nine years old today and I'm just sad that I didn't take my camera for this party - This was the "family" party - His folks - Curtis & Felicity, , sister Anna (13), his Grandma Elizabeth from Kalamazoo, MI, and two other couples besides us - it was really festive with great decorations - paper chains, crepe paper & lots of helium balloons that Felicity, Elizabeth & Anna put up last night & there were party hats for the men and paper tieras for the ladies - and everyone was good humored about it and wore them - Anna had made place cards for everyone with little containers of LEGOS - which is one of Johnny's passions - you were supposed to try to make something with your LEGOS and there was a significant amount of trading going on as well - it was really fun - and a good way to keep the adults amused. Johnny picked the menu - I brought a salad (Reah's Three Step Salad - I'll put it at the end of this post - it is REALLY yummy!) - we had steak & prawns, broccoli, couscous, & this really wonderful Olive bread that Sue brought from Haggens. Of course there was one kick-ass birthday cake - chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling & whipped cream frosting - with NINE candles on it, of course. Great company and great food - and an honor to be included as family.

This is a picture of some the dozen or so pumpkins that John got out of his pumpkin patch this year. They are Amish Pie pumpkins - and I'll be spending the better part of next week "puttin up pumpkin" - I bake it in big pieces, let it cool so I can handle it to scrape the "pumpkin" into my big yellow tupperware bowl, let it cool some more and then pack it in two cup portions (just enough for one pie) in freezer bags, flattened out so they fit nicely in the deep freeze. I got 20 packages in the freezer today. Our church provides some of the pies for the Blaine Community food baskets - and we provide the pumpkin for those pies. I'll probably put up 50 or more pounds of pumpkin this year - 30 for church and 20 for us. (pumpkin pie is John's favorite) I've been working on getting a tasty recipe made with part Splenda/part sugar as part of John's campaign to get sugar out of his diet.

Well, that's what happens when you don't post for a week - you get a really LONNNNGGG post - and I still have Reah's Salad recipe to give you - (I can guarantee that if you take this to a potluck there won't be any left at the end of the dinner -it's delish.)

Reah's 3 Step Salad

1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 Tbsp. sugar
6 c. torn Romaine lettuce (I used the Fresh Express Romaine Salad - it has red cabbage & shredded carrots in it too - very pretty)
1 cup sliced celery
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
3 green onions, sliced

First Step is the Dressing:
1/2 cup veg. oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Combine all ingredients in a jar so you can shake it up really well before you put it on the salad.
(BTW: if you don't normally keep dry mustard or garlic powder in your kitchen, look in the bulk foods section of your grocery store = you can generally purchase only a tablespoon or so for just a few cents rather than buying a whole can or jar of something that you'd not use in the future)

Second Step: I use a Teflon coated skillet for this part - Combine the sliced almonds and the sugar. Cook over medium heat stiring until the nuts are toasted and lightly coated with melted sugar. This takes 10 or 15 minutes - don't hurry it or your sugar will burn. Spread the coated nuts on foil to cool - break apart when cooled. (I actually doubled this part of the recipe so I'd have some extras for munching....)

Third Step: In a large salad bowl, combine the romaine, celery, onions & oranges. top with the sugared almonds. Shake your dressing well again and pour over the salad - toss gently.

To take this to a party, combine your lettuce, onions & celery. Take the oranges, nuts & dressing separately & combine JUST BEFORE serving - otherwise, your lettuce will get limp an the sugar will melt off the nuts, and we wouldn't want that to happen.

Wish I had a picture of this salad - it is really pretty with the oranges & the crunchy chunks of nuts. Enjoy!

What Season are You?

Vicki at The Moveable Feast (see my favorites to the right) had this on her blog today - I thought it was cute, and I do like spring - new spring flowers, lambs, just the wonderful scent of the air...

You Belong in Spring

Optimistic, lively, and almost always happy with the world... You can truly appreciate the blooming nature of spring. Whether you're planting flowers or dyeing Easter eggs, spring is definitely your season!

What Season Are You?

Favorite farm picture of the week

I took this down at Toni & John's when we took Jasimine to her new home. It was kind of a cold blustery day and this little guy had gotten himself locked out of the hen house, and he was none too happy about it. But he had a great Crow about him.

Too much on my plate...

Too much on my plate - I think that's right up there with being up to my you-know-what in alligators - Why is it that you can't go away for just two days and not have everything go to heck in a hand basket?

