I've never bought into that whole theory. Mostly because you can't 'catch' a cold outside. Germies thrive in warm environments, and can't live outside. Having said that, I think the whole 'supressing your immune defenses' theory might be more of a reason why you may have caught the cold INSIDE, but you won't catch it outside. If there's no cold germs hanging out in your environment, going outdoors isn't going to make you any more susceptible to catching one unless you are exposed to a place where they are already living (inside). Like kiddies at school. They go outside, lower their immune defenses by getting cold, then come inside where a plethora of lovely germies are just waiting to kick you when you're down. The home-schooled kid who plays outside at home and there's no cold germs in his home environment is not going to be subjected to the germs cuz they simply aren't there for him to catch, regardless of the state of his immune system at the time. And that's my logic, and I'm sticking to it.

I too have heard about not saying Thanks, but my training is too strong!! Here, we say 'when the leaves on the lilacs are the size of mouse ears', it's time to plant peas. They don't say which lilacs, or which mice....and, we are not safe to put tomatoes and other tenders out till the Victoria Day Weekend, which is now just the may long weekend - which is a week before our New York counter-parts!!

Turns out there's some truth to that, but only to the extent of WHAT plant you're talking about. We actually have an allelopathy forum here at GW, and here's a link I just found. Found a couple other sources, but since this one was an edu, I thought it more reliable: Here is a link that might be useful: Perdue University

BeeOhio, Harry is a Deutsch Drahthaar, similar to a German Wirehair, but also very different and bred to the German organizations hunting standards. They can be big or small, wiry or not, bearded or not, black or brown, as long as they pass all four very stringent field tests. He's a versatile hunting dog, and will point, retrieve, and blood tract any game, furred or feathered, from a quail to a bear. We now have his six-month-old great-nephew living with us too. Here's Harry, 6 years old and 78 lbs. on the left, and Sam, 54 lbs. at 6 months, together. Harry is my heart. He's the best dog in the world. He's gentle, sweet, always wanting to please, loves everyone, doesn't know a stranger, loves babies, loves tiny puppies, and is as gentle as a lamb. Sam is...well Sam is Sam. LOL I love him too, but he'll never fill Harry's pawprints. Sam is sweet and doesn't know a stranger, either. He's just so "Sam."