tshallow ...my friend just used outdoor acrylic paints & it's been out there for some time...it's faded some & it's in the shade alot ...but still looks great! Here's a July '11 pic of Gr'pa's rake garden w/a visiting friend, Campbell, sitting on the sit! LOL! Thanks for your comments, GJer's. Jeanne S.

novice, it doesn't seem the iron phosphate slug baits are very effective for sow/pill bugs. You're on the right track by removing daytime hiding places for them - in my garden, it was pulling the little 1" spreading sedum I'd thought a really charming groundcover in between perennials. My sowbugs haven't been a problem again since removing it. Diatomaceous earth is helpful, but if you're still having those rains - wet diatomaceous earth doesn't have the same effect as dry. Here is a link that might be useful: OSU - pill/sow bug

we are in the foothills here close to the mountains and the winters can get severe. The migratory birds all head south in late summer or fall. The birds that are normally in the mountains move down to the foothills and valleys in the fall or winter. And when the weather is nice the birds hang out in the farm fields or pastures or where there was fruit or berries or grass seeds ect. But when it's snowy or wet or icy they come in big numbers to the feeders. the woodpeckers that eat lots of bugs or ants or other insects turn to the seeds and nuts and sunflower seeds ect in bad weather. The juncos and towhees and the chickadees and nuthatches stay up in the pines and aspen and firs as long as the weather permits but flock to the lower elevations when the snow piles up in the mountains. The jays and magpies and doves and a few others stay here year around and are constant visiters when the weather is bad. For example last week was sunny though cold and i had small amounts of birds coming and going each day. But then we got rain and snow and overcast for several days and there were dozens of birds in the yard off and on from daylight till dark.

It's a mess all over. I know it's harder for some of you then me here in Dover, DE. We got another 5.5 inches of the white stuff. At least this time it's light and fluffy and not that wet heavy stuff. Had a heck of a time with the snow blower last time. Still hard to get around though as the temp is below freezing and not suppose to get much above it. Can't wait for the spring and summer.