LOL, Michelle, I didn't think about Chelone encountering a snake as she slithered under the plants! ( Maybe Deanne doesn't have snakes in her yard?? ) I certainly agree, spontanious pictures are the very best. A couple of our GDs love to goof off when they know I am taking their pic. ( One of the ones I took that evening was spoiled because the youngest did just that.) Hi Woody ! Good to 'see' you again. Thanks for the comments on the 'things' in my house. Most of the other rooms are adorned in 'stuff' also. I hope you are right about the girl's memories. I don't have many good ones of my grandmother. :-( I have a large plastic container that contains many of the girl's toys that I have got for them over the years. Some of the larger ones, like the barn, and a toy shopping cart, have to remain outside of the box. No matter how late they get here...out come their favorites, from the spare bedroom. They have got good at picking it all up before going to bed. Thanks, V. I did enjoy the time with them...and I agree...they are beautiful. :-) The oldest is looking more American Indian as she matures. She gets the blood from both of her parents, although Tim shows more of the Irish blood. Marian

If you're even asking, you're putting too much on. Maybe you should look into some organic methods. You don't really want Sevin dust blowing around your garden do you? It will kill everything it contacts, honey bees, ladybugs, butterflies, praying mantis - if you have anything like that left after poisoning your plants and soil. It will blow on you also and who needs an extra load of pesticide in their central nervous system? It will kill or damage the immune systems of salamanders, toads, frogs, worms, the mycorhyzae that hold your soil together, everything thats supposed to work in a microsystem together. Too much poison kills everything and you will be left with just sterile soil to pour your Miracle Gro on - which I assume thats the blue stuff you probably use also. Diatomaceous earth is also not a safe item to use in your garden. A lot of places have stopped selling it and I understand some states have regulated the sale. It is very dangerous to inhale that product and says so right on the container, it causes lung damage because it is ground shells of a calcium containing skeleton. To control slugs beautifully, and organically with no cost of life to other organisms, you use Sluggo, or Garden Supply sells their own brand of Iron Phosphate pellets. I use it early and then again on top of mulch - I've got no slug damage at all to hostas this year. I contacted the company to ask about what it does to amphibians since I have blue, spotted, red and tiger salamanders, American and Black toads, and tree, bull, and green frogs in my garden that clean up the little critters very nicely. The folks that make Sluggo said it won't affect any amphibians. The roses: you pick the Jap Beetles by hand, you spray any one of a number of concoctions for black spot - check Mother Earth news website or Gardeneweb archives for baking soda recipes, corn gluten, etc., or rip out the disease laden varieties and plant disease resistant. If you absolutely have to spray chemicals, find out which ones have the shortest half life so they decompose rapidly in your soil and cease harming things you didn't intend to. And use it sparingly. Please. I got bagworms in a 25 yr old specimen Corylus contorta last year. First I put some newspaper down on the ground below, then used a chemical spray by hand and spot-hit the worms directly. They died, I rolled up the newspaper and it went to the landfill, where at least its contained in 1 place. http://www.chem-tox.com/pesticides/

Wetland 101: Technically (US Government, what else?) what we call a "swamp" or "wooded swamp" is a forested wetland, trees that thrive in wet conditions dominate. An emergent wetland is what most call a marsh, dominated by herbaceous plants as in our bog gardens. A scrub/shrub wetland is dominated by woody plants generally under 20 feet tall. To be a wetland, an area must have water tolerant species, hydric soils--anaerobic--usually very dark or grey with mottles, and ground water near or on the surface for at least one month during the growing season. That is hard to determine in dry periods. Some disturbed wetland areas such as cornfields or housing development do not look like wetlands to the casual observer but may be classified as such because if left alone they would return to the natural state. Could be your backyard. Theoretically, all wetlands are protected by federal law and some state laws, more so in the congested northeast and less so elsewhere. A vernal pool is a unique, usually isolated ecosystem within a wetland that is, as posted earlier, a habitat for a variety of species, often endangered species such as salamanders and frogs. They are flooded for just those few months someone mentioned. To most people they look like a tangle of understory and a mud flat, nothing special. The best bet is to contact your county agent or state environmental protection agency to get a feel for local regulations and enforcement policies. Try not to give your name or address--cynical and half-joking. Neighbors do turn neighbors in. If a wetland is disturbed and altered, breeding and nesting areas for wildlife can be destroyed, groundwater recharge impacted (our wells), and downstream ecology can be changed, like diminished stream flow. Don't mean to lecture. I thought the information might help in decision making, facts and ideas to work with. There are no gators in swamps when you get far enough north but I have seen pleanty of land sharks and they are the worst predators. I don't know if we can "improve" on Mother Nature but we can co-exist harmoniously by being thoughtful in carrying out some of the interesting and reasonable plans in this string. Mike

We were given the two male squirrels after one of the storms passed through last year.We named them "Walnut..call Wally and the other is Peanut..call him PP" Walnut is much more friendly than PP,They will both come to you but Wally doesn't bit!Me and my nephew looked up some info on the internet.Got them some milk from petsmart, I don't remember what it was. We bought a hampster cage to keep them in.We kept them on a heating pad ON LOW and a towel, they aren't suppose to be fed when they are cold.They didn't have their eyes open for 2 or 3 days.So I had to feed them every 2 hours til they opened.After that they slept through the night.They grew pretty fast, I tied the cage doors shut with 2 or 3 braided trashbag ties and they chewed through them and started getting out.That's when I decided that they were about the size of the ones you see out side so, we did turn them lose.They did stay in our large oak trees at first,now they are out in the pasture.They will come up sometimes for food.We still put them out food.We got them 2 squirrel feeders and they have their own bird feeder on the porch they climb on the roof to get to it.Every once in awhile they come up on their own but usually I go out back and call them, by the next day I usually see one or both.I am waiting to see if they return to these trees this fall,to be close to a sure food supply. I guess that's about it. I always wanted some squirrels running around but we've never had any here-not even as a child.Now I do hope these keep visiting.I keep them food here so when ever they come I can give them some to keep them in touch.