Nice picture, and very helpful, too. It indicates what I thought. The indigenous people of the area have a colloquialism that describes these towers...pile 'o rocks. Visitors, tourists, and seasonal folks to and of the area refer to them in their own languages...art. The structures in the picture appear to be above the high water mark, and therefore might be considered a more permanent feature of the beach, were it not for the non-indigenous species, Rockpilus destructus, that frequents the waters edge. A 2-legged species of unknown origin, these creatures prey upon the creations of the unwitting artisan or visitor, having not the ability to see and walk by in wonder and admiration. Rather, their propensity is to reak havoc upon the rocks. They can frequently be found in the local bars after the sun retires. Below the high water mark, Neptunes own frequently see to it that the efforts of the day are wrought asunder below the waves, to be reconstructed another day...and the cycle continues. Materials for these creations are locally available on the beach or in shallow waters. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, but all seem to share similar traits...rounded and flat, or simply flat and rounded, and then of course, there's the ever popular round...or flat...whichever....

Hi everybody! Thanks for trying to help with the identification. I am new to growing hippeastrum, so pls forgive me if I posted the pictures in a wrong thread. Like Maria wrote, it has been called with so many names over the Internet. For the time being, I will stick to the name Puniceum. The orange ones (about 30 bulbs or so) were given to me by my neighbour. The red ones were purchased from a local nursery (3 clumps which has a total of about 45 bulbs, pretty heavy offsetters! Aren't they?). I have plenty of them growing on the ground in my front yard. Sure, I will take pictures the next time they bloom. Maria, both the orange and the red one has about 4" flower size. The orange one has about 18" scape, whereas the red one has about 12" scape. However, I observe that the size of the flowers and the length of the scapes depend on the 'before bloom care'. Hatta

Rodger, welcome back! I was afraid the USDA had you locked up, for attempting to take their entire pea collection. (lol) Glad to hear that so many of your seed crops went well, I remember your post about the "Insuk's Wang Kong" being knocked down by wind. It was a challenging year for many of us, although it ended up being pretty productive. You're living my dream, Rodger; I hope to grow large-scale seed crops when I retire. It's a labor of love. For now, I can only grow small preservation plantings. For me, I'm not sure what the future holds. A job promotion last Fall has improved my situation financially, but the increased hours will be cutting into the time I usually spend with family & garden. I'll be continuing my preservation efforts, but perhaps at a reduced level... I'll see how it goes this Summer. My vegetable list for 2009 is still a work in progress; it never gets firmed up until I get the SSE yearbook, and search it for items on my wish list. It should be out any day now. I will be re-growing "Sangre de Toro" as a dry bean. While it showed great potential last year, the rabbits severely damaged it (all but 3 vines!), and I want to see what it can do without interference. The entire garden will be surrounded by rabbit fencing this year, the losses last year were intolerable. "Ma Williams" will be my main shell bean this year, it's time to replenish my seed stocks - and my freezer. "Kentucky Wonder White #191" will be my main pole snap, 4 plants last year gave me 3 pounds of seed!!! "Atlas" (bush shell), "Emerite" (pole snap), "Snowcap" (pole shell) and several others that have yet to be chosen will be for trial & preservation. Hopefully a couple new varieties from the USDA as well. Will be growing "King of the Garden" limas this year, a variety that has proven difficult here in the past. I've gotten much better at starting limas as transplants, so I think it has a good chance of success. Another lima will be chosen from the Yearbook for preservation. For cowpeas, I will be growing several heirlooms from SSE; "Green Dixie" (a very large-seeded "eye" pea with light green seed), "Speckled Purple Hull" (small brown & tan seed), and "Thailand Pole" (grey seed, possible use as yardlong). All are pole or semi-pole. Will be growing two yardlongs as well, haven't decided which ones yet. Weather permitting (and that is a big "if" after last year) I will be conducting a large trial of English peas this year, at least 10 commercial varieties. Probably all of those currently listed by Vermont Bean Seed, plus several others. I will be focusing on yield, rather than earliness... and since they will likely be planted late, on heat resistance. "Green Arrow" is my standard. Other stuff too... yes, I do grow more than just beans, believe it or not. But since this is the bean forum, I'll post the rest elsewhere. Rodger, can't make promises that far ahead, but I'm going to try like blazes to make that Fall Harvest Festival. Quite a few people will be there that I'd like to meet. I'd like to participate in the seed swap as well, if this Northerner wouldn't be upsetting the apple cart. ;-) Hope to be seeing a lot of you here this Summer!

Hi Molie, ahh...more water envy. Great pictures of a great bird! My suggestions for bird guides: In paperback, I like 'The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America' which Claire recommended to me a few years ago. I like Sibley's very much because it shows drawings of birds with their changing plumage at various stages of development. That one feature of Sibley's Guide has helped me often. (but I still confuse little brown birds) When out in the field looking for eagles, ospreys and everything else the Connecticut River offers, I bring my iPod Touch because it fits in a shirt pocket and I loaded it with two apps from the iTunes Store - 'iBird North' and 'The Ultimate Audubon New England Field Guide'. If you wanted one app for your iPhone for the sake of portability, I suggest the Audubon NE Guide because it offers birds, mammals, fish, plants,butterflies, spiders & insects, wildflowers, trees, seashells, and the natural history of New England. Plus, it has multiple voices of most birds and animals,their ranges, etc. It is the most complete guide I've seen, and the pictures and sounds are crystal clear throughout each category. The iTunes App Store lists it as"Audubon Nature New England", if you're interested. "5 Top Bird Guides for iPhone" Jane