no bumblebees in Australia (as far as I know) - though there are some large solitary bees in the tropical north which get confused with bumble bees and a nrown one called the teddy bear bee - because its bigger than normal and brown and "furry"

Thanks Patty and Rebecca. Dynatrap! Dang that auto-correct!! I did search on Amazon but couldn't find one that had the amount of blue like yours does. I wonder if it makes a difference? I think other commenters thought that the blue would attract thrips and midges-then Zap!! A bit pricey when there are roses to buy ;-) but worth it. We have dogs and heart worm is very prevalent here. Actually two of our past dogs were diagnosed and treated for it. Plus we have Eastern Equine Encephalitis here to worry about as well as West Nile Virus. And now a new deer tick illness that has killed, I believe, 8 people in Massachusetts. And we thought lyme disease was bad enough. Some of the beneficial nematodes, Nemaseek being one, list ticks as a target insect so I'll be purchasing some in the spring since I read summersrythm's post that said they need over 45 temps to survive. mad- So the little suckers don't drown? I would think the eggs would be encapsulated somehow though to protect against drowning like a chicken egg. Would the go into a kind of suspended animation and not hatch until the conditions are favorable? There's just so little info available on detailed rose midge life cycle. How do you handle new spring rose purchases? No killing frosts at that point. Would a quarantine work? If so, for how long to break the cycle? Do rose midge breed and reproduce from spring through frost? And I thought the monthlong assault of Japanese beetles was bad enough. sharon

Well, ha! I did nothing! I did end up finding my dad’s original wedding ring, so I had two. And I have two sons. One son got married two years after this post, and I offered him his choice between the two rings — if he wanted one. He did, and he has now been wearing my dad’s ring for 3 years. My other son was not engaged, but I gave him my dad’s other ring and hopefully he hasn’t lost it, because he got engaged just before Easter. I still have my mother’s band, and I’d offer it to DD but she never knew my mom and I know she wants something different so I guess it will sit in my jewelry box unless I think of something to do with it. My dad’s ring on DS.

A random story about how things connect and circle around: during her college years my daughter was the lead singer and guitarist in a three-member female hard core punk band. They played gigs locally and even went on a tour around the southeast at one point. It was a very meaningful and magical time in my girl's life but unfortunately it all ended badly with a falling-out among the band members. Details not important, but my daughter was left with a lot of hurt feelings and regret for her part in the conflict that destroyed their relationship. She has not spoken to or been in contact with the other two women for almost 10 years. Until that video. This week out of the blue the other band members reached out to her on social media after seeing those amazing young girls. As they put it 'that was us'. The three have reconnected and when my daughter told me about it last night, I got a bit misty hearing the lightness in her voice and knowing that a burden she's carried a long time has lifted-she apologized for her part, the others gracefully accepted and they are planning to release their songs just for fun on an EP. Sharing because life is so wondrous, and you just never know when a moment of grace is going to unfold on an ordinary day!