First - part two of the work party in the barn - after we got everyone wormed and all the pedicures done, it was time to move the girls in with Thorson. Only two for us this year - Regina & Susie - they both have beautiful wool and their babies should be fantastic - and Lucy who is sold "bred" - then we loaded up Jasimine to take her to her new home with Toni & John C. in Skagit county. The move in actually went quite well - no chasing or anything - and she didn't even particularly seem sad to see us go. She's probably ruling the roost there now, knowing her.

I can't remember if I mentioned in my San Antonio post that I've been having (more than usual) problems with my right knee (the one that has not been replaced yet) Anyhow - it had gotten so I had to stand and wait for my knee to "pop" before I could put any weight on it - which is not very convenient, to say the least - and was fairly embarassing at the meeting I was at. The conference started at 8:00 on Saturday a.m. with continental breakfast & welcomes from the "whobodies" - then to classes ALL DAY LONG - with two "beverage breaks" in the morning, lunch, and two breaks in the afternoon. Most of the sessions were given by people from the membership committees of other locals - the classes were very informative (notice the size of that binder - we got to carry that around for a day & a half) - Anyhow - each time a class would end, I would have to stand up, and wait for my knee to pop before I could go to the next session. Geeze.

So, long story short, I did finally go to the Doctor on Friday - this guy is a GP, but he's a "sports doc" for the schools so he is pretty good with knees and joint problems - He thinks that my problem is probably a little piece of the cartiledge that is left in my knee has gotten bent over and catches on the knee cap OUCH! - We talked briefly about an MRI - and I'm thinking that I may go ahead with it, since my deductible & stop loss are both topped out from the surgery last spring, I wouldn't have to pay very much for it. (Maybe they can figure out why I've been having bouts of sciatica, too)

About 10:00 on Sunday a.m., Tari, our membership coordinator, got a call from the airlines - seems that Delta "needed" the flight crew from our San Antonio to Salt Lake City flight - SO they CANCELED our flight! So how the heck were we supposed to get home? They sent us to ATLANTA! (975 miles in the wrong direction) where we caught a flight to SEATTLE - notice something missing - we were supposed to have flown Salt Lake City direct to Bellingham - where as, after landing at 10:33 p.m., I'd have been home at roughly 10:45 p.m. (we just live a few miles west of the airport - but nooooo - we landed at SEATAC at 10:45 p.m. and then still had a two hour bus ride home - it was about 2 a.m. when I rolled into bed - thankful that I had taken my car to the airport here in town so John didn't have to get out of bed at the midnight hour to come get me. (From the look on Scott's face here, he's trying to figure out something horrible to do to the person who canceled our flight...)

Thank heavens I had already scheduled to take Monday off - I was very tired.
The rest of the week didn't get much better, as the bosses were out of town - which leaves me as the "go to person" (ie - go to Tina, she'll figure it out...)

So, here it is, another Sunday night - I missed Weekend Cat Blogging - but thought I'd show you where Neelix hung out while we were terrorizing the sheep two weeks ago -






And the boys? They couldn't figure out what all the baaaaa-ing and carrying on was about - Well, they're just teenage boys - a little dufus, but very sweet.

The Yellow Rose of Texas

OK, so THIS rose really isn't from Texas, it's out in our garden, but I thought it was a great way to introduce the trip to San Antonio I took this past weekend.

It was the National Home Builders Association 2006 National Conference on Membership & our local chapter, the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County decided to send our whole committee to this meeting. Cool!

Eight of us left on Thursday (another fellow joined us in San Antonio - he'd been in Detroit on business) and flew directly out of Bellingham (a relatively new occurrence with the addition of Delta Airlines to our airport) - into Salt Lake City - then connected to San Antonio - great flights - pretty much got where we were going on time, etc. The conference was held at the Westin La Cantera Resort (http://www.westinlacantera.com/) Very beautiful place - I thought the rooms were a little over priced, (but then I wasn't paying for it) however, the "Heavenly" bed and the double headed shower were pretty neat. Oh, & the other thing about the resort - it's 12 miles from the airport & 15 miles from down town, and they don't have a shuttle ( I guess $300 a night doesn't pay enought for a shuttle?) Any how, think $50 a pop anytime you want to go to OR from the hotel to down town, etc. ! Holy cab fare, batman!













As you can see, Friday was a beautiful day, and suprisingly enough, it was only in the high 70's - it has been hovering around 85 degrees or so for the last few weeks & about 74% humidity! So we were lucky with our choice of days to go down town to see the Alamo & The River Walk. (Yes, that's me on the left with my chubby knees showing).

