Oh my gosh ladies, what sweet bird pictures. Jeanne that looks like it came straight out of 'Christmas Ideals' (do they make that magazine anymore? rememeber with the beautiful glossy perfect pictures) Love your log birdhouse. Great shot. Looks so cold and crisp. Sandy how cute. It's been forever (well more than 20 years anyway, lol) since I saw a bird with snow on it's beak like that. Used to love all the little ones that would come around looking for food after a snowstorm. Looks like a little female cardinal Enjoyed the snow pics. Donna

Thank you Linda, yup, that's the view from my backyard. It's beautifull. F4F, the tibouchina likes cool weather. Right now, we are having dry heat in the 100s and the flowers don't last at all. They wither by noon. In the fall, when temperatures are nice and cool, the flowers last up to a couple of days and the shrub covers itself in neon purple flowers. Tropicalnut, Arizona is WAY too hot and dry. It will be a big change. Even though some areas in southwestern AZ are close to being sub-tropical desert, they get very little rain and have lots of water limitations. Sure, you can grow plumeria, royal poinciana, bismarckia nobilis...but there are the downsides. Tucson is another warm region of AZ. They are more conservative about their water and garden with mostly natives and near-natives, while Phoenix is more deliberate about their water usage and have spans of green lawn, which is something quite rare in Tucson. I'd say if you want to grow tropical stuff, move to Hawaii where you won't have any limitations in water and won't ever have to worry about frosts.

Hello to all out there. Glad you liked the pic. (seem to have got my Karens/Karyns mixed up a bit!...and that's before a festive drink! (Am tee-total actually...honest!) We have some rellies who stay with us from time to time and they like to have the bedroom curtains open early in the morning to see the views like in the picture above. Oh well, not long to go now is it, so I suspect the forum will be really quiet for the next few days or so. The family are due to arrive today and tomorrow so we shall have all 3 offspring plus one girlfriend here the for the Christmas activities. Think we will have a foggy Christmas not a white one here in the UK as the fog is still thick. Hope you all have a lovely time, especially those of you with little ones, and enjoy yourselves as much as we do. Catch up with you all next year? Best wishes for Christmas and 2007 to you all, Greenclaws.

LOVE those Ron! The hoarfrost on the vines(?) that look like dainty Christmas wreath is so neat. I'm sure a science guy could explain why negative and positive electrons in the moisture in the air and "grab" on to the frozen particles already there to make those "spikes"... but, to me, its still pretty strange and wondrous. And, most importantly, however and whyever it does it on occasion, its awfully beautiful when it does. Thanks for getting out there and sharing those.