Thanks to all of you. I bought some seeds on ebay and I've been puting off planting them because I was afraid I might not do something right. So after Sammy and Karyn sent me some I thought what the heck, go ahead and give it a shot. Now I'm getting a seed mat and going to plant all the ones I've ordered. The others I just planted in those little flats with the clear plastic dome cover and the peat pots that expand when you add water. I watered the pots, let them dry out a bit. Brenda told me you could put them in your washer on the spin cycle and spin some of the water out. (LOL) I was afraid I'd make a mess in my washer, but I may very well try that next time. I know Brenda knows what she's talking about. I had soaked the seeds for 2 days, then planted them in the little individual pots with the soil light on top of them. 8 to 10 days later I had little green nub looking things popping up. Then a couple of days later elbows, then leafs. Now I can't wait to get a bunch more growing along with some other seeds I want to start. Kristy, when I first started potting up my brugs someone told me to use 50/50 perlite, and spag. peat moss. So far so good. I gave all of them a hot bath last week and they look 100% better. Of course I'm talking about my cuttings and not my babies. I'm thinking about making it a routine giving them a bath once a week to every 10 days. They sure responded well to it. I did not get the soil wet, I just use the sprayer in the kitchen sink. It was a little time consuming but I think from looking at them it was time well spent. That was to help with the bug problem too. Kristy, I'm looking forward to getting the Squash seeds anytime. Kylie, I can't wait to see what kind of seeds your going to share with me. (big fat grin) Thank YOu! Happy Day Dreaming about Spring and brugs and all kinds of other flowers. Marian

Lisa, I thought that I read on this forum that some birds are more sensitive to disturbances than others. All I know about nest-box monitoring I learn from this forum. I respect and appreciate the efforts (and results!) of bluebird landlords, who reestablished EABBs in the eastern US. I do question, personally, the monitoring of other songbirds whose populations are not in trouble; my concern, also, is that some people, way less knowledgeable than the pros here, will think that they can and should monitor all nests, including cup nests. On the BWF, someone took a picture of almost fledged 'dees. I worry about flushing out chicks that age. Not that anyone knowledgeable on this forum would do it, but you all know your stuff. Many people glean information from forums instead of researching, and cannot keep their hands out of nests. Not that I am "scolding" anyone; it's just what I think of, as a visitor, when I come here. Not everyone knows there stuff. But I guess we can't help that. My instincts and background urge me to leave nests alone (except EABBs), because unknowingly, we create more trouble than help with birds that are doing well already, and need the experience of nesting failures to get them right in other tries. Although Janie's save is impossible to argue with!! But Janie, your gut (sorry for the metaphor) is greater than most other's : ) Which nest boxes then are you supposed to not check? Which species was I thinking of? Thanks!

This being a fairly long thread, I'll answer a couple of points from ole joyful on behalf of the OP (but if I've gotten anything wrong, pls do correct me - I'm going on memory here, having contributed several times): >>This was term insurance/most are guaranteed renewals ... but usually at a substantially increased annual fee. >> No. This was an offer from the US Government. It is an unlimited term policy, which is unheard of from a private carrier. The premium remains the same in perpetuity, until the policyholder dies or allows the policy to lapse. >>If he could delay purchasing, until a time when people depended on him financially, he could (but - would he have?) invest the value of the premium for a few years until his need developed. >> The annual premium is a MAXIMUM of $365/yr and a minimum of $3.20/yr. I don't think there's an investment on this earth that would turn even the $365 maximum amount in a five- or ten-year period, into enough money to purchase a lifetime of premiums for a $400,000 30-yr Level Term policy on a male who is ratable for occupation and may by that time be ratable medically as well. Being ratable for occupation normally means a premium penalty from 40-150% in annual cost. The federal government is offering to insure this young man for: - The same premium a highly-rated A+ private carrier would charge to a healthy, non-smoking, "low-risk occupation" for $400K face amount - But instead of a 30-yr Level Term that would go up dramatically at age 54**, this policy remains in force and the premium remains the same, forever. ** For those that are not conversant with Level Term, the premium remains the same for the set number of years, but after that jumps so high (because you are now 10, 20, or 30 yrs older) that everybody drops the policy. So you want to have the term policy last until you have no need for it any longer. How high does it go? Well, after the Level Term period expires, it becomes an Annual Renewable Term policy, which is what ole joyful is referring to. For example, on a $250K policy I purchased on a 15-yr Level Term, I was rated standard for health, no rating for occupation. My premium is currently $600/yr. At the end of the 15 yr term, the annual premium jumps to $4,525, the year after that $4,912, then $5,360, etc. etc. Therefore, I will allow the policy to lapse at the end of the Level Term period.

Thanks so much, Sherry. You have such a wonderful garden and area to work with and have so many different types of butterflies and moths to enjoy. And you take such good care of them. We all learn so much from you and the other forum members here. Even with as small a garden as I have, it is amazing how many little jewels it can attract. I can sympathize with the salty sweat running into your eyes and feeling like keeling over from the heat. Take heart, things should begin to get better in a few more weeks. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. This is the first year I've felt like I have enough milkweed to feed whatever number of Monarch cats I might get lucky enough to raise. Every year I find myself scrambling so I really worked to try and keep the common healthy. It is usually gone by now but hopefully, I've got a lot of big, still healthy leaves to feed the little cats. I've grown a lot of tropical to use when the cats are small, as the leaves are probably easier for them to chew but when those little cats grow a bit, they can really put away the food. So many wasps and spiders this year, need to try and find all the eggs I can before they get to them! Mary