That is very exciting - congrats! My guess would be the little guy was migrating, and they were indeed attracted to the tomatoes. If you have room, I would grow some Cypress Vine or Cardinal climber to attract them and provide some late season nectar (both are easy to grow and very pretty too!). I don't have a feeder up but have a "Hummingbird garden" and see hummers here regularly (multiple x per day) during the summer once the Monarda starts blooming. These plants are top attractors, visited daily by the Hummers when in bloom. Lots of turf wars go on in that garden. :) Monarda didyma (red Bee balm) Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' Lobelia cardinalis Salvia coccinea Yvonne's Salvia Ipomoea x sloteri (cardinal climber) There are lots of plants scattered around that they like to sip on, but these are their favorites.

Okay, one more time, :)...actually I love talking about wasps. I know most of you will be horrified, but I am becoming enamored of them for different reasons. To start with, I used to think there was just the paper wasp and the yellow jacket. Since starting to study parasitoids, I have learned that there are thousands (probaby millions) of different wasps. Most of these have highly specific lifecycles. Some are really beautiful, like the blue winged wasp. It uses the green junebug larva as a host. The green junebug larva does major damage to your lawn and these wasps help control it. However, Chalcid is short for the superfamily Chalcidoidea. It is a group of wasps, not one specific species of wasp. Chalcidoidea is one of if not the largest group of parasitoid wasps, with estimations of around 400,000 species in the world. These wasps are not only parasitoids, but depending on the species, may eat seeds, utilize flowers, or are gall formers in plants. Parasitoid Chalcids may use eggs, larva, or pupas. These wasps are generally small, and metallic colored. However, there is a lot of variety. So, one Chalcid is not parasitizing all the butterflies, a variety are. Parasitoid is different from parasitic. Parasitoid means that the host is eventually killed by the parasitoid. As opposed to a parasite that depends on the hosts survival. Wikipedia lists 12 different parasitoid superfamilies. This is probably changing day to day. Again, depending on the species, they will use different immature stages of the insect. Many different insect species are used as hosts. Including many agricultural and garden pests, such as aphids, beetles, and grasshoppers. This is a major part of nature's pest control. In the butterfly house we cannot control all butterfly predators, just some, and the caterpillars still strip bushes and trees bare. I imagine a world without parasitoids as a world devoid of green. This does not include a description of the Aculeata(?) the infraorder that includes paper wasps, yellow jackets, and the like. These are the wasps that eat caterpillars and feed them to their young. They do not use them as hosts. So, that being said, bringing the butterfly eggs into the house as soon as you see them laid, is the best strategy. Which is why so many of us are considered goofy, as we follow mom around the yard trying to talk her into laying eggs! That is no guarantee as I have found parasitoid wasps on my window sill and wonder "hmmm, where did that come from?" However, it will help a bunch. Otherwise, you have to use fine screening mesh to exclude them. Once you have the problem in your yard, it may be difficult to eradicate it. I know someone who brought chrysalis home and transferred the chalcid problem to her yard. Whew, Elisabeth

That's great news. I am happy for you especially since your son is military. No matter how any of us feel about the war, we appreciate our military people. We spent many holidays alone. Because of the parents and step parents issue, I decided what ever day my children could be with us was "the" holiday. The Christmas my oldest granddaughter was four, they were stationed in Abeline. We lived in San Antonio and my son's father lived in Kingsvile and my DIL's mother lived in Robstown. The kids had their Christmas at home and then drove to SA. The next day we had our Christmas. The day after they drove to Robstown and had Christmans at my DIL's mother's house. They went to my ex's on Christmas morning and had Christmas. Soooooo,my granddaughter got up the day after Christmas expecting it all to happen again. She was a tad disappointed.

After our surgeon retired, he had a hemorrhoidectomy. Later, he told my DH that he'd never shown enough sympathy to his patients....LOL! It's a pain that has to be experienced to be understood, he said. I agree with Annette...see if someone can get you some Nupercainal. It's a lot better that Preparation H for the pain. We keep it on hand at all times because it's a good topical ointment for other things, as well. In fact, DH had to rush our unused tube over to a friend's one night because he was in such pain from hemorrhoids that he couldn't get comfortable for sleep. The friend was impressed with the pain relief. We get it at a local drugstore because our closest Walmart doesn't have it. Oh, and remember that some pain pills can cause constipation...something you want to avoid right now, for sure ;-) Hope your pain is subsiding by now. You really will feel better soon! Leslie/KS