Hello everyone, Many, Many thanks for your encouraging words about both my Mom and the lilies. To those of you who like 'Angelus Curlicue' I bought her from Robin Calderon of Earlybird Daylilies this past spring. Robin sends amazing clumps! Her daylilies are also very inexpensive (I don't know how she can make any money!). I highly recommend her as an inexpensive source for daylilies and you will get very generous clumps. She is also very nice. kitcatclub...yes, I do have voles in my gardens and have lost many lily bulbs over the years. I haven't lost many lately since Fat Cat Nemo and Lily have been patrolling the gardens. I do lose a few each year it seems. Do you have those horrible red lily beetles in NY? They are destroying my lilies and I can't spray because I have so many bees and butterflies about. I really appreciate ALL of you here on the forum, for your friendship and all the sharing. I am so glad I found this place. Celeste

Sorry to hear about the damage Prinbama and everyone else reporting their damage. I really hope your palms surprise you. I've got plenty of damage to report too unfortunately. So far I know I lost my Saw Palmetto for sure and my Med Fan palm is very close to death. I will always regret the fact that the lights were not turned on for the coldest night of the winter 3F for all the plants in the front yard. Because of it, my med fan palm is about 90% fried and one oleander is completely dead and my 6 foot tall oleander is going to completely defoliate and possibly die to the ground (or die completely). My Frostproof gardenia has some leaf drop already but I'm optimisitc that it will survive. My Camellias all look okay but I noticed some light damage on my most cold tolerant one! I have a zone 8 camellia that is currently showing no signs of damage but this camellia that is rated for zone 6 has a few leaves with some discoloration. I'm sure it will grow with no problem in the spring, but I was surprised with the damage. My newly planted southern magnolia is showing a little damage to a few leaves but I think it will pull through (I sure am hoping at least!) This has been a miserable winter. My Trachys were well protected but with my white fence, it is impossible to keep them from overheating on sunny days (I have tried everything and I'm not usually home to take protection on and off throughout the week) so they are experiencing some burn where the lights touched the fronds but I'm hoping it survives and looks good in spring. So my count so far is 1 dead palm, one severely damaged palm, and lots of so-so things in the yard. The one good thing will hopefully be less bugs. I have so many mosquitoes in my yard so maybe this winter is what we needed to get rid of some of them. The ponds here haven't been frozen over like this in years. I saw some people playing ice hockey on a pond this week! (probably not the smartest thing though haha) Good luck everyone! 28 more days until the first day of Meteorological spring! -Alex

It was definitely sticks. And, this morning our "Mom" returned. At least I'm convinced it's our original "Mom" as she looks identical. I'll know better when I can get some good pictures and if I can identify her. I'm pretty sure you are right as we've seen the babies bathing in the bird bath having a blast so they are still around! I was so excited to see her. And, I know we they don't have emotions, but do we really know for sure?!? :) We'll check on the other house and remove the sticks again. We've got lots of bird books and are pretty sure it is a House Wren. Plus my husband knows just about every bird, plant, tree, bug, etc. on the planet -- and probably off as well. I'm just a newbie!

Emerald: Words don't work at a time like this......but prayers do! And in that vein, prayers are flooding your way. You WILL find the right words to talk with your mother. You WILL find the right words to console your husband. You have already found the right words to convey to us. You ARE stronger than you think you are. You ARE a mother! ~ We grieve with you and for you. I think this entire experience which you have been so gracious to share with us has brought out the goodness and grace in both you and us......and for that we can all celebrate. You are closer to us than possibly any other poster. You have touched our hearts and souls and brought out the best in all of us. How we conduct our lives from here on out will speak volumes to this experience. Thank you for allowing us to be enlightened in and through your journey. My heart is heavy in your loss. God will continue to guide and be good to you. We are here for you in more way than you have yet to discover.