Yes, I am sipping hot tea after doing some 'inside' work, after looking at the extended forecast I decided that Spring WILL start on this Sunday. Putting out my flag didn't help keep winter away, but now this is it for me!!!LOL. Don't see too many nights below freezing in the forecast for next week, so I am setting up my garden. Putting out my 'garden art' and benches. This time last year I had two different varieties of daffs in bloom, but right now they are still in bud. I ended up getting just shy of an inch of snow, and it was the heavy stuff, It is pretty much gone now, a few more flurries were hanging on, but nothing really stuck, The sun is actually out now, and I have the urge to get out there!!! The daffs are recovering as they always do, many were flattened out!! I will most likely keep Whiskey, I think after all that, I would worry about him and miss him. He did actually have a vole the other day, freshly caught!!! His skills are probably good due to being a street kitty for awhile. So he will earn his keep. Oh, flowergirl, there is no really helpful therapy for the auction, so you just bid away!! What you have to do is just keep thinking of ways and spots, to add more daylilies to your gardens, and that can be quite the challenge. cindy

The best thing you can do for pond fish is to give them plenty of plants for hiding, and to add some simple structures in the deepest part of the pond. One good idea is to lay a length of terra cotta pipe or even large PVC pipe in the middle of the pond. Terra cotta is nicer looking and will eventually get enough algae,etc, on it to blend in. A large flower pot turned on its side will help, too. But the pipe helps a lot. Fish will scoot right in there when being threatened by raccoons, etc. They could probably even hide from an anhinga in there. White Birds 101: The largest white wading bird in your part of the state is the great egret. He will tower over the other white birds, being nearly as big as a great blue heron. The smaller white waders will usually be either immature little blue herons (grayish beak with a dark tip) or snowy egrets, who have bright yellow feet. That makes them pretty easy to ID. Then you have white ibis, with long downcurved pink beaks, and cattle egrets, who are the shortest of them all, and seen more often in pastures and along the roads. And there you have it. That's everybody except wood storks which are HUGE and have massive blackish beaks and heads, and aren't easily confused with anything else. Anna, your green heron picture is beautiful! Some time back, these were called Little Green Herons (we always said it was because they had very little green on them, haha). But then they dropped the "little" for some reason. They are very clever and adaptable little birds. I used to watch one at the Periwinkle Trailer Park swan pond on Sanibel Island who had perfected the art of fishing with the pelletized bird food. He would take a couple of pellets out of the dish, go over to the water's edge and drop them in. Then he just waited for the all the little fishies to come nibble at the floating food. He had his technique perfected and was a very successful fisherbird. You both have such lovely natural areas in your yards, where you can really enjoy nature when you garden! I swear, I'm going to get my horse trough next month, for sure. It will make a perfect birthday present. And then I can at least have a few goldfish and a lotus or two. Marcia

Thanks all, its funny about Bowie and not having his coffee yet, cause that was my dilemma!! Now that summer vacation has officially started, I sit every morning ( after feeding the cats of course) on that 'new' garden seat with my morning coffee or tea, and bowie usually will sit in my lap, but lately he has been rushing to get to it first!! I can't sit on HIS lap, and I have to plead with him to get down!!! I have to go get another chair to sit on. He does know a good seat when he sees it!!! It's too funny and he looks very funny in that pic. Sharon, the cat in the other bed across from the PINK bed never causes any mischief, cause he is cement. Here's another pic of Bowie, guarding the garden, which he does a very good job of, whenever he sees a squirrel in the bird feeder, he runs over, has never hurt a squirrel but seems to know that they have their own feeder, cause he never chases squirrels out of the squirrel feeder. In the pic of Bowie, his very shy mother, we just call her 'mommy kitty' is on the other side, They were both rescue cats. Oh well, lots of fun to have the critters and cats around. Oh, I meant to post another daylily that I was so excited about, didn't take a good pic, It was the bonus Prediction from Maryott last fall and it showed itself yesterday. The last daylily is Drop Cloth which opened a few weeks ago, on a newly planted. Cindy FFO on Prediction Drop Cloth from Daylily Manor, May 7th, FFO one month later Cindy

LOL, squirrel, they REALLY are that tall. I am thrilled that they worked out, as they are my colors, to be sure. I have just returned from a tiny rural accessory shop here in Maine, and have a few great finds...One is a antique tole tray with berries that I have loved for as long as I have seen it in her shop, and she went WAY down on the price for me, and I didn't even ask! It is all hand-painted and you can see each brush stroke. It has berries that look like ripening pyracantha berries. amck, I bought the print JUST like that, matted and framed. It came from the House of Lights in Scarborough, ME. Their number is (800) 644-0174. They aren't open Sunday but they have a sale each Sept. on stock items and special orders. I got it probably 3 years ago, and haven't seen one there since, but they do seem to have other prints from that company, and may be able to order you one. A label on the back reads - Order 00049370, Prod no. AL005. Description Great Blue Heron. Good luck finding it - it's beautiful!