You know what nan....I love writing, and love thinking that maybe some of my stories will make someone happy, make'em smile or chuckle....maybe anoher kind of story will touch them or they can relate to it or I can in telling a story about something that happened to me give someone another way to look at something that might have happened to them or may in the future.....Now all that said, I dream and hope everyday to get a note such as yours.....I sincerely thank you for giving me a good feeling not just now but whenever I start to write something.... Paul from Alabama

updated Wikipedias page on this plant. All of my plants are from the same supplier so must be clones. Because they are genetically identical I dont get any seeds, unfortunately. I love this plant. The upright beaked flowers contrast in both shape and color with the fine blue-grey foliage when its allowed to hang. I plant it with other plants in my window boxes and have even spotted a rare hummer or two (there found here only on migration) in the fall - a rare find for us here indeed! They dont even really breed in my state, and as far as I know im the only one in town whos ever seen one here. There only bloom in the fall if i deadhead them thought the year, similar to petunias. flowerpowereverett, i dont know what happened to the sunbirds. They must have died out there for some reason, and its been so long that its hard to know for certain the reasons. I think you are referring to the dodo tree, and boy do i have tale to tell you! Do a google on Dodo tree and youl hear the miraculous story of its revival from near death. Ill save you the trouble, heres the gist it: "Recently a scientist noticed that a certain species of tree was becoming quite rare on Mauritius. In fact, he noticed that all 13 of the remaining trees of this species were about 300 years old. No new trees had germinated since the late 1600s. Since the average life span of this tree was about 300 years, the last members of the species were extremely old. They would soon die, and the species would be extinct. Was it just a coincidence that the tree had stopped reproducing 300 years ago and that the dodo had become extinct 300 years ago? No. It turns out that the dodo ate the fruit of this tree, and it was only by passing through the dodo's digestive system that the seeds became active and could grow. Now, more than 300 years after one species became extinct, another was to follow as a direct consequence. Will more follow? Luckily, some creative people discovered that domestic turkey gullets sufficiently mimic the action of the dodo's digestive system. They have used turkeys to begin a new generation of the tree, which is now called the dodo tree. If these seedlings survive to produce their own seeds, the species will be saved. " That story was widely circulated, but now truns out to be exaggerated if not a outright fabrification put forwards by a man named Stanley Temple . Wikipedia has a great article on, and since its a public service free for redistribution (if given credit) heres their explenation, with various references: "Strahm and Cheke, two experts in Mascarene ecology, claim that while a rare tree, it has germinated since the demise of the dodo and numbers in the hundreds, not 13. The decline of the tree is possibly because of introduced pigs and monkeys and competition with introduced plants. Catling (2001) in a summary cites Owadally and Temple (1979), and Witmer (1991). Hershey (2004) reviewed the flaws in Temple's dodo-tambalacoque hypothesis" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_tree

Finn did SO great yesterday. He's so brave. Watching your baby go limp (with anesthesia) is terrifying. But, we got some good news. His severe inflammation is down to mild, which means his current meds are working, which means he won't be moved to the "heavy hitter" meds (immunosuppressants). He does have a fistula and will probably need minor surgery, but that's further down the road. He had a tough time with recovery and was in a lot of pain right up until dinner time (procedure was at 10:00), but when he snapped out of it he SNAPPED OUT OF IT! He was up running around with his brother, eating, etc. He even wanted to go to school today. I'm so proud of him it makes my heart ache.

Happy Father's Day, FOAS and all the other fathers. I'm missing my own father a little today... As for potty training, Amanda trained herself at 16 months, dry at night and not an accident. She was prissy and didn't like to be wet and would bring me a dry diaper so I could change her immediately. Ashley? She could care less, and when she was nearly 3 my mother asked her when she was going to use the potty. Her response? "Never, never, never, never, never." She finally did, because the babysitting bribed her with M&Ms. Annie