Tom - no I have never had one stay but for more than a day or two - as Marcia says that may start soon. This guy showed up Jan. 10 and has been a daily visitor. Then on Feb. 11 saw a 2nd, an immature male and he has visited but only in the late afternoon. I think my resident one may have moved on or at least he is definitely not hanging around throughout the day as he was. A few of my neighbors found out that I had one and they have also put out feeders or at least said they were going on. I don't know if he would move to another house after being here for so long. Anyway, only saw one feeding at noon and only for a few seconds. Its color under the chin was coral - not as deep red as "Hummie" but more than the immature. As I said it was only for a second and it was bright outside so maybe it was him. But he hasn't been around for the long afternoon feeding he used to do. I feel kinda sad. As far as butterflies - not much going on here. Have seen more Sulphurs than anything else. I have tons of Milkweed and even some of my Passionvine made it throught the cold. I have several pots of Parsley, dill and fennel. My poor Pipevine really got hit hard, burnt to a crisp on top. Wild Lime is okay, Rue is struggling. I haven't seen as many Gulf Frits or Monarchs as I usually do throughout the winter. I too have a couple of Eastern Black chrysalis and a couple Giant Swallowtails overwintering. I am sure there are Polydamas underneath the Pipevine. My neighbor found a chrysalis inside her screened porch, attached to the frame of her sliding glass door. Hope we are finished with the cold weather. I am ready for spring!

These stories are fun to read. We have had a few brief encounters, such as being in an elevator with Paul Shafer (from David Letterman show) and having Steve Martin ride past us on his bike in NYC. Also, Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin filmed part of the movie "Housesitters" (I think that's the title) in my office lobby, so I watched them work for a while one day. A couple of summers ago, we were in the Los Feliz area of LA for about an hour, and during that time we had lunch in a diner a few tables away from Sean Hayes (from 'Will & Grace'), saw "Janice" from "Friends" in a store, and ran into Ryan Adams (we are big fans of his music and had just seen him in concert a month earlier... please note I'm talking about Ryan Adams, not Brian Adams!) in Starbucks. My DS (who actually went to the concert with us) was waiting for the men's room and Ryan came out and handed him the key -- DS spoke to him for a couple of minutes, telling him that he had seen him in concert, etc. Ryan was friendly and nice. I was jumping up and down like a fool in front of the Starbucks, waiting for him to come out so I could say something, and he probably saw me -- he went out the back door! In Feb. this year, Mary Louise Parker was at our hotel in Nevis with her kids and nanny. They were at the pool at the same time as us for several days, and had breakfast at the next table one morning. I was completely obsessed with her the whole time she was there. I'm sure she noticed me, but I was too shy to speak to her!

oh goodness that is a horror story! I have some during our home reno, but luckily it doesn't involve paint. Some of our problems we ran into (we Started in Dec with Kitchen/powder room) While laying tile our downstairs heating unit went out in Dec. (Can't lay tile when it's freezing!) So that was an extra 1200 bucks to have everything fixed, but we did get new digital thermostats tho! Then....we start laying tile and our well pump goes out on Dec 23rd no doubt! (we live in the country!) That was another 600 bucks... Then we finish the tile, get the kitchen semi-finished to move our appliances back in, and while moving our fridge with a new ratchet strap, it caught some wind the strap slipped, fridge tipped and landed on top of the stove! (Both stainless and relatively new, put a ding in the fridge and a dent on the edge of the stove, plus messed up the control panel...and it's on back order til June, so now I can only cook on stove and cannot use my oven!) Then....our outside breaker box gets a surge from the power company and it blew and OF COURSE it's some weird size that we had to special order, so we had NO lights in 4 rooms downstairs for about 2 weeks! And I didn't have countertops either because it took 5 weeks for the granite installers, read HOME DEPOT, to actually finish and come out and install after hasseling them. Image, no downstairs power, no downstairs heat, NO WATER, no countertops, no oven for a few weeks...it was hell! Did I mention the new well pump went out again during the no power?? It was faulty so we had to get another new one! Now we're finally near the end, polying the hardwood floors this week and painting... Let's HOPE, read HOPE-my clumsy self doesn't spill an entire gallon on the newly sanded floors! I do have them covered with drop clothes, taped against where the base boards go...but you never know! Good luck on your paint catastrophe..we've all been there...and some of us still are!

Robo, I hope the rest of your LA visit was great and hopefully not too hot for you. Did you see some of the LA Marathon runners? I had looked at the route and noticed it went right by your friend's neighborhood! Mtn, it was great meeting you today! Mtn and I had breakfast at a cafe right on Venice beach. Perfect weather to sit and chat. Enjoy your stay in LA and the rest of your vacation. Let us know how much you "loved" Disney!