...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

Sorry to hear about your plants. Hope the greenhouse can be repaired without to much difficulty. I had a problem with slugs damaging my hostas. Someone told me to try putting coffee grounds around the plants. I did. I still see slug trails in the mornings but they haven't touched my hostas in three years. I get free coffee grounds from Starbucks. They package their used grounds for gardeners and generally have them in a bin near the door. Good luck. Bernie

I assume you mean the book by my old cohort Steve who lives in the Denver area. Foodplants of World Saturniidae, Stephen E. Stone. It was published in 1991 as a memoir of The Lepidopterists' Society. The data was complied by Steve from the field efforts of the very best researchers worldwide for this group of moths. It is a great aide for anybody who wants to look for wild livestock or rear Saturniidae. I can get you the LCC/ISBN for the book if you need them. Thinking about this sure brings back some fond memories of field work with Steve. So you are stuck with a story I am afraid. Steve is wheelchair bound but it doesn't slow him down much when there's bugs to do. I well remember a trip with him and Dr. Paul Opler up to Beaver Creek, CO one Saturday with some newly emerged female H. nuttalli I had flew in from Utah with to prove to Paul my hypotheses that this group of Hemileuca's pheromones were so close to each other that they would call in other species besides H. nuttalli. I called in lots of three species with the female H. nuttalli that day - nuttalli, hera and eglanterina to prove my hypotheses. Then in the very wee hours the next morning Steve, Andy Warren (now Dr.) and I drove the 9+ hours to the CO/NM border to look for H. magnifica at its type locality near Mesita, CO. I estabished a new and very unusual LFP record for H. magnifica (Eriogonum effusum), both a county record and new LFP record for Euphilotes rita also that day in Costillo Co (also on E. effusum), and a county record for H. magnifica in Taos Co, NM. Steve followed Andy and I in a 4X4 truck as we walked the washes and plateaus through the head high Indian sagebrush looking for livestock (the sand was too deep for his wheelchair). He'd simple hit the horn to get our attention when he spotted something. We made a stop on the way back at Plum Creek, CO (TL of H. diana) for what turned out to be a very near a 24 hour day start to finish. Karen about skinned my hide for keeping Steve out so long (I didn't tell her it was his idea). Anyway, it was a very fruitful Saturniidae weekend for all of use, proved some theories and established some new records. I flew back to UT early the next morning (back to the real day job). I'm listed in the personal correspondents appendex in Steve's book along with some of the other gents from around the world I worked on Saturniidae projects with back during those years. Unfortunately some of the best have passed on, but their lifes work is still with us and their known LFP's at the time recorded in Steve's book.

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