That's great Pete. If I may hitch these to your cart - hope the authors don't mind - saved from a few years ago. Posted by: fishead KY zone 6 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 17, 03 at 15:33 Neighbors frown at my pile Though its been there a while The eggshells, the hay, The old crème brulee Neighbors in my compost wacko land Peels and rines, grounds and grass Turn your pile, for the right gas TheyÂll never believe, The compost theyÂll see Neighbors in my compost wacko land In the backyard we can build a tumbler And disguise it from my neighbors sight TheyÂll say did you get rid of that garbage? WeÂll say yes, and turn it at night Later on, when weÂre planting And the neighbors are raving and ranting What is you use To grow them that huge? Neighbors in my wacko compost land Posted by: Nora_in_Vancouver On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me A part of a chipped up pear tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me Two spoiled eggs and A part of a chipped up pear tree. On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me Three bales of hay Two spoiled eggs and A part of a chipped up pear tree. On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Eight moldy bread loaves Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Nine gallons of grounds, Eight moldy bread loaves Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Ten potato peels Nine gallons of grounds, Eight moldy bread loaves Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me Eleven rotten pumpkins Ten potato peels Nine gallons of grounds, Eight moldy bread loaves Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Twelve fresh manures Eleven rotten pumpkins Ten potato peels Nine gallons of grounds, Eight moldy bread loaves Seven slimy seaweeds Six bags of leaves, Five Banana Peels! Four crawling worms, Three bales of hay, Two spoiled eggs And a part of a chipped up pear tree. Whew! What more could a girl want? Posted by: helen123 (My Page) on Wed, Nov 19, 03 at 11:32 Pumpkie, the brown stemed pumkin, had a very shiny stem, and if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows All of the other pumpkins, use to laugh and call him names, they never let poor pumpkie, enter into the compost bin, Then one foggy, stormy night Helen came to say, Pumpkie with your stem so bright, Let me squash your head tonight, Then all of the other pumpkins laughed and shouted out with glee, Pumpkie, the brown stemed pumpkin you'll be smelling just like pee. Posted by: BabsCT z6 CT (My Page) on Tue, Dec 2, 03 at 21:14 The first bag of leaves I ever did take Was because there were no more in my yard to rake, But in the neighborÂs yard rested five big bags full So I bribed his old Shepherd and made off with the haul. Oh . . . browns ohhh browns ohhh browns ohhh browns Now I need green stuff to break this stuff down. Then soon did I beg at my coffee shop For two buckets of used grounds, and now I canÂt stop EvÂry day is the same; I take in my pails. And slosh to my hatchback in rain, sleet or hail Oh . . . greens ohhh greens ohhh greens ohhh greens This is much less embarrassing than it once seemed. Now I go to the farm to collect my manure Rope-handled buckets stacked neatly help me procure And if husband complains that he hates the odor I tell him that is what God made air fresheners for Oh . . . whacked ohhh whacked ohhh whacked ohhh whacked The joy I get from what I stuff in my hatchback.

Sorry it was posted twice. Did not mean to do that. Thanks..Mike

Rachel, The Purple Martin is like a God Among birds bigtime smile..They are as American as baseball and your grandma's apple pie. They are the true harbinger of spring and once you hear that voice overhead or see that black jet form knife across the sky you know winter is dead for good. I had 124 pairs last year here that fledged nearly 500 babies. They cannot all return to nest here and I hope they find other caring folks that put up a proper martin house or gourds equipped with starling resistent entrances and start new colonies. There is no comparison between a beautiful springtime blue\black martin and a starling Rachel..The martin puts them to shame. One martin perched amidst a bunch of McDonald's parking lot,french fry eatin' starlings would look like a flowering daisy in a field of cockleburrs big grin..Love them so much. Glad you liked my poem Rachel. I see you live in Ky. Well if you are ever over towards Owensboro you would be welcome to come and watch the martins here on a warm summer evening or morning. They are a treat. By eliminating the invasive species anyone can have a nice colony of them in no time if they put up the proper house and\or gourds...Mike

Trisha, My heart really goes out to you on losing your GENTLE GIANT, McDuff. That's what I feel about St.Bernards.My Bailey also had the bone cancer and the vet said since hers was in her front leg, they could amputate, but because St.Bernards are so front heavy she did not think she would do so well. She said it would probably mastisize (sp?) some place else anyways. It just seemed like it went so fast. They recommended we just take her home and LOVE her for as long as we can and we will know when the time comes to have her put down. We had her an additional five weeks when we knew the time had come. She had stopped eating and drinking. It just broke our hearts. A few months before that we were in Fl. visiting my parents and we met a neighbor of theirs, and he loved to paint. He showed us some of our paintings, and he had a picture of a St. Bernard. I told him how much I loved them and that I had one, he told me to send him a picture of Bailey. I sent it to him and he painted a picture of her for me. Sent it back home with my parents, when they came north for the spring. They brought it back to me and it was just a few weeks after we had to put her down. What a beautiful picture. Your pain is so raw right now, but shortly it will start to lessen and you will find yourself smiling and laughing at some of the antics McDuff and you had. If you do a picture with the poem I would really love to see it. Have a good day.