...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

zebra lover, Easy answer on the black light for a 12VDC battery... product #2805 Night Collecting Light DC 12V 15 Watt BL available from Bio Quip Products for $60.70 currently. I heavily used both this model and their dual voltage (120AC/12VDC) model for at least 20+ years, then only occasionally the last 10 years of so, but they are still as good as new. IOW they are well made and will hold up if you take care of them. I'll put the link to their catalog below for you. Elizabeth, Brugmansia is another Solanaceae, so it is very closely related to the Datura I mentioned above. I have no personal experience with it but I do with Datura and some of the species that use it. I would certainly like the reference to where you read Brugmansia was a larval food plant for A. luna though if you have it. No Saturniid species world wide uses Datura or Brugmansia as a LFP that I am aware of. A very few use Solanum and one Lycium, but that's it for Solanaceae used by Saturniidae. So I have a hard time believing it. Larry Here is a link that might be useful: Buy 12VDC Blacklight here.

These BSFs are amazing! Can't believe I never encountered this subject before. BSFs actually [i]DO[/i] what vermiculturists dream that their worms could...directly get rid of the garbage. I just had another gross, scary use for BSFL... they might be medical applications for them in the selective removal of necrotic tissue in humans. When I was young, I heard wounded soldiers in the American war on Vietnam would let maggots of some flies stay in their necrotic wounds till they could be evacuated to a real hospital. The maggots only ate the necrotic tissue, not the fresh flesh. They produced chemicals that killed narcotizing bacteria thus preventing gangrene from spreading. The maggots also prevented other more dangerous flesh eating fly larvae from infesting the wound. I wonder, could these flies from the American war on Vietnam were be soldier flies? I wonder...is this why we call them 'soldier' flies? Here is a link that might be useful: Black Soldier Fly and Red Worm Bioconversion

"get even" ... if that's all you want to do, get a 3-pound hammer and whack the pipe next to your bed real hard every time you hear what you think is her tapping on it. It's probably heater expansion ... when she leaves, she turns her heat off so the tapping noise stops. Wrap the pipe with some fireproof insulation material to soundproof it. And since when does being retired translate into "witch", "crazy" and "nothing better to do"?