Last night they started to get more aggressive than I was comfortable with. They started out by grabbing my fingers and licking them. I guess I smelled like fish food. Then they started to rip plants out of pots and were not happy when I made them stop at which time they double teamed me. One on one side of the pond slipped into to the water while the other closest to me climbed onto the planters and started sifting soil for fish food. Shaking the cane holds no terrors for them any more and wapping the steel framework around the pond did no good whatsoever. Finally I must have offended the larger one as he bared his teeth and snapped at me. That was the final straw. I grabbed the garden hose and turned it on them full force. They scrambled pretty fast considering how fat they are now. They made one final attempt at the pond but the hose was too much for them. Today I got the makings of an electrical fence. I wish I could bill the person who is feeding them. Grumble, grumble. I once had high hopes for their continuing good behavior but the easy feeding and human contact has overcome natural behavior. Sandy

So exciting to see Drema and Skip under the arbor at Woody's! I'm glad they picked a decent weather day for their visit! One day when the timing is right we'll nab them over in our direction. Today was a busy day in the garden, pretty much like Chelone's efforts. Lots of cutting back of stuff in the yellow & blue garden, with just a few bits of eye candy left to enjoy. Today DH cut back all the asparagus and carted it away...a good start and a big help! Tomorrow I hope my friends will be able to come help me once more. So much left to do. Well Chelone, it may seem simple, but infant care is delicate tricky stuff with lots of intuition and guess work involved. This has been 4 weeks from He!! for DD. At the beginning it was a twisted uterus (requiring chiropractic attention), severe afterpains (involving heating pads, belly binding and ibuprofen) and mastitis (which is excruciating and requires painful nursing to help heal and antibiotics as well). Add to this the cough and cold which Skyler, Ivy, Sarah and Leo developed and which caused Sarah to stop breathing at times, and you can see that rest was not much of an option for her. The lack of weight gain in her third child was a mystery to her. So then it became apparent that Thrush was an issue for both Mom and Leo. So now both of them are on oral antifungal. Yesterday Sarah developed a pain below her knee on her calf, and a blood clot was suspected. All in all it has been a terrible beginning...and yet, Sarah feels she has bonded sooner and better with Leo than with Reed and Ivy. I am so proud of all she deals with! You can be sure that Skyler's mother takes advantage of these days to pursue childish games. Skyler too. Tonight he is to write many lines in regard to putting things away (bike & helmet) and taking responsibility for taking his medicines. He has been whining and stamping his feet lately... Oh the joys of being an "evil" stepmom, always wrong and supported by none. I think I'd help him pack his bags personally! I planted white anemones today (soaked last night) in Reed's garden for spring. I think there are only 1-2 plants yet to go in the ground. Tomorrow I hope to empty the last of the containers and save none of it. I simply don't have the energy to overwinter things this year. I am waiting for tulips and a few other bulbs, but no rush on planting those, even though we expect a killing frost this weekend. The pe4ach cobbler is beyond ready to take out of the oven!

Thank you all for the good advice! Jeri: Weird - I know...I thought white fly was history around here too. I hope it's not a sign that a plague is on the way again. We used to have lots of hummingbirds, but our neighbors started cutting our trees (without our permission...another story). Now, I rarely see a hummingbird, or any of the other birds that used to nest here each year. Maybe that's why the white fly is back? What types of plants and grasses attract white fly AWAY from my garden? I'm willing to try anything. Scardan and York Rose: If I can't tempt more hummingbirds to return or get it under control by spraying with water, I just might try very localized applications of pyrethrine...like spraying only directly on effected leaves when the white flies are resting to see if that stops them. I hesitate to spray any other way because I have lots of beneficial insects and have never used sprays of any kind on my plants, herbs, and veggies.

I have different birds then you. I have Ann's year round. Right now I have a bunch of boys, no nesting likely with this crew. Last year I had a yard full of babies. How can I have all these babies and not adults? I thought maybe I was stealing the neighborhood babies because of my feeders. I found an old log of 'Lady in the Lamp'. This bird had several broods a summer in a lamp. The condition of the nest would be good since it was well sheltered and so she reused it again and again. It dawned on me that I had returning Mom's last year that probable had multiple broods and everyone stuck around for the summer. All those babies were mine! I just bought a couple more feeders as I am hoping for a crowd this spring. I have no hope of ever finding a nest. I saw one in a garden center at Home Depot. It had caution tape wrapped around the bush is the only reason I saw it. The nest was a tiny little bag thrown over a limb. Mom carefully came in the back way. I am content to see the babies come to the feeders. The wild tail contortions it takes them to navigate tells me how new to the wing they are. Here is a link that might be useful: Lady of the lamp.