Yes, that looks like an Ostrich fern. Purple flowers looks like Spiderwort, Tradescantia. The think with the purple tinged leaves looks like Tree of Heaven, a horrible invasive in some areas. The last one looks like multiflora rose and you are probably seeing rose hips, not berries. Also an invasive. To post pictures directly, use the HTML Code link instead. Also, feel free to upload full size pictures. This one I don't know:

wow, thanks so much "venezuela" really appreciated.... also i feel that 4, 6 & 7 are not the id's mentioned. maybe i am wrong. could anyone correct me, suggest anything. thanks.

grassroofgirl I can't be-lieve I never thought of this as evergreen - YES, I think she is. I always was focused on the flower/scent - and I think there are berries too. I do remember, quite a few catbirds would hang out in her branches in summer time.. it's hard to say what a "prime specimen" would look like - she was time-honored when I got here - presently about 10 feet. here are some more pics of the mystery shrub.... flowers have faded, so there's a better view of the ...???dunno the technical term -flower stems?? structure?? flowers were in tight clusters... old berries?? arch-y somewhat droopy-ish (there I go bein' technical again) branches from underneath.... not pretty, I know - just to give you an idea of how old she is - very "leggy"... reball kwoods suggested vibernum as well - the flowers remind me of vibernum?.... mid to late april she was at her peek (ny zone 6) - as you can see in the pics I took today - flowers are gone now (may 10). I found this image online (link below). seems a pretty close match to my above photo. unfortunately it's just listed simply as vibernum... http://members.tripod.com/mgrist/images/1024/flowers/vibernum.jpg knottyceltic omg... garlic mustard (shh! ... don't mention it's name - it'll start growing in this forum fer cryin' out loud!) I'm pretty sure this is my friend jewelweed - I have been pulling at/disgusted with garlic mustard for about 3 years now. The little seedlings (not only do I see them way too often during the day - but, these "things" have invaded my nighmares as well!) are more of a rosette(?) looking thing - sorta like violets. I have managed to put a kind of dent in it around most of the house. There are days I get very dis-heartened by the whole process as there are sections I haven't gotten to yet - but I WILL continue to fight the fight! I really don't mind jewelweed - I would imagine if I had a bunch of other things planted, I might pull some of it up. But i would much rather have the jewelweed than the garlic mustard growing. thanks all for the response(s) I'm still waiting for that woodpecker to come back for a visit. Here is a link that might be useful:

Most jobs I left because I was moving on, leaving home for college or married and relocating. But one in college I quit just b/c I hated it. I worked at McDonalds' for 3 months, the morning shift. All my classes that semester ended up later in the day, 1:00 pm was the earliest. So I would go in (walked about 12 blocks) at 5am and work til noon, go home shower and then to classes. Those were long days! It was OSU in Columbus, Ohio. I never felt hated in my life until I met that supervisor. I never understood why, but I felt the whole time that she really just hated me at first sight. I had no training, she just put me on a register. I think she wanted me to fail and would give me tasks that seemed made for that purpose. But I figured it out (it's not rocket science) and she said "Oh, I was told you worked at McD's before." Nope, read my application! But, a cash register is a cash register. I thought I'd just need to prove myself to her, but the better I did the job the more she seemed to hate me. Then after 2 weeks she asked me to cover a birthday party for her. I said whatever, I like kids, I think I can handle that. She told me to "make up some games," so I did. She failed to tell me the party was for a physically disabled child and that all the other child guests were also physically disabled. My games required on-the-spot modifications. I was an education major, I could handle that. I made sure the kids had fun. The mother of the child was very pleased and tipped me $20 (a lot of money to a college student)! When the supervisor asked with a smirk how it went, naive me, I told her how well it went. She told me to turn the $20 in and told me I wouldn't be doing any more parties. I was very upset over that situation, she knew the child was disabled and just didn't want to work with different kids. Even though she didn't want to do it, she didn't want me to do it well and like it. I felt like she tried again to set me up for failure, it didn't work, and after that she was really pissed at me. Every time I asked for a weekend off to go home, it was denied ("home" was 2 hours away). I worked every weekend for 3 months. When I asked for Thanksgiving weekend off and it was denied, I quit. I cried when I told my dad, he instilled such a work ethic into me I felt like I let him down to quit a job. I knew it was hard for them to put me through college, and a job was part of my end of the deal. I had already put in applications elsewhere, so I did find another one almost immediately which I kept for 3 years until I graduated from college, married and moved away. It was fun and I was treated very well.