The Alamo was very inspiring - that a small band of men should have wanted to fight so hard and lose their lives to keep that part of Texas free. "People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds — a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom."
(http://www.thealamo.org/)

But as you can see, history has not stopped the city from literally growing up right around the Alamo grounds. It is now within a block of huge skyscrapers and modern hotels.

San Antonio's most famous tourist destination, The River Walk was conceived in the 1920's after they had several bad floods in San Antonio - a dam & a canal were finally completed in the '40's and since then several extensions and repairs & additions have been done - including a botanical garden .







There are sidewalks on both sides, altho not railings on both sides - I wonder how many people they drop in the drink every year?


We had dinner at a place called Dicks - pretty good ribs - VERY good margaritas! Then we went out to explore the rest of the area - some of the group went bar hopping - Thankfully Robin & Del were ready to go back to the hotel so I didn't have to pay that $50 cab fare all by myself.

In a few days (when I get caught up with life in general), I'll post some about the conference & tell you all about our trip home (ever hear of the "trip form hell"?)

A work day in the barn, part 1

The Girls are very suspicious - when ever they are locked in the barn, it is a sign that baaaad things are going to happen.

Today it was pedicures, worming & setting up the breeding group, and moving Jasimine to her new home in Mt. Vernon with Toni & John C.



Pearl was not too happy about getting her tonails clipped & what is this thing that dad just put on my face!!!???

















I think I have dibbs on Pearl's lamb fleece. Isn't it pretty? & very long - she is just a little peanut under it - If we sheared her today, she'd just fly away.











Remember Gwendolyn. She not only came with spots, she came with horns, which is somewhat rare...

Our friends Donna & Tom brought her up to her new home with our flock last sumer.


http://ablipontheradar.blogspot.com/2006/07/all-kinds-of-company.html

Her wool is stripped under all those spots. Hmm., now which fleece do I want to keep?


Gwennie also got a new halter, very stylish don't you think?









We were in charge of snacks for church today. I made my "famous" Seafood Caesar Wraps, Turkey Caesar Wraps & Ham Wraps - (They were all very good, if I don't say so myself, and they disappeared quite rapidly too) We partnered up with our friend Vic and he brought crackers and cheese, and fresh locally grown grapes. We also brought apples & carmel dip - a new experience for some of the older folks, but it is so tasty, that they caught on quickly! Big week ahead - I'm on my way to "San Anton" - more later!

Weekend Cat Blogging #71

Showing off for company - (drum roll, please.....................) Sinda will now roll over!



















Thank you Sinda!










Neelix's trick is a grand imitation of a dust mop!






See more tricks & treats at Rosa's Yummy Yums
http://rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com/2006/10/weekend-cat-blogging-71.html

A big thank you to Fridolin and Maruschka and their nice lady in Switzerland for having us all over to visit! (Fridolin, that hat is just divine)

We got our picture in the paper!

GRAZERS
Name: Flock of sheep
Pedigree: Shetland sheep are native to Scotland but are becoming more popular in the U.S. because of their small size and hardy constitution. They are friendly and their naturally short, V-shaped tails are known to wag when they are petted.
People: John Park and Tina Thomsen-Park, Bellingham

So this is what got printed in today's Bellingham Herald! Pretty cool, huh? They have a regular weekly column called Pet Parade, and people send in their favorite pet pictures. I thought they needed something else besides cats, dogs & the occasional rabbit. So, end of this summer, I sent in this picture that I took last spring. Our pasture looks so lush & green in this pic - it looks pretty toasty now, but with the little rain that we've had, it's coming back slowly.


That's our exciting news for the day. Back to working on payroll. T.

Inspiration (or my lack thereof)

Susan, who writes the blog Farmgirl Fare http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/ recently announced that she had been having so much trouble with her computer network & because of other issues, she was going to "take a break" from blogging.

I almost cried - well, not almost, I did cry - mostly for Susan and her frustrations - but because I enjoy reading her blog so much - her writing is fresh & witty, informative & entertaining, and she has a great way with a camera - her farm in Missouri is in a very picturesque area, and she takes the best pictures of her animals. She has devoted readers from all over the world - sometimes reading the comments on her blog are as entertaining as her blog entry! Her camera work has inspired me to find beauty in the common every day world.

I was happy to see that she had a new post today - maybe she has solved her computer issues - maybe just taking a week off was good enough to rest her "inner blogger" -

When I thought about it, I was astonished to realize that I knew more about what was going on in Susan's life than I did in my sister's or my good friends here in town. Hmmm - what does that mean?

