Happy Tuesday! WE HAVE A WINNER!!! :D MARGO!!! I double checked and you are the Big VALENTINE Bingo W~I~N~N~E~R :D Can you please send me your addy and I will be getting out your Supa Dupa Prize this weekend. Shirley, I was out the other day doing the same thing. Putting back my flower tags took longer than I thought with the ground still a little frozen. So I put them under rocks for safe keeping. I planted a tiny, I mean teeny tiny, little yellow foxglove baby that I got from a friend of mine. I was so astonished to see that it has at least tripled in size. It is planted in the back of the house, by the foundation, where there is very little snow and no wind. Is it possible that it could have grown over the winter? I was just shocked to see it. Ruby, that sounds like a terrific HEART. Chocolate and Butterflies! What more could you ask for??? Corrine, your right! I love to laugh... and best of all IT'S FREE :D Ellie, I hope your feeling better. There hasn't been that much of a winter to do "sowing". I do jiffies under lights, but have been wondering with such a mild winter are the ws'ing jugs outside bursting with bloom or are they not growing at all because they don't have the snow for insulation? I also would like to remind everyone about the rate and review forum. We don't do it nearly enough on the round robin, and for some of the newbies, it really helps to establish them. Thanks! SENDING ORDER :0): poisondartfrog sends to cryptid**SENT**REC'D** tl.graham sends to shoestring**SENT**REC'D** canyonwind sends to flowergirl34**SENT**REC'D** hazelnutbunny sends to farmergirl2009**SENT**REC'D** sjc48 sends to hazelnutbunny**SENT**REC'D** smitties sends to sjc48**SENT**REC'D** shoestring sends to canyonwind**SENT**REC'D** corrine1 sends to rosemctier**SENT**REC'D** rosemctier sends to poisondartfrog cryptid sends to smitties**SENT**REC'D** farmergirl2009 sends to tl.graham**SENT**RED'D** flowergirl34 sends to robin1962-2008**SENT**REC'D** robin1962-2008 sends to corrine1**SENT** Just waiting for a couple more and we can wrap this up :) I just want to thank everyone for such a fantastic swap. You guys have made hostessing this month super fun. And I can't thank you enough. Have a great day! vina

Nice! I love the red roof and the raindrops, especially.

gmom, I have had bluebirds here for quite a few years. I bought two bluebird houses from Wal-Mart A friend gave me two posts to put them on and they have nested here every year. But for the past two years just as the fledglings are leaving the nest something gets them and kills them so this year I discouraged them from nesting. I don't know what is happening but other birds are leaving their nests. There was an article in the paper about a dna being done on a mosquito and it had robins blood in it. Now they are blaming the robin for west nile virus. At least in the area where I live. I like having the birds around they are good company.

Hmmm Interesting question, Frieda. First...let me thank Vee. You're right. The time frame was in the '70s. I was living in Northern California then and had a grandson [by marriage] who was grade school age at the time. The public school wanted to introduce calculators into the math classes and were concerned enough to ask parents if they would approve their use. After considerable thought and discussion, we, as a family, replied that we wanted our son/grandson to be schooled in the basics before he was introduced to a calculator. The school complied. Was my grandson happy with our input? Heck...no! But today he's better off because he was forced to learn his tables, etc the old fashioned way. And...he'd be the first to admit that. As for the ..."entertain us" attitude...I can't say that I've seen that on the public school level here in the East. I have witnessed it in the private sector but not to the point that I think it actually causes harm. It should be noted that I'm rather removed from that venue these days...being slightly age challenged as well as geographically removed from younger family members. :-) However...beyond all conjecture...I stand firm in my belief that the home and parents are where the basics should begin. The more shattered and dysfunctional that stage is...the more desperate our young people become. They need a solid support system that will guide them through their formative years, that will encourage them to learn the basics and show them how to use them. Without that...as we see all too often these days...many of them are lost both to a functioning society and to the educated work place. If a television is the only home entertainment offering, then children loose the option to learn the basic tools of imagination. Plus they accept that there are instant solutions to life's annoying problems. Need white teeth? Or a way to relieve pain? Or the wherewithal to buy a new car? There's an immediate product or purveyor for that without much effort involved. Then the question becomes...who's at fault and where do we place the blame. Did parents knowingly jeopardize their children? In most cases...I don't think so. Also, there's a lot to be said for the validity of the statement that it takes a village to raise a child. Was it greed? The need to have it all? The desire to give our children everything after the Depression and WWII? Perhaps. But I don't believe it was done with malice or forethought. The problem is that there's always a price to pay for change and advancement. This price was greater and more severe than anyone could have imagined. And we all lost...IMO. Now the question needs to be how do we "fix" it. I apologize for the length of my reply. This is a subject near and dear to me.