Komi, that's too bad those wines give you a headache. I used to make lots of Chinese foods from scratch, including sauces. The ones I made turned out but don't remember specific sauces. My mom always said if you can read, you can cook, and I believed her. Mostly, it works. Me - your idea about pairing orchids and wine is terrific. Maybe I could give orchids to clients, prospective clients, vendors, etc. as marketing and write off the whole home operation. (Call tax person.) T-bred - the dairy farmer fed his t-breds cheese curds before/during/after mating and swore by them? Not quite picturing this. Huge treat early this a.m. - FOUR hoot owls calling outside!! One was on our next-door neighbors' roof, and I saw it fly off. It and another were in trees just across the street, calling, and DH and I went outside and could hear 2 other owls answering way in the distance. It went on for about an hour. We live in the 'burbs and have never heard owls before. Sure hope this is a good sign. Whitecat8

Thanks for sharing that Fledgling...fascinating reading! I don't put up feeders for the hummers here, most seem content enough to feed on all the flowering plants I provide. One particular fellow has come back (at least I believe it is the same one) for about 3 years to the ivy geranium/scavaeola planted hanging baskets I have on the garage. Frankly, I'm ready for a new planting scheme for those baskets. Every winter I dream up a new scheme for them, but when spring finally arrives, I feel so guilty about changing the planting on my little hummer friend that I end up putting the same old planting back in anyway...just can't disappoint the fellow...LOL! Re the topr...I remember reading something about that. Isn't topr what also allows birds to survive in cold, wintery climates such as mine? Resin...I enjoyed your link too! I have never heard of a Godwit (cute little fellow) and honestly I thought you were making that name up...LOL! I'm going to have to do a websearch and see if I can't find pics of sunbirds...I've never heard of them either. Nature is truly amazing! Thanks guys for sharing. I hope Coniferfreak gets to see what's been posted. I'm sure she would enjoy it. P.S. Thanks Tcharles about the hibiscus. I did plan to make cuttings. Was wondering if you knew which technique would work better; dipped in rootone and the struck into the soil or rooted in water? I've always had amazing success with rooting coleus in water and it's a great way to carry them over since a juice glass of water is much smaller than a pot and allows me to grow many more cuttings in my garden window. Was wondering if I could grow hibisucs cuttings in water? Eileen

the camp robbers here stay in the mountains most of the time and i would always see them around picnic tables at the lakes and campgrounds or in the fall around the hunting camps where the deer hunters had goodies out. most are grey but around here there a some that are light brown. i have seen them come swooping in and grab food off a picnic table while we were eating and land in a nearby tree and chatter at us. This year though my favorite birds are the four juvanile Lewis's woodpeckers who are everyday visiters to my backyard. they are used to seeing me and eat within 10 foot of me unless i make sudden moves or noise and then they scurry away. Each of the four has a personality. One swoops in and lands in the tree near the feeders and waits till the coast is clear and grabs a cherry from the oriole fruit tray and flys away. another carrys spanish peanuuts away everyday fron a pan of nuts and seeds on a cooler that sits in my kitchen window. a third one loves to peck on watermelon rinds that have some red left on them. and the fourth one pecks and eats lots of the homemade sorghum and nuts and seed blocks i make.

If it's been posted to in the last 60 days or so, it should still be available. Unfortunately, the search engine is still not working properly, as many of us have found. Your best bet is to do the following: (1) try to remember when someone last posted to it. (2) if it's earlier than about 30 days ago (i.e., before 12/20), it's probably on one of the latter pages....pages 34 through 67 ......if it's within the last 30 days or so, it's probably on one of the pages 1 through 34 (3) If you can further narrow the date down, you can further narrow the pages it most likely is on (4) Next, you will have to search each page until you find it. Using your browser's "find" feature, look for the original poster's name, in this case, your name since you're the one that posted it. It should be a quick search on each page. (5) Advance or go back one page at a time w/the search Yes, this is very cumbersome and can be very time consuming...but right now it appears to be the only way to find posts. This is also why it's important to narrow down as closely as possible the last post date. Good luck!