83% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Thanks for asking Suzy. We leave for India tomorrow. The Vernal Equinox Party was too fun for words. My face still hurts from all the laughter. Over the course of the night we had 58 guests. Things kicked off at 7:00, and at around 3:00 in the morning I realized that everyone who was still there was either spending the night or lived within stumbling distance so I excused myself and went to bed. The weather was perfect. It was cool enough that I could put shelving in my garage and use it as supplemental refrigeration space so I could plate my food well in advance, but it was clear and warm enough that we could also enjoy the fire pit out front. Two of my neighbor ladies helped me prep the food, and a friend from Minneapolis (who is all thumbs in the kitchen) arrived a couple hours early so we amused ourselves by making him prep and plate also. We had over 20 different appetizers in all, including a couple that featured our homemade pancetta and duck prosciutto. Some of the guests also brought things, and so we all ate very well. A couple of my friends who are vegetarians brought me bacon toffee as a hostess gift. Is there any higher expression of affection than vegetarians offering the gift of bacon? :o) The drinks were well received. Steve chastised me for not having stocked up the wine racks before people came (we have a 24-bottle capacity and it was only half full) but by the end of the night, we'd gone through 10 bottles, our wine rack was completely full again, and we have 20 bottles that don't fit. I like the way that works! Our cleaning lady came over the next morning and while my overnight guests were coming alive with espresso, she hand-washed ALL of my dishes while I dried and put them away. She then cleared and washed down all my counters and tables and left me with a mostly clean house. The last of my guests left around 1:00 on Sunday. I don't know about garbage production, but I can tell you the neighbors will be dragging quite a bit of recycling to the curb for us while we're gone! I'm tired but I'm thinking this is a good thing. If I stay up late tonight, I may sleep for most of our 23 hours worth of flights and adjust to the 11 hour time difference more quickly. On Friday and Saturday, while Steve is at his conference, I'll be with this woman: gourmetdesire.com. On Friday I'll have a full-day culinary tour which includes cooking class with lunch followed by a guided tour of the spice market, then eating local delicacies and local shopping, and then a local cuisine dinner. On Saturday we'll do another cooking class, focusing on a different aspect of Indian cuisine. Between this, the tour of the Taj Mahal we have planned, and some of the other things on our itinerary, my head is absolutely spinning right now. Truly, my cup runneth over...

I've so enjoyed reading through this tread. My thanks to all who contributed and who take time to plant for the wildlife. Sherry, couldn't help but relate to your story regarding your blackberry canes. I, too, have been fighting the spread of Blackberry canes. I don't know if they were planted by the prior owner or by the neighbor behind me but even with me cutting each cane over and over during the growing season, they had spread so badly they were even beginning to show up all over my small grassy area in the backyard, not to mention the garden beds. Strong canes with terrible thorns that catch at fabric and skin, no matter how carefully the canes are handled. Last year I could see I was losing the battle so I purchased brush killer and carefully sprayed in the spring with the first spring flush of growth, everywhere I could spray without hitting other plants (I used a tall hollow cone to try and contain the spray to each cane). I managed to set back the growth somewhat but couldn't eliminate everything and managed to also kill spots in my lawn. Didn't want to attempt that process again but with this spring's blackberry cane again sprouting all over, I decided to try something new. I cut each growing cane I could reach down to about 6 inches above ground, soaked a cotton ball in full strength brush killer, placed the cotton ball on top of the fresh cut, covered it with a plastic sandwich baggie and used a rubber band to hold all in place. I am proud to say the cane's are dying, even the ones growing up into my neighbors flower beds, where I couldn't place cotton balls. I'm hopeful that with a season of doing this, I can get rid of the underground roots that spread so far and wide. Blackberries are wonderful but for a small city lot, some can be terribly invasive and destructive. Of course, I would not place these covered, soaked cotton balls in an area where pets or small animals might roam. I don't know if wild animals would sense the danger but I doubt if domesticated pets would know to leave them alone. I've wondered if an inverted flower pot placed over each cut cane, with a heavy rock on top, would be enough of a deterrent to keep animals from investigating? My hope is this season will see the end of the blackberry canes on my property! :-) Mary

Sherry What nice picts!I love to keep up with "Where the birds are!" I saw a kite once(swallowtail)up in the sky;we were driving Down to Florida from south AL and were either very close to Or just across the AL-FLA state line. A few years ago my sister brought one of her education birds Over to my house(an Osprey)abt a matter concerning jesses. My husband and I both got a turn holding the raptor on our wrists While she took our picture. It was such fun! Once in a while I have a summer tanager visit for a few weeks Especially when all the Huckleberry bushes are loaded with Ripe berries. DD

I am having my first native birds in a lawn & tree yard now that we are planting a native prarie & have had a male blue grossbeak for the past 3 or 4 days. He came in all wet & scruffy but looks much better now & may be ready to move on. I have so many pecans that I smash some every day for the birds. He seems to have really benefited but won't stray out of the tall grassland area so I have to throw them back in there. Horray its working!!