Yeah, momma was a red eared slider...hmm..sounds like a country song....Last spring the puppy was going bannnas at the front door and when I looked outside there was whatlooked to me to be a tortoise digging in the flower bed. I didn't see the red ear markings at the time because I guess it was too covered in dirt and I thought it was just digging itself a burrow for the day. I gave it to the neighbor who tried to keep it in his raised garden, but it had other ideas and meandered off. I never thought another thing about it til these little guys started popping out of the ground. It's a good thing I decided to use a trowel instead of a shovel. I was amazed to find fifteen of them in such a small space. They must of been living off the insects in the mulch before trying to find a watery home. I should have stacked them up in a pyramid and taken a piture.

Jaqueline, More email hijinks - I thought I had replied by hitting reply in my regular email. Sorry! Yes, I'm delighted to get you some pink aster and hyacinth in exchange for sweet woodruff and lamb's ears. See you there! Sara

We English don't do love and romance very well (too screwed up I suppose) except for the lightweight Hugh Grant films or Barbara Cartland type of pink froth.Vee, I disagree. I think English writers have given the world some of the best romances -- Daphne of course, the Brontes, Jane Austen; and I can read Galsworthy's "The Apple Tree" over and over and cry every time (and I love the film adaptation of it called "A Summer Story"). I'm fond of several British romantic comedies, including "Getting It Right" (from Elizabeth Jane Howard's novel). That's the one with Helena Bonham Carter as the very unladylike Lady Minerva Munday, Lynn Redgrave as the seductive older woman, and Jane Horrocks as the junior hairdresser, all of whom are willing to teach poor Gavin -- a hairdresser in his thirties, still living with his parents, and still a virgin -- a thing or two. Gavin's mother cracks me up when she learns that Gavin knows a girl who has a title and is impressed even before she meets Minerva. If I thought about it longer, I know I could come up with many other English examples of love and romance. You've got to remember, Vee, that we Americans think the English are exotic. Cece, I adore the libidinous Pepys, though his Elizabeth must have found living with him sorely trying at times. I relish all his clothes descriptions, and he was very good with food, too. I've never managed to read his diary all the way through \-\- I always get sidetracked \-\- but I've dipped in and out of it for years. Norcal, I'm with you about the ballads -- one of my favorites is "Whiskey in the Jar" -- ooh, that Molly (or Jenny, in some versions) and her chamber! I'm not familiar with Nikki Grimes, but her cheek/as raw as red-brown meat...now that is descriptive. What's the poem about?

When I was a kid we had a goldfish pond and, fortunately, we never had a problem with herons. Now I live on a small farm. We don't have koi or gold fish. We have poultry, goats and sheep. To protect our animals we have Anatolian Shepherds. On more than one occasion I have watched one of our giant dogs intercept a hawk, on its way to a chicken dinner. An Anatolian would not be a good guardian for a fish pond, as they are huge and need lots of space and challenge. I affectionately refer to my three as "My beloved barbarians." They have killed racoon, opposum, skunk, coyote and tangled with a black bear and cougar. However... I wonder if a different type of a dog, perhaps a Australian shepherd or something even smaller, might not help. I suppose it would take research, and one would have to decide if the work and investment were worth it. Just an idea. George Tahlequah, OK