Debbie--They are single petal reds-- one was a tea rose that evidently went back to its root stock--with all this rain they are going crazy--some of the new shoots are bigger around than my thumb and are way over 5 foot tall--I looked for your email but its not listed--hope you stop back here and read this!! Jeanette

Carol, I knew that if you were home, you'd be watching it. I watched it too. Early on, I thought it would pass to our southwest, but then it became apparent it wouldn't. So, I ran outside and dragged about 15 containers with plants (mostly peppers and tomatoes but also a few flowers and herbs) up underneath the patio cover. There were some I couldn't move because they were too heavy. Then I just made sure the pets all were inside and that the windows on the sunporch were closed. After that, all we could do was wait it out. The brunt of the storm hit about 2 minutes after I went inside. I was watching the radar like a possessed woman. One cell, which at one point had a tornado in it, was moving towards Granbury, and my cousin's family is south of Granbury, so I was watching it. Another severe thunderstorm was moving right straight at my mom's and brother's homes in Tarrant County, so I was watching it. Tim was on the way to work, so I was watching for storm development along his route, and then I was watching the storm that was headed for us. We got 6/10ths of an inch in the gauge, but a lot of the time the wind was blowing the rain sideways, so we may have had more than what made it into the rain gauge. Based on the large puddles, we might have had up to an inch. A storm spotter reported a tornado in the air near Thackerville, but no one else saw it and no one could see it on radar, etc. so most of us discounted the report as erroneous. There were tons of trees, tree limbs and power lines down in and around Thackerville so that community did take a real beating. Some power poles snapped in half. I'm inclined to think it was straight-line wind damage, and not the supposed tornado. After the main storm had passed, and all the cops and firefighters were out dealing with the damage, and the electric co-op guys were working to restore power, we started getting very, very strong outflow boundary type winds blowing back at us. Those winds did additional damage, especially in Marietta, which wasn't hit as hard by the earlier winds as the Thackerville area was. I think we sustained less damage than either of them since we're right in the middle. We only lost power because of trees in the Thackerville area that came down on poles/power lines. In our neighborhood, overall there was little damage. Even the pecan tree limbs that came down were dead wood with no foliage. The garden looks lovely after the rain storm. I think the moisture helped a lot since we'd gotten so very dry. I bet we have killer humidity today though. It seems like a good day to stay inside during the heat of the day. I am really concerned about how hot it will get, in terms of what the heat will do to the cool-season plants. Oh, and you know how sugar snap peas are in their growth habit--more leaners than twiners, so a lot of them were lying flat on the ground this morning when I went out to check the garden at daybreak. I picked up the vines off the ground and loosely zip-tied them to the trellis. For as strong as the winds were, I expected the corn to lodge and for at least some tomato plants/cages to be on the ground, but neither thing happened, so we were really lucky.

We adopted kitten sisters about 2 1/2 years ago. I knew that they were coming from a home where the owner worked with my daughter. I was told that they were 6-7 weeks old but later found out that they, actually, had been adopted by another co-worker but her other cat didn't like them so they were returned. They had stayed at the original home for another week before we took them. According to the vet they were just 6 weeks old when we got them so that meant that they were four weeks old when first adopted out and then five weeks old when returned to the owner and then six weeks when we got them. So much turmoil for such young babies! One of the sisters (Lucy) was friendly at first and now is rather aloof but will come for cuddles about twice a week. The other sister (Lola) comes daily but had the habit of always nursing on herself. When we first got the sisters Lola would try to nurse on Lucy but that only lasted about a month before she would have none of that. Lola will do this every time she is on a couch, chair or bed. I know it is a habit but we have not been able to break her of it. Believe me we have tried! If she was quiet about it that wouldn't be so bad but she is just noisy and wakes us up so she has to leave the bedroom. I feel badly because she would like to stay in our room but we wouldn't get any sleep. I hope that this behavior stops for you but there is no guarantee. Obviously, my kitten sisters were taken from Mom way too early and this has manifested itself with this behavior. Robyn

Thanks Plasticgarden, I'll try doing that; I checked on the Net and got to know that giving them something soft to chew on should help too, as they're teething. I'm gonna stuff some old socks with pieces of soft cloth and freeze them for a while and give them that for chewing. It's supposed to relieve the pain/irritation that goes with teething. Sheltiemom, thank you for thinking of us! Although I don't post here all that much, I think of you quite often, and Jas and Coco know that you're the one who gave them the name Pumpkinettes :) I hope your babies are doing well. Yes, we found good homes for the other five in Dubai, and Mum is in Abu Dhabi (we shifted here from Dubai about 3 months ago); she's with a colleague of DH's, and is doing really well. I love that lil girl. We boarded them all for 4-5 days when we went to Oman - and they returned with a giardial infection; was a nightmare pilling them - only Coco takes her pills without fuss. When Pumpkin was nursing the little ones she got real thin, but after we got her spayed and the kittens weaned, she's put on weight and looks awesome now. I'll upload some recent pics and post 'em soon. Jas-purr has been having problems off and on after the Flagyl treatment; now Jas's stool has been sent for testing for Tritrichomonas foetus (there was blood and mucus in the stools), Coco has been throwing up and getting the loosies too after the spay procedure - she was on Metacam, and that's probably what's doing it. Well they're both on probiotics and chicken&rice meals and I'll start giving them a bit of pumpkin from today onwards; I'm really thankful to Lisa for the info on pumpkin therapy for cats. She has started a separate thread for it, it's right on the first page. Hmm I don't usually talk so much in the mornings LOL - but just wanted to tell you, I got a job at the vet's clinic just yesterday! I'll start on Sunday - can't wait!!