...but Chelone,if I snuck up behind you and carefully placed a straw within my armpit and gave a nice puff...would you lol just a little bit? I bet that would at least make you grin: ) OK it would be short lived but appreciated.lol That's the thing. Life sends us stuff. Some of it is good, fun,happy stuff and then the yucky stuff slips in too-it's inevitable. I think you are going to handle the tax stuff OK-that accountant is a godsend. Your mom's situation just stinks-no one deserves that kind of treatment-or lack of.BUT because I know you-(well,you know)...you will say what you think about her care and that squeaky wheel certainly will get it's oil. She's new there-they just need your input and I think you'll get results. Your brother seems really on board so at least you are a team? Does he have the same worries that you do? No facility is better than what a daughter or son would realistically want for a parent but I hope you do see an attempt from them to do better for her. I think you are exhausted from all of it-look at how long this has been going on for you. That's why you are having sleep probs,you don't want to go to work,the construction stuff is bugging you....each of these things alone are things you are capable of handling(we're talking about CHELONE here; )it's just all of them clumped together and the emotion added to it are muddling things. Take one thing at a time-you'll be OK. It's not easy but I think you will get through this too. Hmmm we're home one day from our paradise weektrip and MIL was complaining on the phone, she wanted life to be over due to some stiff pain she's having...just what Chris wanted to hear... I keep thinking how things could be much worse than they are-it gives me perspective to deal with it. Sue I just wanted to tell you that while I'm sure you'll have some initital discomfort, all that walking/exercise you get will probably cut your recovery down considerably-just be obedient and take things slow at the beginning. I hope you are calm(especially with no wine or food!)and things go well for you tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you...say,does this mean you'll be slowed down enough to idyll more? : ) Drema-beautiful card! Thank you! I didn't know about the program at the CBG but I'll have to look into it. I hope your newly planted items survive-would a heavy mulch at the base help? I think everything that has sprouted now will be a little deformed but get some normal regrowth when temps stablize...(crossing fingers) Hocking Hills was fabulous if you don't mind hail storms,rain and cold : ) STRANGE weather all over the place. Hocking Hills had a couple warm weeks in the 70's before Easter but by the time we arrived they had been having freeze warnings and many plants/trees were zapped. The first night in our place we had a wind/hailstorm that brough an inch of hail!That was loud! I guess there was talk of a possible tornado but I didn't hear if it was true. Well, at least our cottage was built into a hillside so we were very safe. We had one day(Fri.) with warm breezes and full sun...and I got a sunburn from hanging out in the hot tub-odd but true. The ride back was treacherous with a slush rain snow thing happening-it was part of the storm that is going to blast the east coast-hang on you guys. Back here in Cleveland we were supposed to get snow-but they were wrong so it's dry now and the sun just came out-I hope the nor'easter is much less harsh than they predict. I don't mean to be short(I say that alot lately) but I need to finish the laundry and get things ready for the school week. If I have time I'll be back. Cynthia-Monty's illness sounds scary! I hope things are improving for Monty. I hope you are doing OK too. ~Babs

The tree swallows won't leave my box alone. Poor blues! I will be putting up another box next week for the swallows to nest in. :)

Yes you have a sweet little Phoebe. How lucky! I have them here and have put platforms under my decking for them but no takers as of yet.

Welcome! First, nestboxes should never be mounted on fences, wooden posts, trees or anything else a predator can easily climb up. They should be mounted on slick metal poles (conduit) with predator baffles (wobbling stovepipe) and put up at least 15 feet away from any fence/tree or anything a predator can jump from. Your raccoon you relocated could be back anytime and or another raccoon could come by and see its happy meal sitting waiting on the fence for it. Please visit sialis.org for helpful information on properly mounting nestboxes and info on sparrow spookers/wren guards etc. If you see birds sitting with the Blues and not being chased away they are not wrens or HOSP. They are most likey House Finches which like to hang with Blues for some reason. However being you are on a farm with other farms around you probably most likely have HOSP around. A sparrow spooker will not scare the Blues away from their nesting and I would put one up asap, right after you move that box off that fence and to a safer spot about 15 feet away from the fence. Yes you can move an active nesting like this, the Blues won't abandon it because of moving it. As far as the TRES you can do the same with that box but you will need to be much more careful if there are eggs. It is really hard to see in their nests because of all the feathers but usually when it is loaded with feathers that means there are eggs in there. I just did a nestbox switch on an active Blues nesting because the momma blue laid seven eggs (which all hatched)in a smaller Gilwood style box, it has a 3 1/2" x 4 1/4" floor. I switched the nest to a larger box mounted on the same pole and had no problems with the adults accepting it. The nestlings were five days old. Good luck! Donna