Hi Saucy...I'm here. I ended up having a lovely Thanksgiving day after thinking it would be a lonesome day with just the 2 of us. I overheard our evangelist saying he and his wife wouldn't be going to Oklahoma,( where the rest of their family was going), because of a doctor's appointment the following day.I asked them if they would be with anyone else that day, and thay said no, so I invited them to come to our house. They didn't know for sure whether they could come, but I went ahead and started the preparations on Wednesday( baking pies and pumpkin bars). I told Nolon I didn't think they would come.But Wednesday night, after we both had gone to bed early, the phone rang and it was John asking what time I wanted them to come! I was so pleased. They arrived at the time I told him ( 1 PM ) as I was putting the final touches on the meal. As one of you said about your meal...it was a real nice dinner even tho I did the preparing of it.:-) Doris brought a pumpkin pie , whipped cream, green beans, and a few other things. After we ate, and ate, and ate..:-), we visited the rest of the afternoon. It was a wonderful time ! Our former DIL decided that she wanted the girls this Thanksgiving, and Tim could have them at Christmas. She has decided they will alternate the years for the 2 holiday get-to-gethers ! (I am wondering how long she thinks Nolon and I will be around???) Since we live so far from them, and the latter part of Dec. can be very treacherous for driving here...it will remain to be seen if they make it this year. Thanksgiving has been our time with them ever since the first one was born, and she knows my stand on Christmas....just another case of her showing her true colors. Thank goodness Tim plans on bringing them this Friday for the weekend. I won't fix another Thanksgiving dinner, but that's okay. I have been reading, and enjoying, all of the posts. I am happy for all the good news, and sad with you that have sad news. Woody, I want you to know that the B 12 shots have very definitely helped. I took one a week for 4 weeks, and will begin one a month this coming tuesday. I presume they will continue the rest of my life.... I took Nolon for a checkup with a differant Doc last Monday. His regular doctor has gone into some sort of rehab, and will not be back until spring. I am thinking he ( Nolon) will be getting more appropriate treatment now. With the new meds that this doc gave him, he has already cut down on the use of the nebulizer. I don't plan on his returning to the 'old' doctor. It is wintry here. We have had a couple of skifts of snow, and had some ice on things this morning. The roads were not icy, so we didn't miss AM services. We did stay home this evening. The weather was too iffy, and it was very foggy. I am sending more hugs to Chelone... Marian

It was a family affair for us. My daughter, granddaughter and I went. If any of you saw the little girl being pulled in a coaster wagon , holding the umbrella for shade, that was us. We followed the east trail. I went down into the valley by the water and dug some ferns for my daughter. She came down to carry them up. The granddaughter supervised and told us not to fall or hurt ourselves. While down by the water, I found a native azalea. I believe it is the Alabamense white because it was by the water. I was raised not too far away and I tramped those hills and fields all my life. I hunted the area from Carson Road (before it was built in the late 1960s) to Turkey Creek and camped at the old Indian Valley Boy Scout Camp. The Alabamense is very common along the streams. I went up the hill on the northwest side and found a bunch of medium sized oak leaf hydrangeas. You must know what you are looking for and know where to look. The only thing I really missed was that when I was a kid, after going to Turkey Creek, we always went to Price's Drug Store (old downtown (Mount) Pinson for a root beer.

That's a beautiful series of photos of your catbirds, Jane. They look like a garden ornament perched atop the shepherd's hook. We have catbirds. Their catlike calls are one of the few birdsongs I recognize. Mr Tunnels! Ha ha! Great name! Claire, your dragon looks wonderful in his new tri-colored metallic coat of scales. In addition to being the summer of the trees here, it also is shaping into another summer of the birds, even more so than last year. The house finches have babies in last year's swallow nest on the outside ledge under the porch roof. I think the female is building a second nest in the nestbox inside the porch while Dad cares for the first batch of babies. The barn swallows meantime are feeding little ones in the original ancestral swallow nest inside the porch. And, oblivious to the nesting birds, the hummingbirds are constant visitors to the nectar feeder hanging from the eaves. All these different birds, and others (goldfinches and occasional Baltimore orioles) perch on the branches of our crabapple tree in the front yard, and they look like brightly colored jewels amidst the pink blossoms. I really need to take some pictures with a better camera. In the barn, a pair of tufted titmice have refurbished their nest from several years ago and are in some stage of rearing little titmice. They are supposed to be cavity dwellers, but I guess their nook up in the eaves is close enough. Their nests are such delicate affairs with moss siding, like filigree. Perhaps the nicest surprise is that I have a pair of tree swallows nesting in my birdhouse, on the sawed-off utility pole out in my "orange garden." I had boarded up the entry hole to the house in frustration during my battle with the English sparrows. Since I hadn't seen an English sparrow in several years, I cautiously unblocked the door, hoping for bluebirds or tree swallows, and my wishes were rewarded. With the birds in residence on the porch, I scheduled the house painting until August or September, explaining to the head painter that his guys could just take down the nests prior to painting because the birds would be gone then. He asked "Do you want us to try to remove the nests so they can be put back up?" I replied, "No... demolition!" His somewhat relieved reply: "Ah demolition! That's a word I understand!" LOL! It made me laugh! These birds are master carpenters. They will rebuild next year from scratch, I've no doubt.

Baby Raccoon calls...I had this as a stand alone post but I think it belongs here. I have been spending lots of time out in my gardens of late and have been hearing one of my all time favorite sounds of spring. Next to the spring peepers, this sound my be my favorite. It is a sweet trill and it comes from the trees in the mid afternoons during the spring. At first I thought it may be the mating call of a Red bellied woodpecker but I now believe it to be the sound of a baby raccoon calling it's mom. I have a link to a Youtube video I found yesterday, below. The first sound you hear is the call I have been hearing. Have any of you heard this sweet sound and if so, do you think this is a match? I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Just one more fun and educational aspect to gardening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cQAACCyHUc&list=PLD-jnvzNKmD2VvnuHcpnqN4M0smrER1sZ&index=2