Ouch Tammy - deer are worse than moles/shrews/and whatever except maybe voles - they're the worst because they kill before you know what happened. At least the hosta will come back next year. Is there anyway to deer fence your area or electric fence it? We had to put up a 7' deer fence for the seedlings in the field. Stupid things were lined up with knives, forks and bibs the first year we grew seedlings there. Here is a pic of a new area we did this year. Last fall I put the whiskey barrels inbetween trees where we could not plant anything because the roots were too close to the surface. This year I added companion plants and hosta to the rest of the area. Here are some more of the containers I use - these are hypertufa my husband made for me. This picture is two years old but I could plant lots of mini hosta into a very small area. It is my way of cramming lots of plants into a tiny space. I will see if I can find some pics of some Lakeside plants. This year I got Fresh Prince, Color Blue, Beach Bum, Love Affaire, Hoola Hoop and Storm Watch from her but don't have pics of them. I seldom photo young plants since it never does them justice. Lakeside Kalaidescope Lakeside Big Scoop This is a breeder plant I bought last year that gave me lots of streaked seedlings this year. I lovingly call her Mortgage Payment. Lakeside Surfrider Lakeside Black Satin, it might be one of my favorite hosta. I planted L. Coal Miner and Rhapsody last year but whatever tunneled under the plants last year set them back and I haven't taken their picture either. If anyone wants some hosta seeds, please say something in the fall to me. I will have a ton of streaked seeds available from my own seedlings and other known parents of streakers and will be happy to share. I cannot plant them all even though I try. I will also have seeds from some solid blues and golds and will share those also. 90% of those will be solid green, but you will get a small percentage of blue or gold from them. Brooke

"All other snake encounters I've had, all I had to do was step back a few feet and wait and the snake would wander off to the brush." This is a great strategy for snake encounters. With cottonmouths (and also copperheads to some degree) I find that they will often continue to stand their ground until they think you have left the area. This is easily solved by simply continuing to back away (paying some attention to see that there aren't other snakes around as you are backing). Most species I move off roads..I can just chase off the road, but with cottonmouths I will gently tap them on the tail with a stick and then back away. They leave once they think I am gone but they usually won't flee until they think the threat is gone. "A female cotton mouth protecting her nest will go after any animal that comes near it... including humans. If you've ever accidentally dropped anchor over one or walked by one on the sand near it, you'd experience it first hand." Cottonmouths give live birth to a litter of anywhere from 1 to 16 young in August, September or sometimes early October (the average litter is 6 to 7). They typically give birth in upland areas and do not have nests in the sense that birds or some mammals do. "Out of all the snakes in Texas, the moccasin is the only one I turn tail and run when I see it." Moving away from the snake is, indeed, a good idea. The most common recommended advice is to back away slowly rather than sprint away. The primary reason is that you can pay better attention to your surroundings if you are moving slowly. Once you've seen a venomous snake and are more than 1/2 its body length away..the snakes you don't see are a bigger danger than the one you can see. Since cottonmouths are locally abundant in places, running away quickly can lead to running so fast that you step on another cottonmouth 15 feet away (this probably matters more in a wilderness area than in a yard where chances are the one you see is the only one around). I don't know of any cases of this happening with cottonmouths, but I do know of an unfortunate case where someone saw a rattlesnake a good distance away and freaked out and took off running so fast that they ran smack dab full steam onto a different rattlesnake that reacted instantly to being trampled on and tagged them. Of course the odds of this are still pretty low, so there probably isn't really much practical difference between turning tail and running and backing away.

This is what I have: Posted by blizlady (My Page) on Sat, Dec 8, 07 at 12:29 I found this recipes at quite a few sites. The balls are made with sausage, cream cheese and saurkraut. Whenever it was posted, it received rave reviews: Sauerkraut balls are a traditional Northeast Ohio favorite. They combine the cabbage so abundant in the fall with the region's German heritage. The combination is delicious. This recipe is my variation on the one made famous by the now-closed McGarvey's Restaurant in Vermilion. I make no claim to its being authentic. INGREDIENTS: * 1 lb. bulk sausage * 2 Tbsp. chopped sweet onion * 1 cup (4 oz.) sauerkraut, drained * 4 oz. cream cheese * 1 egg, slightly beaten * 1 Tbsp. flour * 1 tsp. dry mustard * Sea salt * Freshly ground pepper * 2 cups milk * 3 egg, slightly beaten * 2 cups dry, unseasoned bread crumbs * Vegetable oil for frying PREPARATION: Make the Balls Cook the sausage and onions in a medium skillet over a medium-high heat until the sausage is just done, breaking the sausage up with a fork as it cooks. Remove from heat. Add the sauerkraut, cream cheese, egg, flour, and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Roll into 1" balls. Place in the freezer on a plate or cookie sheet topped with wax paper until partially frozen. Bread the Balls In a medium bowl, comine the milk and the eggs. Dip each ball into the mixture and roll in the bread crumbs. Fry the Balls Fry the ball in hot vegetable oil about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Makes 8-10 appetizer servings. I don't know of anyone who would eat the Peas and peanuts recipe, but thanks! McGarvey's was right on the Vermilion River. They had/have (now Quaker Steak & Lube) a dock for the boaters to tie up to so they can come in to eat! Tami

Whoa, if you get a degree in industrial arts you get to acquire carpentry textbooks along the way?!? Sweet! Kim, I've always enjoyed/appreciated your contributions; given the wisdom of trial and error that was behind them, I see why they stood out. My mom got us a couple of the Reader's Digest fixit books (have to run downstairs, one of them might be the very one you have); I like the way they are encyclopedic and detailed. I know Jane Powell but not the Small Houses books (do you mean The Not So Big stuff by Susanka, or the Small House anthologies from Fine Homebuilding?) Thanks for mentioning books; I think I might start a reference book thread for this forum. Hey Casey, THANKS for taking the bait. And you are NOT a bloody genius, you are an old house DEITY for crying out loud! Would you please start your own show on youtube? Or maybe just a house tour? Even Petch house has youtube videos. Or, do you already have a project blog and everyone knows about it but me? Actually for someone with a degree in historic preservation, I am impressed with how low-key your posts come across; they read more like an old friend who's "been there" and wants to pass along lessons learned along the way, it's really very nice and encouraging. But if you ever want to browbeat me feel free; I would take it as a compliment. To be honest if I post about something I'm thinking of doing to my house, and you don't opine, I figure one of two things is going on: 1) you're not on the forum; or 2) you're politely disapproving. Most of the time I assume it's 2 because you seem to be pretty consistent around here. But I just want to say, and I hope I speak for many, that I love love love your posts, especially when I'm searching on a problem I'm trying to solve and something from you pops up! (PS I finally got around to using that general finishes gel varnish you recommended and it was fantastic, thank you; I will post photos to the woodworking forum sometime before the next census.) Oh, and I love the way you "aged" the color tones in the new pine beadboard in your kitchen; reminds me of the pine in my grandmother's kitchen. When I was really little I used to look at the gleaming pores and think it was the closest wood could get to 24K gold.