IÂve been in listening mode as well (can you hear me listening..?) Woohoo  Deanne, you do everything with flair! I bet Doug was scared to death  and you gave yourself a shiner? how terrible  adding insult to injury w/ the flu  I do hope you take it easy and rest  youÂve got a lot of entertaining to do soon w/ your Idyll guests! I do love that butterfly  and leave it to Marie to know what kind, etc., it was. Your party sounds like a wonderful way to break up the winter doldrums  Im planning to go to the Phila. Flower Show in early March  so thatÂs what Im using as a "break-out" of winter event. V- glad to hear youÂre feeling better and cannot be held responsible except via Âweb to have passed that flu along to Deanne  I hear you about the coughing though  I had severe flu about 20 years ago and coughed and popped a pelvic artery  landed in the hospital (it was a close call). . . .for Xmas because of it (they didnt know what was wrong til they operated). So I must confess I am extremely paranoid about hard coughing of any sort now & have been ever since that happened  weird things do happen. I confess on the health front I continue to be totally puzzled by all the conflicting reports  low fat, high protein, no protein, high fat  whatÂs a person to believe any more? I think your attitude is probably the correct one, Marie  celebrate with food  after all if we donÂt have fun with it, whatÂs the point? Honey, I meant to tell you that I truly love the red also (I in fact love all bright & deep colors) and am amazed that you pulled that all together because of wrong furniture fabric! One would Never know  youÂre an artiste. Mary, I imagine youÂre starting to count the days til the big trip  it sounds glorious  you and your entire family will have a blast  a trip to paradise, how neat is that? I imagine the children will remember it forever  and it will be a nice memory to make for Annie to put next to the loss of her dear friend  a good memory to overtake the bad one in this year. Michelle, - I ordered the Cl. Laura also  it looks gorgeous doesnÂt it? For some reason I ordered mostly Type IIs this year  Im probably crazy to do so  but my others have been doing so well that I am getting bolder I guess. Of course, if this is a failure and they all croak this summer or get horrible wilt, IÂll be going back to sticking w/ the IIIs I guess  but I wont know until IÂve tried. I ordered a total of 6 clematis this year (altho my list was much longer, but I tried to restrain myself & limit to a budget $$). I know thereÂs other stuff to comment on but I better get to work. Im hearing that 4-letter word in our forecast this weakened (S***)  ugh  of course, Im planning to drive to Phila. to check on the parents  it never fails  IÂll probably wimp out if it really says itÂs gonna happen  I donÂt know how you do so much intrepid driving, Martie, with your...

Sounds like you really have some challenges. You have my sympathies! A tiny poked hole is more likely a house wren's thin sharp beak, sometimes taking them some distance away, or simply tossing them out. The house sparrow will toss the eggs out, but their finch-like beak would not as likely make a tiny poke hole. And the HOSP is more likely to stick around, harass, or even take over the cavity. "Do BB's destroy their own eggs" ... No "the nest possibly could have been flooded?" ... are there leaks that could be fixed? "Are the HOSP really sneaky" ... yes, but HOWR are sneakier ... "and resistant to the Sparrow Spooker?" ... yes, and house wrens will not be deterred by a sparrow spooker. House Wrens are even sneakier, faster and silent, leaving no evidence behind, only destroying eggs or young. You might hear them singing, but might never, ever see them! There are some links to sound files of house wren song and chatter on Bet's web pages, so you can learn to hear the unwelcome sounds of house wrens. Visit Bet's web page for more info. And by the way, the Carolina Wren is a very different bird, welcome almost anywhere; not a threat to other birds. BlueBars Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.sialis.org/index.html

Hi, divamum: It so happens that I am looking for a good home for a stainless trash can that would probably meet your needs. It is the butterfly can from Simple Human, holds 30 liters/8 gallons and is insanely expensive. I actually loved using this trash can and felt some sadness at moving into a new house with a pull-out trash cabinet. But there is no place for the butterfly and it's been sitting in our living room while I try to figure out what to do with it. (I tried to join Freecycle in my area (southern CT) and got rejected two times. Why?! But that's another story.) Anyway, it's yours for the shipping, which is probably around $25...not quite sure. Let me know. (I think I also have some extra bags for it.) It's clean and sparkling and only a couple of years old. (I won't be offended if you don't want it....I'll just keep trying to join Freecycle.:-)) Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Simple Human Butterfly Can

Hi Kaitlyn- I'd put up a bluebird box. I've got a good # of HOSP, too, but the sparrow spooker has worked out so far. My EABL's had 3 broods last year. The reason why the spooker goes up after the 1st egg is because the bluebirds are committed to the box after they lay an egg. Once you put up the spooker, make sure the bluebirds take to it. If you've got a 2nd egg the next day, then you're good to go. The reason why you don't want to keep the sparrow spooker up all the time is so the HOSP don't get too used to it. After the babies fledge, you take it down. The Sialis site is the best site to guide you on how to deal with HOSP. Fishing line can be used year round, but you want to make sure it's thick enough & weighted down so no birds get caught up in it. If HOSP get to box 1st, you are legally allowed to remove their nest & eggs. Sometimes, a Van Ert trap is necessary to trap them in box if they keep invading, but you need to monitor hourly so you don't trap a bluebird or something else. Others use ground traps, too. The Sialis site should guide you through this. Also, I feed dried mealworms in winter & live ones during nesting season to keep the bluebirds around. HOSP will eat anything, but they like seed better than anything else, so I don't use it. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with. Nicole