That article takes a somewhat politically correct slant on the subject. FACT: overpopulation of deer is helping invasive thrive over natives, because they'd rather eat natives to extinction. The exotics taste bad to deer. But, oh no, we can't kill off bambi. This actually leads to an amusing scenario where "leftists" and "rightists" end up on the same side of the issue. The former don't want culling of herds because OMG the poor deer will be shot, the latter don't want deer to be too hard to find when they hunt, so they see state herd "management" as a good thing. I've heard some old burghers of Harford county talk about their hunts on the MARC train. They can bag 5-8 deer in a single night! Too easy I say! A handful of us sane ones are left in the middle, who realize deer should be hunted as close as possible to extinction east of the Appalachians. Without a top order predator, they are now out of ecological balance. Otherwise, we have to allow coyotes and wolves back into the area, and worry about our cats and yippy dogs being eaten. (And yes, I'm glad they have killed the ones they do, I have no doubt the reason I don't have near the deer problem people in more genteel areas like the Philly Mainline do is because they are being killed in massive numbers by locals. Keep killing, guys!) FACT: the alteration of the landscape on the east coast has created artificial environments where exotics thrive. Yet where is this writer advocating the complete cessation of absolutely all land development of any kind, to save what's left? Let's close all the railroads, and highways, since they create corridors for invasives to move. (in some cases, even invasives from other parts of the US! I have no doubt the Baccharis halimifolia along I-95 north of Baltimore are not native to that area.) Sorry, politically progressive ecologically minded writers. No more Acela for you. Flying will help preserve native woodlands much better. FACT: 95% of native species have been lost their range to farming, not to invasives. The problem is really that invasive and natives are fighting for tiny pieces of the pie that are left after agriculture. Yet, is the writer advocating the wholesale abandonment of agricultural lands? I don't see that anywhere. One of the reasons people like the landscape of Maryland versus some other states is how much "open land' there is, because "liberal" Maryland was a pioneer in undertaking means to protect agricultural land. As you fly over the Potomac to land at Dulles, the contrast being the MoCo agricultural preserve and NoVA is stark. Yes those fields create forest edges which would not otherwise exist, and are exactly the places where invasives take hold. FACT: she's actually wrong about all of those being introduced by the so-called horticultural trade. Multiflora was brought into control soil erosion - doesn't sound like horticulture to me, sounds like agriculture. Other invasives were brought in by private agricultural interests. So, I actually agree that people should plant butterfly bush with caution, but the whole issue of invasives has a larger ecological context that many of these native plant snobs ignore. Here's a great article by Stephen Jay Gould on the matter: Here is a link that might be useful: http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/483.pdf This post was edited by davidrt28 on Mon, May 5, 14 at 20:07

I would love to share photos of my two beautiful girls. Sasha was a stray who found me 8 years ago this month, in fact. I has just bought my home and had only been in it for a about a week or so. I was making my morning coffee in the kitchen, looked out the window and saw this tiny, 3-4 month old kitty curled up in some over-grown grass. She was in awful shape. You could see every bone in her body (hips, back, etc) and it appeared that someone had burned her head with cigarrettes. She had 2-3 round burn-holes on her head. I didn't want cat #3 and tried hard to find a proper home for her. But, I ended up so very attached to her and her sweet personality I couldn't stand to part with her. She was absolutely the most sweetest cat - always gave tons of kisses. The below picture captures her little personality quite well. Here's another one of my favorite pictures of Sasha: Below is of Sabrina, The Super Model. She was sleek, 100% jet black and exotic looking. She had a very strong will and personality. She despised everyone except for me- whom she adored. She went through alot healthwise - hyperthyroid, kidney disease and cardio-myopathy. Even my vet said she's never seen a cat with such an incredible will to survive. I think Sabrina hung on for me, knowing how devastated I would be when she passed. She is the only cat I actually picked out from the SPCA. They rest have all come into my life on their own. Actually, Sabrina picked me as well. I had spent over an hour looking at all kinds of cats and decided to 'think it over' and return the next day. Something made me turn around as I was almost to the exit. I looked and saw a cage of kittens that I had some how missed. All the kittens were asleep in a pile -- except for one. She was sitting straight up and staring intently at me and pressed against the cage. I "knew" she was the one. She was only 6 weeks old (they no longer adopt them out that young anymore, thank goodness...) and absolutely adorable. She grew up to be my most devoted companion and The Queen of the house. I sure do miss them both....

The website where I got my interest started is at the link below and one particular thread that you might want to check is..........http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/23597/yeast-water-examples-photos-tfl-links-only...It is a thread with many links from the site all about yeast water and gathered into one thread....I don't know if you have to join to read or not but it is a great website about baking your own bread. I bake all our bread...... Yes fruit or fruit skins ....like when I peel and apple I stick the peel and the core in one of my jars...To start you pick a fruit, and put it in a jar, it can even be dried fruit, raisins, prunes, cranberries..It it is a fruit that isn't overly sweet you can add a little sugar or a little honey...I have added honey but it really isn't required...there is a ton of information at the website with lots of recipes using the yeast water or telling you how to use it in a recipe... I haven't noticed that it adds a lot of flavor..It's not that strong..If it was lemon or lime it might add more but so far I haven't noticed. You certainly could use grapefruit...the only ones you need to stay away from would be fruits that breakdown protein...like pineapple....there are a few others but it's late and I can't think straight. It really isn't to add flavor it's to take the place of yeast...Many people don't like the flavor or smell of regular yeast.....I do, I just tried the yeast water for the novelty of it. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: The fresh loaf

My thoughts are with those in the immediate path of Ike and the others that may also be affected by this hurricane. What few people realize is that Hurricanes often spawn tornados around their periphery, making them a double whammy if/when they hit shore. Even our weather in Oklahoma may be adversly affected by Ike. Hanna gave us some sprinkles but with Ike's projected path, flooding is now a distinct possiblilty over this week-end. Arkansas and the mainland Texas are also in danger. Prayers to all of us in Ike's path. Plants are replaceable, people (and their beloved companions) are not.