creeper your taking this a bit to far. Yes I understand we should not "monitor" open nests like we do our nest boxes however knowing when eggs are laid, incubation begins and hatching occurs is helpful to know when to expect babies to leave the nest so we can help protect them. It also helps to know if a Cowbird egg has been laid etc.. Any good birder knows how to monitor an open nest from afar or when a closer look is needed by watching the parents behavior. I appreciate your concern for the birds but responsibly monitoring an open nest is not a death sentence for the babies. There are many stories out there of fledglings with a foot caught in the nest or babies pushed or fallen from the nest and replaced that were saved by us humans just paying attention , from a distance. You are right traipsing up to the nest to look everyday for our amusement is a bad thing and many people don't know that. Your information is valuable. Lets be encouraging to those becoming interested in birds! Watch them closely ..from afar and come here for questions!

We moved in two days ago Kim :) It's taken this long to get the internet working (and it only works on the back side of the house LOL) More work to do I guess. Thank you :) We do love the house and grounds, although the sheer size is intimidating as you think about cleaning it LOL More so as we've moved in somewhat. Probably more so after we have 20 overnight guests next weekend. It was the oldest B&B in the pacific northwest, (35 years) prior it was an apartment building and prior to that a hospital, and then the original owners had it until their deaths. (early 20's) We are lucky that the folks who did the big restoration in the 60's and 70's didn't follow current fashion (painting all of the wood for instance) and they were sensative to the home. In addition, when the bathrooms were added in the last 20 years (another owner who was also sensative to the house) it was done incredibly well, taking a few feet of space from each room, but integrating them well (some B&B's cheap out and put the tubs and sinks in the rooms). They will be easy to upgrade to more victorian features (is that an upgrade backgrade?) There are three buildings on site. One is considered the carriage house (but really is the base of a 3 1/2 story water tower we will eventually rebuild). The other is the original gardners cottage. They take up one lot and the gardens take up the other. Talk about intimidating...too much garden LOL And on top of too much garden...I have 400 house plants (maybe not that but five or six per room). The poor things are doomed in my care. I'm thinking of a sidewalk give away very very soon to save their lives! Poor dears...even my husband feels sorry for them. I tried to convince my mother that they are guest gifts and that guests (her) must take one each time they visit but she hasn't gone for it yet (I sometimes think if she were senile my life would be much easier...) Today we turn the old office off the kitchen (our future family dining room after we remodel the kitchen, but that's a few years off) into a play room for DS. I hope this grand old home likes thomas the train LOL Oh here's a funny....we get about a dozen visits a day asking if we have a vacancy! It was funny but is getting annoying LOL They want tours and won't always take "private home" for an answer LMAO. "Oh dear...no rooms? Well can we just see it?" No go knock on the neighbors house and ask for a tour heh heh Oh let's see...nope not a B&B (I'm not nice enough since DS was born and keeps me up all night) :) And how many bathrooms? Sigh...12 Do you think the B&B potential guests might think that the tour includes a once in a lifetime opportunity to clean a victorian bathroom? I might let them in....

Casey we have had that to happen to us many times.But greg and hit hot temper,he would just bout flip the machine up side down,making my face blood red because I was so so embarrased.One time I protended I was not with him because others were around him ,seeing him trying to flip the machine,so I asked Greg,Saying it this way,"Sir would you want me to get someone to help you,knowing all the time I was looking for the security man so I could tell him to come do something to Greg.I just knew we were going to jail for breaking the machine because greg would try to flip it ALL the way over,just for .75.But greg would say,I worked hard for this money and I am tired of these machines cheating me.I would beg greg please just let me give you .75 and let us get the heck out of here.But PLease its just .75.That make greg even madder for me to say that.LOL Also dances the coke machine you are speaking of,we had those kind around here and there is still some like that at a few places and I love those kind.Were the cokes in bottles that after you placed the money in just open the door and pull one out?They used to be in bottles you could turn the empty bottles back in and get a nickle for.We used to go around collecting empty bottles and take them back to the what we would call the gas station.We collect enough so we could get all of us 6 kids a coke to drink,alone with a "MOON PIE" some never heard of that have you?Those were the good ole days.

Then in his senior years, his body was in bad shape from all that drinking, carousing and hard living. He looked around and said, I'm all alone, there isn't anyone to care about me and take care of me. Where are my skinny long-legged big boobed broads, all of those women half my age, where are my cheerleaders? Maybe this is 'The rest of the story.' Just sayin. LOL