Bluegirl, that's a good point about adjusting to whatever your experience says is normal - like traffic noises or train sounds if you live near their passages, or heat in a Nevada summer, or cold in a Minnesota winter. It's just what you expect and we build positive associations with it for the pleasant events that happen in that period. As a relative outsider to cicadas, the negative associations have gotten firmly established before any positive ones could set in. Tammy and MG have plenty of their own negative experiences too, and if they start laying eggs in my rose canes we'll definitely move them into my mental "bad bug" category. Of course, I'm not big on loud repetitive uncontrollable sounds anyway - having lived in landlocked places all my life I find the sounds of ocean waves to be slightly disturbing and annoying, though not to the same extent. I'd way rather listen to crickets chirping than a tape of ocean sounds during "deep relaxation" parts of yoga class, but I realize I'm in the minority here. So, Michael, if these chirping sounds are all mating behaviors, does that mean that crickets and grasshoppers are just more, um, horny than other bugs, or is it that they have quicker life cycles and we're hearing new generations of cricket males like perpetual teenagers desperate for a date on Saturday night? You'd think if the same old thing didn't get results last night, they'd give up or try something new, but I guess that doesn't apply to teenagers either... Cynthia

Had never heard of the websites, thanks for that. Love seeing the pics. Had a Maltese as the kids were growing up but he passed away after 17 years!!! Loved him. Now I have become a 'cat lady'. Have always rescued cats, taking them to the shelter to have them fixed and placed for adoption. I also fostered a couple of kitties this past winter. I have of course Bowie who is very affectionate, his mother was dropped off here with five babies. All were taken care of and two adopted out. Kept Bowie, but no one wanted his mother, she is very shy, I suspect she was treated badly. I also have the sister Chloe, who is also shy, but a sweet cat. Here is a pic of the three together. Bowie, Mommie Kittie, and Chloe. They are a very closeknit family!! Bowie follows me everywhere when I am outside, which is of course all day long !! They stay outside and I have a shelter for them when the weather is cold. Then I have Sweetums, who is my spoiled inside baby, never was going to have an 'inside' cat, my daughter found her abandoned at a park several years ago when she ( my daughter) was taking pictures, just before winter, she was starving, and we couldn't leave her. There were two kittens, and my daughter's boyfriend's mother took the other one. So Sweetums stayed in the house to recover from the surgery (spaying) and then I didn't know how the others would react to her and she is long haired. So needless to say she stayed in and I love having her in the house. She is very quiet and very well behaved. She has bonded completely to only me, hides when anyone comes over. This is her living the good life. Then lastly and once again never thought I would have a cat inside. This is scaggs. I named him scraggly, cause he was such a mess and no one knew what his name had been. Very sad story, his owner who had been evicted from his home, just left his cat outside on the porch of the house, after he had been an inside cat for almost two years. There were a couple of businesses in the neighborhood and they would feed him, but not every day. I knew about it and couldn't stand it, so I took him to the vet, he had already been neutered. Other than being hungry, he was in good health. But he was a big mess. He had been living under a dumpster for awhile, (after crying on that porch for weeks,) and with his long fur, it was a disaster, so I took him to the groomers to have him cleaned up. He stayed in my garage then for a few weeks, while I tried to find a home for him, He is very loving, and seemed thrilled to be in a garage. I slowly introduced him to sweetums, and it worked out, so in he came and now i have the both of them inside and they get along great. He is the 'company' cat, cause he likes people, in spite of what he went through. Boy that was long, sorry. Aren't you glad you started this!!! Cindy

Hi Fori, I found some old fabric in my basement that were the original draperies in my 1929 home, I think they are called bark cloth..They have Chinese men and woman and lotuses..They had a hideous smell, but I washed them and they came out like new!!!! I made pillows and covered little footstools for myself and had enough left over to make a few more for girlfriends..Anyway, look up vintage bark cloth,its very sturdy , they have many kitchy patterns that may be good for you, use the new curtains until you can afford the retro fabric...Also have had much luck with Natures Miracle(found in pet stores) to remove wierd odors..Its an enzyme and actually removes, not cover smells....You may have beem able to spray the fabric before destroying the curtains..Wish I saw this sooner.....

My house is painted many colors and all our trim is BM white dove (or is it dove white?) I found that is can look "white" against some colors, such as gray or yellows, and have a slightly creamy finish against others (blue, pink.) I had china white on all my trim in my last house - it also looked great - but a little grayer but you really only noticed that when it was compared to a purer white swatch.