Thanks, y'all! 8-] I Googled the Blue Dirt (or Mud) Dauber. I'm still not 100% certain. Either that or a Steel-blue Cricket Hunter. Maybe. 8-] ICA, Sophie ^i^

Well, here I am! Late to this party, as I got home last night. First things being first, we cleared out the dog crate, food and treats by packing them up and walking them over to different neighbors who knew Luna. (She had a lot of friends in the neighborhood.) Delivering news like this is hard, but right this minute I think the hardest is having such a quiet house. Packing up her favorite toys choked me up, but it's done. Working my way backwards and starting with OKC, I regret we didn't get to meet David or Sally, but I'm anticipating there will be another opportunity. Having the extra time allowed us to blow on so I could visit my mother. We drove 4,603 miles in three weeks, so you might say it was a whirlwind (tornadic in places), and we were ready to get home. Meeting Donna and her friend Debbie was fun. We met for breakfast in Albuquerque and I really enjoyed it. It's so nice to have the CF in common, and there were no awkward moments in the conversation. In fact, I'm finding it's so easy to talk to the CF in person, it's kind of hard to leave! I enjoyed every moment, and hope that with Donna, David and Sally, we have an opportunity to meet again. I feel pretty certain we'll see Karen (and Tom) somewhere at some point! (I think it must be easy to form a certain bond with the first people you meet.) I've tried for five GT's, and have managed two so far...The best thing is my New Year's resolution of meeting some of you is up and running! I'm loving it and at this point have TWO GT's under my belt and COUNTING. Thank you for your generosity in wanting to meet; it's so nice to feel a part of the CF in real life. I'll upload a few pictures when I can...

Thanks, Jasdip. Harry has had the computer tied up again finishing up our taxes. I thought he'd NEVER get finished! But, they're done and sent--whew! We had last night's dinner tonight because by the time we got around to it yesterday, it was late so we just had sandwiches. I've tried a few of the Pioneer Woman's recipe and they turned out well. Her personality doesn't come over as well on TV as it does in her writing, but she's a cutie. Sounds like everyone is well-fed tonight. Enjoy your evening!!

When we see one we bring the feeders in, usually there is nothing there at night, which is when we usually see them...dusk and dawn. This fella decided to come for a treat during the day! He didn't frighten me but he startled my yard worker! I was in my office but heard the door open and "Lynn???? BEAR IN YARD!" This part of PA has drilling going on, in search of natural gas, there are two sites within a couple of miles of us, closer to the reservoir that sits below us. The bears and critters usually live near the reservoir or on the mountain on the other side of the valley. I think the drilling (and all the heavy equipment moving around) is what has made them move to our side. We had one out by the pool heater on Sunday, he was tagged and was wearing a monitor collar. The huge one that was here in spring also had a monitor collar on but I understand he was relocated. Our neighbor said he saw a small one run thru our top field a few weeks ago but we've not seen him. Combining the unused fields and woods on our property and two neighbors there are probably 100 acres of posted land so wildlife has the right of way around here.