This thread is getting long, but I'd rather wait until the new year (2012) to start a new thread. That way I avoid problems of naming it - I can start out with 2012 #1. I hope this isn't a problem with loading for too many people. ................................................................................... Nights are getting cold now, even here on the coast, and it's time for lawn dragons to start their annual migration to a warmer clime. The transport vehicle is my new wagon meant to transport heavy stuff from the car to the house. Like big bags of bird seed. The wagon even has little red skis that interchange with the wheels for snowy, icy weather! An early Christmas present. The dragon is now sheltering on my porch, next to the bucket of gloves (also mobile features in my garden). Claire

Then playing possum is real, not a myth! She sure looked dead in that picture. Was she trapped in the recycle bin or did you just startle her? I think I remember you finding one of her ancestors a few years ago in the same bin, although I don't remember it playing possum. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to climb over a bunch of huge empty bottles and jars and cans - not the easiest ladder. Glad she's OK, if a bit histrionic. Claire

Kind of funny story - a couple of years ago the guy across the street trotted over to show me this mysterious worm he found on his tomato plant. He wondered if it was something very rare because he had never even heard of a worm with horns and perhaps UCONN might be interested in having this specimen and maybe, just maybe, he had discovered something that could be beneficial to some plants here in tobacco valley and he could breed them and make money! He said there were many of them on his three patio tomato plants. "Whatta ya think, Jane? Should I put it in a jar?" I asked to see it in my gloved hand and as this guy was envisioning $50 bills, the silly worm reared it's head with horns and mouth seeking something to bite. I dropped it on the driveway and with a flash of my right foot, the mysterious money-making dream shrank into a bite-less green blob as my neighbor went into one of the most shocked and crestfallen expressions I'd seen in a while. I told him he had lost the horn worm lottery and to go home and squish all the others. I have a feeling that my reputation as a nice neighbor lady turned into tough old broad that day in the driveway. Squish 'em, Pixie, Squish 'em - unless you're going into the horn worm raising business. Jane (aka Hard Hearted Hannah)

My only feeder is a hummingbird feeder, and we get good numbers of them every day. Since the crows arrived in our neighborhood in large numbers over 10 years ago, our other birds have really diminished in population. I used to have so many doves in our yard and on our fencetop daily, but they are rarely spotted here anymore. We would have so many doves on our fence that I was reminded of Alfred Hitchkock's move The Birds. They will show up with some of the other birds when our Liquid Amber trees drop their pods and the seeds sprinkle all over. Those must be some tastey seeds!