Thank you all :). Luvs: It was quite easy to get the beads just so, I just start at one end and work my way along. It took much less time than I spent trying to get the little birdy to sit correctly peeking out of the yellow roses. He kept wanting to "fly the coop" apparently.LOL I don't know if the vase on the S.C. will be making a reappearance for SPD or not as I have a couple of others that I've thought about using instead. Choices choices..lol The blue birds on the table are a set of salt and pepper shakers I found on Ebay. Nice and plump and probably something that will remain on the table for the rest of spring just because I find them so cute. The plates were a clearance find at Big Lots a couple weeks ago. I bought the smaller salad plates as well but they look odd to me when on the bigger ones. It covers most of the pattern up and I just didn't like it so I'm keeping them and hoping to find a solid color square plate to go with them instead.

Glad to hear she's doing better. I thought maybe the wound site was bigger. Great to hear about the dog saliva since I've got it on me constantly. Unfortunately, my old gal's saliva hasn't served her very well. She has a granuloma on her left front paw that has been open since 2001 when my first lab passed. She was very distraught watching him suffer and eventually pass. She will lick it open at times of stress, i.e.; workers at the house, seeing suitcases being packed, anything that makes her the least bit nervous or uncomfortable, she licks it open. My vet usually gives me amoxicillan to head off any infection and it does heal up a bit, doesn't get infected but has never totally healed. I have tried bandaging her to no avail. She chews the bandaging off. I have also tried bitter apple, and other products to dissuade her from licking it. Nothing works. Keep us posted, tho I am sure she will heal nicely.

Fortunately for you, little ionanthas like the late (but compostable ergo reincarnate-able!) Craig are inexpensive to purchase on line (I don't know what you might have locally). I have read (on Rainforest Flora website, I think) that the Mexican form is less likely to rot than the slightly larger(?) Guatemala form. You can purchase sets of 5 or 10 ionanthas from various sellers, either of one kind or a mix of varieties (and I suggest single plants rather than a clump). Cost maybe $7 to $10 or so, plus shipping. This way, you can keep trying until you discover the best method to use in your environment.

I think it is important to understand that no medication prevents ticks from getting on your dog and biting. They only start working at that point. A flea & tick bath or dip can come close to that, though. That could very well encourage a tick to leave your dog before it bites. But of course their effectiveness wears off in a matter of days. Still, if you find a lot of ticks on your dog (I once found about 20 crawling around after coming back from a walk) the shampoo or dip is the fastest and most effective solution. It kills immediately on contact. So, that leaves you with the situation that when using medications the tick will bite, and then within about a day either die or let go - probably the latter. So now you have a live tick leaving your dog, probably in the house, and looking for another host. This is something to think about especially if you let your dog sleep in your bed. This means that dealing with ticks is not a one step process. The tick medication is only the first step. But you also might want to consider having your yard sprayed - not just to prevent ticks from moving in, but to take care of freeloaders that came in on your dog and then hopped off when the going got rough. Also, use a tick spray on the dog bedding or favorite chair or anyplace else in the house they could disembark.