I'm having the same trouble trying to plant Sunflowers and while I haven't seen them, I'm almost positive it is the squirrels. We don't have deer or rabbit. It might have been a groundhog, but he would have eaten a lot of things and made a huge mess. I've sown the seeds three times already. After the first set of seedlings disappeared [all but two] I sowed more seed and put hardware cloth down over the seed area and some of those edges were sharp. They still managed to get in between them a little but it looked like they gave up. But, to get back at me, they pulled out the two remaining sunflower seedlings that were about 6 inches tall already. After the second set of seeds germinated, I didn't want them to grow up through the wire, so I took it off and weeded around them. Back they came and did the same thing. So I've started the third bath which are already up. I've kept the wire covering on and bent it up a little to allow the sunflower seedlings a little room to grow. This time I am not going to weed around them because I think disturbing the soil at all, is a trigger for attracting them to the area. I even left the pulled sunflower seedlings right where they left them. If this doesn't work, I'm going to try using the netting I have over the strawberries, that seems to be working fine for the strawberries. Maybe that way I can get them to a decent size before they can get at them. I hope.

When every other tree/plant in your little yard gets squished over to one side to make sure the plumerias have plenty of room to stretch out and sun. Bill, when you figure out how to get rid of your neighbor's tree (without getting busted) let me know. My neighbor has a huge ficus that is blocking the sun and dropping some real annoying seed things all over my yard. Vivian

I think they're very pretty!

Hi everyone, I am soooo proud of myself. I sewed a super hero costume today for the little GD. Just need to measure her waist to cut and insert the elastic in the waist and check the length before I hem the legs. It wasn't easy--my machine decided to act up on me and skip stitches. Two trips to the repair shop and it's now running like new. My little GD drew me a picture of what she wanted and I found a pajama pattern on sale that I adapted to make the costume. (Darn, I was shocked at the price of patterns now! Can tell I haven't sewn in years!) I am so keeping my fingers crossed that it will fit right and is what she wanted! Anj, thanks so much for the two sites. I loved seeing Marie's painting. I have allot of patterns similar to the ones she does. Loved the metal wastepan and the lunch boxes. She showed pictures of her shop, and it looks so neat. Can you believe she says all her lettering is not traced or stenciled--just done with her brush! Fantastic! I had watched a couple of Youtube videos about that program on the other site--supposedly you can use the Surecutsalot program for $75 and you can use any fonts from your computer and can even download pictures to cut out on the Cricut. That site offers $10 off so that would be a good deal. I may decide to try it after I learn how to do things on my machine. Did I tell you that I got it for only $84.99 on sale at Joanne's? I really think the small one will do all that I will need. DH says I can't open it until my birthday! ;o( I can hardly wait. I decided to not try to paint the letters on the blocks I have ready--I'll use them for my first project using the Cricut. Now I'll be searching for the best prices on scrapbooking papers and craft vinyl and more cartridges --one purchase leads to another and another and another! LOL I think your grocery savings is fantastic, Anj! Wow! I know my DIL followed some forum on the Internet for awhile and was stockpiling and saving all kinds of money on items. She said keeping track of what coupons she had on hand was the hardest part and she isn't doing it quite as faithfully now. I've always heard that if you could build your weekly menus using the specials from the store ads, you could save. Sounds like you have the best of both things going for you. ;o) Belle, I'm so sorry you feel like a pin cushion! Guess it's sometimes a process of elimination trying to figure out what is going on. So glad the boys came over and got your yard in shape. I'm sure they had a good time doing it together and laughing and chatting--and gulping down your yummy cookies! ;o) Punk, doesn't it feel good to get things cleared out and organized? I have such a hard time parting with things for fear I'll wish I had them later. I've enjoyed seeing your tables--so nice your kids are gifting you with dishes to "play" with. ;o) What kinds of things are you looking forward to painting? Anything for Easter? I need to check the other forum and then get to bed. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend. Luvs