Heh Mora - kitties have a way of doing that to others! One of the friends that drove me up is seriously thinking of adopting a stray she has hanging around her house now - she has some serious kitty longing even though she has three old kitties (one in his last month or two and another in her last year or two), and a kid that has some serious eating problems (kid was very preemie and almost died - is mostly fine now at 4 yrs, but can't eat!). I am so pleased to have her! DH is in love too :-) She has tested negative for FIV and FeLV, so that was a relief - the shelter doesn't test cats unless they are symptomatic, so I didn't know before hand. We do have a poop issue to deal with unfortunately. She has some seriously loose poop and with her clumsiness, it is pretty messy :-(. It's also got the occasional bit of blood, so I am worried about it. I took in a sample today and it came back negative for everything, so hopefully it's just the stress of the new environment - she is incredibly friendly and has totally accepted DH and I, but she is very shy and nervous about roaming the apartment - I have had to confine her in a small bit of it for now. I'm going to put her on a very good quality kitten food and some probiotics and see if that helps any. I'm teaching her how to use the pan in a less messy way though, so for now that will have to do. Laura - I need a charger that will charge NB-2L batteries (for Cannon Powershot S50). If you have an extra one that will charge them, I'd love to buy it off you or trade you something for it. I can order one online for around $40-50, but I keep having things crop up that take up our discretionary cash! Vet bills, replacing worn out bras and out of town friends visiting have to take priority :-) Oh yeah - kitty has a new official name now - Zephyra. Zephyrus is one of the Four Winds in Greek mythology - he is the West Wind, the gentlest of the winds. Zephyra is a feminized form of the name. Kitty is so like a wind blown tumbleweed, wild and crazy, but also so sweet that we thought the name was a good fit. I hope you can pull those little guys through Laura! Are they from a feral mom? What will you do with them if they make it? Will the shelter euthanize them or find homes? I'll send some rooting for kitty vibes your way :-) BP

Thanks, bluebars, for your reply. I will try the other forums you mentioned. They are sparrows, roosting at night mainly. There are not nesting. I considered the owl idea, but suspected it wouldn't work . Birds are smart! Thanks for confirming my skepticism. My husband did end up pulling the vine down, but lovely man that he is, he didn't cut it, or dig it out, rather he re-directed it further upwards, to grow vertically, higher up the house, rather than letting it nestle itself along the garage roof line. So at least the vine is still growing, and if I ever figure out a solution to this dilemma, I can train it back to where I wanted it (It looked SO good there!). Thanks again for your help!

Well, it's been over night and I hope you had a good night's sleep. I wish I had seen this post last night. I looked in my Jacques Torres book, "Dessert Circus at Home," and he says he usually makes the ganache at night and lets it cool over night. It has to cool at least 4 hours, according to his directions. So you're good. Sally

The fact that Nunyette poops in the house is not going to make me get rid of her or anything like that. I *really* don't want her pooping in the house, especially knowing she has no reason to do so. If Nunyette is going to potty, it's always before she gets obsessive. And yes, I can direct her attention away from acorns by playing with light and shadows, but she is just as obsessive about chasing light and shadows that it really doesn't help anything. If it's not acorns or shadows, she's not interested, unless the neighbor's cat is in the yard and then she's all about watching her. I don't let her chase the cat, so she sits down and just stares at her until she gets out of sight. Luckily the cat has enough sense to vacate the yard when the dogs are out. The only reason she stops eating acorns or chasing shadows is because she obeys me when I tell her to come inside. None of her toys including the favorite ball can pull her away from acorns or shadows. If she doesn't poop right away, then it isn't going to happen, whether she actually HAS to poop or not. I can try to muzzle her after she potties outside and see what she does. Obviously I don't want her to hate being outside. I don't know if she's ever worn a muzzle- she certainly hasn't since I've had her. I'll borrow one from work and see how it goes. The only bad thing is that she wouldn't be able to play fetch with the muzzle on either. The nice big back yard was not intended to be *just* a doggie potty, it was also supposed to be a place where we can all play together or at least the dogs can play together, safely without destroying the house. But getting her to poop ONLY outside trumps learning to play in the yard any day. Thanks to all for the help so far. I'll keep posting our progress.