*sobs* ah... so sad. I belive that people write and sing sad Christmas songs for two reasons: 1. They explain. They enlighten. They teach. They reveal. They convey meaning. They cause emotions. Sad ones, yes, but aren't those the ones that you remember the most? The ones that stick? That you want to listen to again, depsite their sadness? 2. It's a sad, sad fact, but these aren't just some sad fairytale. True, they might not have actually happened, but people go through things like this every day. Winter can kill someone, even when it's not the season outside. The winter in one's heart, it's cold fingers grasping them tightly. Children alone, forgotten, abandoned. Teens abused, neglected, twisted. Adults abused, misused, suffocated. It's a part of the world we wish to turn a blind eye to. All the hurt... all the pain... These songs keep us from neglecting those in need. The remind us that there is someone out there that needs a hand this Christmas, and try to get us to be the one that reaches out. To help a soul in need. Maybe we don't need to lay our life down, maybe all they need is a smile, but I believe that sad Chrismtas songs are God's way of touching other's hearts, compelling them to offer a hand. In the Cat Carol, the cat gave the mouse a place to stay warm. In turn, though, the cat lost it's life. But it's spirit lays on, and it paved the path for other's to follow. Say that wasn't a cat? Say it was a teen, and the mouse was a child. Say that the teen had been walking, a runaway from an abusive, neglective home, and the child was an orphan, neglected, alone. By chance the two are brought together. They huddle in the snow, hoping that morning will bring light into their darkend world. Santa's a sympathetic adult, who walks over to the homless duo, offering their house on Christmas Eve. The teen is gone, having layed down their life for the child they wanted to protect from the cold. You see. It could happen. Maybe not a cat and a mouse. But two helpless children, two helpless people, two helpless souls left in the cold, lost in the winter. I made myself cry writing that. >.Anyway, I didn't mean anything by that. It's my opinion, and it's not there to hurt feelings or make other's look bad. It's there to say what I feel needs to be said. Another song I love, that's sad, is of course Christmas Shoes. Also, Concrete Angel has to be one of the saddest songs that I've heard in a while. It's not Christmas related, but I can't help thinking of it every time I'm touched by a song.

Well, one of the funniest things I remember seeing was a whole passel of birds and squirrels drunk on fermented dates and pyrocanthia berries--at least I guessed that's what it was. They were definitely drunk, and that's what they were eating. I'm sure they didn't think it was funny the morning after, though. Our most interesting bird is the scrub jay. They have absolutely no fear of humans and will eat nuts and seeds right out of your hand. The next most interesting is the huge pilliated woodpecker. Their call sounds just like the birds you hear in jungle movies. I've never seen a PB live and only occasionally do we get to see a finch in its loud colors. They're still in their winter feathers when they're down here. Last year I had a titmouse w/o a wife who made love to himself in every car mirror and window reflection he saw. He visited every single window in the house as the sun moved over the house, and he pooped all over our cars. He finally found a mate which saved my sanity.

I'm a lazy caretaker that is the success lol. This dirt can get waterlogged so mostly I let whatever rain we got take care of them. I watered a few times though when we were getting over 100 during the summer. My guess is that when it is very hot they are heavy feeders because the roots are huge. It was just Miracle grow potting mix because it was more loose than the other types available. I give them a slight vinegar bath every so often too 2tbsp gallon to lower the ph a little more than the dirt and it seems to pick up their growing speed. PH 7 down to around PH 5.8. I did the whole coarse dirt product last year with some but, I'm too inattentive and they went dormant lol. That and a lot of the products were not readily available nearby. My mother is heavy on water so the coarse stuff would work better for her. It was a tiny pup that I pulled off the mother plant with only one root. It hasn't bloomed but, probably will in the spring. My seedlings are about half this size. I'm lazy this year so they are all going to sleep. Seeing how well they rooted though I'm going to get them pots two sizes up. The only difference I have with pots being clay/plastic is that clay dries the dirt faster and plastic works better on quick growing things but, I can grow in either doesn't matter. The black nursery pot in the background is an experiment in mutation. I read an article on graft mutation. I basically grafted a large piece of a hippeastrum cousin onto a bulb and it took. At the site of the graft strange things may occur between the two different plants.In a year or so I'm going to take a piece of the grafted area and see if I can get a plant from it.

I feel for you bpath. They can be such little stinks. Some of by cats never scratched a thing, but into adorable Siamese tore into everything. I tried catnip on scratch posts, catnip on cardboard -- you name it. I see a couple of solutions. Along the artsy lines, you could take some strands of yarn and attach them to a sort of header to hold them together and then I fix that to the areas that are already gobstoppers (I spoke the word gouged up, but out came gob stoppers – whatever they are). Then the cats can just enjoy the rest of their days playing with already cut sections of yarn and he could be a conversation piece. Yes, another conversation piece. Or you can take something like plaster of Paris or wax and form a sort of shell over that area - like a cast, but in color. You can paint it or add different colors of wax or clay. I just saw one of these amaryllis bulbs in a clay-like "pot" molded over the bulb. It looked great. I bet something like that could actually look kind of cool along the edge of your couch -- like a molded pottery patch. Then there is another solution.