Heck if I know -It's "angel time" (11:11 pm) and time to go to sleep, I think. Thought I'd share this picture I took of a little chick-a-dee in John's sunflower patch - between the chick-a-dees and the gold finches, they pretty much have the sunflowers cleaned out - & BOY you ought to hear them when they get to talking about it!

Heading for bed. T.

Weekend Cat Blogging #70

Neelix & Sinda would like to thank Boots, Tess & their human at The Hidden Paw for hosting this weeks WCB #70 - Be sure to check in there and check out all the wonderful cats on the blogesphere :-) http://forthejunta.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, we were going to show you some of the tricks that we know, but as I was walking around taking pictures in our yard this morning, I found Sinda & Neelix having such wonderful sunbaths, that I had to share those with you instead.

Sinda has gotten a "water bath" more than once when John has been watering the plants and didn't see her before he watered this pine. But it is still one of her favorite places to sit.




It was a beautiful fall day here in the Pacific Northwest & Neelix made good use of the sun this morning. It's a good thing he did, because it's clouded up now and looks like it might rain.

Thanks again to Boots & Tess @ The Hidden Paw for hosting Weekend Cat Blogging. Everyone can go take a nap now. :-) T.

I'm Baaaack.....

I keep telling myself that Fall is just around the bend - I think, it has actually turned the corner - look at how beautiful our yard is.

It was a rough couple of weeks - computer problems are never "fun" but when they happen at the time that you need your computer the most - whew - it sure makes you grumpy. Mine started with an innocent notion that I should change anti-virus programs (this was recommended by my office computer guru) from one that had worked fine (beginning with a Mc) to one that totally took over my computer (& my life - beginning with a "N") Well as they said in the play "The Music Man" - I'm a sadder but wiser girl - pocket book is much lighter too (try $227.00 to get the whole thing fixed) Anyhow I ditched the "N" antivirus, upgraded my RAM & put the "Mc" antivirus back on. All is right with the world.

So, I thought I'd branch out here and add a little religion to my blog... As you may, or may not know, John & I are Unitarian Universalists. We go to church in Blaine at a little church that was established over 75 years ago by the Icelanders who had become convinced that "the Lutherans were dangerous people" They hired themselves a traveling Unitarian minister, and Free Church Unitarian was born. Fast forward to today - John leads the choir (I am one of three alto's), we actually have More Basses than Sopranos - actually last night we didn't have ANY sopranos - and I am the newsletter editor.

Being the newsletter editor is kind of like writing a blog by committee - and thankfully it only happens once a month. It is fun, but I've been trying to inspire other members to contribute. Just asking hasn't been very successful, so I'm hoping that my October "From the Editor" column will encourage some to get out pen and paper. Here it is - let me know what you think - (after all, it is my blog, and I can write about anything I want, right?)

"From the Editor"
I was intrigued by a “forwarded” letter that I recently received from Becky & Larry T. It was a note to them from a new friend in Panama, where they are now living. The fellow was a retired Anglican minister and he was reflecting on how the hardest thing he had experienced during his years as a minister was not the writing of a sermon every week, but trying to find a topic that would be relevant to the everyday life of the time and place. He went on to say that faith is of little value to people if it cannot be shown to be totally applicable to their life experiences.

Like George M., I came upon the UU “faith” via my mother & the Church of the Larger Fellowship when I was about 12 or 13. I think I always had an “inkling” that there was “something else” out there for me, though, because I can remember, even at a very young age, having sincere doubts about the stories that the ministers were telling us. Perhaps even then I suspected that “Standing in a church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.” I think that too often, we overlook the value of our Unitarian Universalist faith and the roots that it has given to our country. (And how far our country has moved away from those important UU roots?)

I am very grateful that I am able to walk down the street, dressed as I wish to dress - read what I want to read and go where I want to go. But, most of all, I am grateful for the freedom to believe the way I want to believe, and, like Nan says, “and that’s the truth”

So what do you think? Will I inspire them?

BTW - this is a picture of our beautiful Mt. Baker taken from the docks at the Port of Blaine -

Hope you enjoyed today's installment - coming up next? Why it's Weekend Cat Blogging and Sinda & Neelix are going to show off their tricks! Later, T.

Alligators?

That's what I feel like I'm up to me ears with... church newsletter and work end of year - and I'm having trouble with my computer! (Did you know that anti-virus programs don't like each other and will completely disable your computer! Sadder but wiser, and when I get my computer back from the shop, lighter of wallet...) I do have some "ideas" in the hopper - so don't give up on me, but it's gonna be a few days. :-)